"On really romantic evenings of self, I go salsa dancing with my confusion."
Before starting, I want to acknowledge that this movie is certainly not for everyone. It's entirely rotoscoped, and follows an absolutely surreal dream sequence from start to end. It refuses to explain itself, and it's very hard to talk about it without getting extremely pretentious.
So, I'm going to get extremely pretentious.
Waking Life is a 2001 film by director Richard Linklater, loosely following a man's dreams. Through the dream sequence, the story floats from scene to scene, showing snippets of conversation from dozens of people, all with different relationships and topics of conversation, yet the movie manages to maintain a striking level of cohesion.
There's a couple, lying in bed. There's a man, done with life, lighting himself on fire in the road. Alex Jones appears for a bit part, and for a moment, he seems almost lucid, talking about unity and the goodness of mankind. Two women have a conversation in a bar. Life goes on.
All of the conversations feel like their own distinct piece, like you're eavesdropping on something you weren't intended to hear, they feel real in a way a lot of other movies struggle to capture. People stutter, people back up on their words. It feels like they were sat in front of a camera, given a topic, and told to just... talk.
Throughout the movie, you see a small orchestra practicing. Their song is slow, emotional. The song they're playing comes up again, and again, and again, even when they're not there. It's haunting. All of the music in this movie is absolutely gorgeous, and pairs so well with the animation.
I don't think describing the movie could ever really do it justice. If you love rotoscoping, the philisophical, and the artistic, this is a movie that will stick with you for life. I watched it with my mom 3 months ago, and I'm still thinking about it now.
The movie has a way of drawing you into its world, every perspective shift flowing naturally into the next. It's difficult to describe, but all-encompasing in the moment. It's revelatory, it's mundane.
I think that's just how life is.