1. Waking Life (2001)
The Idea A man wanders through seemingly endless dreamscape, confronted by an array of different characters, each one giving lectures on a range of topics from consciousness and metaphysics to existentialism and free will.
The Dream Angle Waking Life is tricky to interpret as a narrative film, as it unfolds in a series of vignettes, continuously opening up doors that arent shut. The film acts more as a seminar on philosophy rather than having any semblance of a linear structure or aim. It earns its number one spot for directly inviting the viewer to engage in the conversations that take place and for showing why challenging notions is important, even if some of the theories seem far-fetched. Near enough all of the discussions that take place are relevant to the interests of those who want to further their understanding on the desire to understand subjects such as existentialism or the meaning of life. Linklater paints a 100-minute perpetual dream through the use of rotoscoping, a technique whereby a team of digital artists have painstakingly traced every frame of live action scenes (a technique he would later revisit in A Scanner Darkly). This technique gives a convincing portrayal of the weightlessness and convolution of time in a dream state as it allows the vignettes to crossover with bizarre transitions that invoke a slight sense of confusion in the viewer. The sporadic location changes and encounters with amorphous people replicate that of a dream in a strangely accurate way.
As mentioned, there are a number of discussions of different subject matters, but one scene talks about lucid dreaming directly (lucid dreaming scene here). A character talks about how one attains lucidity he talks about recognising how one is dreaming through dream signs such as looking at a digital clock to see if you can read the numbers clearly and testing light levels to see if a light will switch on and off. He also mentions something incredibly important which is to ask oneself, Am I dreaming during the day. The theory behind this is to really question whether or not you are constantly dreaming, considering how dreams feel real when were in them. Once this is practiced enough, these mannerisms should follow through into the dream state, and at some point a dreamer will question reality whilst asleep and realize they are dreaming.
The Verdict http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veqkUUOlLLE Another one that is difficult to write about briefly and to some degree, words do it little justice. It is also interesting to watch for the stylistic elements. As is the nature of philosophical debates, the arguments wont appeal to everyone, but observing the images is just as fascinating as the subject matter. Highlights include a
lecture on free will and a conversation between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy about the soul in a reprisal of their characters from Linklaters Before Sunrise.
Honourable Mentions:
Open Your Eyes - 1997 What Dreams May Come - 1998 Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind - 2004 The Science of Sleep - 2006
Suggested Further Reading:
http://www.reddit.com/r/luciddreaminghttp://www.dreamviews.com/content/http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/ For those interested in the philosophy, be sure to read up on Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream and pretty much anything by René Descartes (specifically
Meditations on First Philosophy).