A Scanner Darkly
10.16.06 (5:42 pm) [edit]
I saw A Scanner Darkly this weekend at the Red Vic on Haight Street in San Francisco. By this point the movie is pretty much done in its theatrical run, and the Red Vic is essentially an art house theatre. I don't think the movie got a wide distribution in the first place, so it's not astonishing that I missed it.Directed by Richard Linklater, A Scanner Darkly is one of many films based on the works of my favorite author, Philip K. Dick. Several really enduring and high profile films started with his pen including Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report, as well as some lesser known efforts (Screamers, Impostor, Paycheck). Dick was quite possibly schizophrenic or bipolar and aggravated his mental condition with meth amphetamines. You can read all about this in Future Noir, a book about the making of Blade Runner if you so desire, but the upshot is that his works are known for exploring the decay of identity, subjective perspectives, and a pervasive sense of paranoia.
A Scanner Darkly is no different. In the not too distant future, Keanu Reeves is druggie Bob Arctor, or is he "Fred", a police officer in the narcotics division? All the officers wear "scramble suits", which constantly shift facial features and body parts as well as distorting voices so badly you have no idea who is in the suit. And today "Fred" has just been ordered to investigate himself.
Most of Dick's work can be categorized as science fiction, but the truth is that a lot of it is far closer to Hunter S. Thompson than to Isaac Asimov. There are drug allegories in a lot of his work, but it's pretty blatant in The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch and of course A Scanner Darkly.
Bob Arctor and his buddies are all doing Substance D. The D stands for Death. They hang around his ratty apartment in Orange County and when they aren't hallucinating about bugs or being completely paranoid about some mysterious force sabotaging their lives, they are screwing around and generally acting like drug addicts. Of course, they really are being watched, as the house is under round the clock surveillance by the all-seeing scanner.
Casting Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson, both well-known for their drug problems, pays off very, very well. Some people have criticized it as a publicity stunt, but they act exactly like real drug addicts. They are extremely convincing. This is no satire or parody. Rory Cochrane rounds out the trio, echoing his stoner role in Linklater's earlier film Dazed and Confused.
Reeves may have a limited acting range, but perpetual confusion and paranoia are exactly what's required in this role, so of course he excels. Winona Ryder plays off of him well as Donna, small time dealer and love interest who refuses to let him touch her because she does "a lot of coke".
The cops think Bob Arctor is up to something big, or they want Donna to lead them to her suppliers, or maybe they want something else entirely. Our protagonist is never quite sure what's going on, and his assumed identity and his "real" identity get further and further apart as Substance D slowly convinces the hemispheres of his brain to "compete". Can he arrest himself? Will he keep passing the constant drug tests ordered by his department? (And boy do those tests remind of the Voight-Kampff test from Blade Runner used to determine if you're a human or a replicant.)
Since this is a movie, we also have to talk about the visual element. Despite the drab atmosphere and slummy environment, A Scanner Darkly is positively stunning. The entire film is rotoscoped like Linklater's Waking Life or those old Max Fleischer Superman cartoons. Essentially, you film a live action movie, and then draw over it. In this case, they did it with computers, and it really looks good. The world is somewhat simplified and rendered cartoony, but at the same time appears harsh and stark. I don't think I've ever seen a film that combined bright colors and darkness so well. I really enjoyed the visual approach and I'm glad for the variety. The film noir influence worked just fine in Blade Runner but the hallucinatory future of A Scanner Darkly is well served by its rotoscoped aesthetic.
While I loved the film, it's still not without flaws. Like many art films, it's pretty to look at, but also very talky and large portions of the film are just some drug addicts screwing around. Keanu Reeves spends much of the movie muttering to himself about how confused he is, which almost reminds me of the noir voice over narrative, but doesn't really explain things. I actually like this because it gives you a great accounting of his slow slip into paranoia and multiple personalities, but the average viewer my find this a bit dry.
Science fiction fans will probably appreciate the holographic scanner and scramble suits but little else: this is sci-fi rooted in the mundane. It is realistic and believable, which I really appreciate, but it will not impress anyone looking for laser blasts, giant robots, or spaceships.
Nonetheless, A Scanner Darkly is a thoughtful, interesting film that straddles the line between sci-fi, art film, and the stoner movie. I'd recommend it to people who enjoy surrealism, counterculture/drug movies, and pretty, but wordy art films. Sci-fi action fans need not apply.