A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly is the 2006 film directed by Richard Linklater, based on the novel by the same name by Philip K Dick. Starring Keanu Reeves as a drug addicted special agent, this is one of the few roles perfectly suited to his usual wooden acting style and spaced out expression. The films confusing plot line centers around paranoia and deception in a near future dystopia, where drug addiction has reached pandemic levels and the population is constantly monitored.

Robert Downey Jr and Woody Harrelson give outstanding performances as Reeves paranoid housemates and fellow addicts to the fictional 'Substance D' drug.

The real beauty of the film is the unique way in which it is shot. It was filmed digitally using real-live actors, then animated using a process called Interpolated Rotoscoping. Rotoscoping is an editing program where animators trace over live action film frame by frame. Computers are able to interpolate the movement between frames thereby smoothing the transitions from one frame to another, giving a more seamless sequence.

This technique ideally suits the themes of the film. The characters are paranoid, constantly on edge and due to the drug abuse unable to distinguish between reality and their drug inspired conspiracy theories. A lot of the dialogue centers around their drug- addled ramblings which provide humour and adhere the characters to the viewer. The viewer is acutely aware of the real characters behind the animation but are left with a feeling of being unable to grasp their identity, giving a similar feeling to drug haze clouding the characters minds stopping them from observing reality clearly. The theme of hidden identity and deception is continued in the use of scramble suits, which constantly changes the wearers appearance, in a similar way the animation on top of real life actors acts as a cloak for their identity.

This film was groundbreaking in that it was the first time Rotoscoping had been used to create an entire feature film. The animation process took 15 month to complete, and the result is an edgy, thought provoking film, which really draws the viewer in and leave you with that creepy "this could happen" feeling.