About Me

I ramble about a number of things - but travel experiences, movies and music feature prominently. See my label cloud for a better idea. All comnments and opinions on this blog are my own, and do not in any way reflect the opinions/position of my employer (past/current/future).

24 October 2006

Movie: A Scanner Darkly

This is an adaptation of possibly Phillip K Dick's most personal novel - chronicling his own experiences in drug use. It is a celebrated novel; but I found it the most difficult to understand and follow of the ones I have read. The movie on the other hand is quite precise and easy to follow - a feat in itself.

The most obvious and impressive aspect of the movie is the technology used in merging live action and animation (almost painterly in nature) into one seamless movie. This gives the movie itself a certain look; which it self enhances the whole "drug use" genre in some respects.

The story itself is good - and like most other Phillip K Dick stories; it explores the various interconnections between various aspects of life taken to extremities - in this case surveillance, corporate influence and friendship. Keanu Reeves plays an undercover agent seeking out a drug cartel behind a very toxic and addictive drug - substance D.

Unlike some of the more blockbuster movies made from Phillip K Dick movies, like Minority Report and Blade Runner - this focuses more on the poor and the disenfranchised - and very much less explosive. None the less it is an amazing movie because it is made so well and even Keanu manages to show some expressions (although that could have been animation)

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