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Waking Life

Essay by   •  September 16, 2010  •  Essay  •  1,098 Words (5 Pages)  •  1,366 Views

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Most (i didn\\\\\\\'t

really even know what to make of it. its the kid from that movie dazed and confused basically trying to find out the meaning of life and his identity and shit.. and hes like constantly in this dreamworld.. that he cannot

seem to wake up of.. he cannot

differentiate his dreams from reality. so one of the points is that there is no waking life...there is life and nothing else....each experience is an experience, nothing more or nothing less, each has the same value...the things you experience in your dreams are life itself... also...a lot of stress on wherever you are is the place to be...accept that every moment has the potential for greatness

Waking Life is clearly an experiment, and, as such, looks and feels much different from anything else recently seen on a movie screen. The backgrounds frequently waver, making it look like all of the action is taking place on board a gently rocking ship. This is all intentional, since every moment of Waking Life is meant to be transpiring inside a dream. ). They are present in an interlude, having an intriguing discussion about dream activity and reincarnation. Indeed, Waking Life is comprised of a series of philosophical discussions ranging from how language evolved to the role of the media in modern life to free will & quantum mechanics to the meaning of identity. Waking Life certainly isn\\\'t for everyone, but, in large part because of its fresh approach and its endlessly fascinating discourses, it ends up staying with you long after the jittery animated images have faded from the screen. , but instead of grounding the film in reality, it allows for a wide range of visual styles. This is necessary since it all takes place in a dream state. The dreamer is unnamed, but voiced by Wiley Wiggins. He meets various people, who go on long soliloquies about philosophy and how it relates to dreaming and death. At other times, he eavesdrops (with the audience) on other similar conversations. The film doesn\\\'t make it known whether he is dreaming from the beginning, but the visuals are always disjointed, as if from a dream. Objects float and surfaces shift while perspective is distorted in Picasso-like fashion. The style is distracting at first, but the deep conversations pull you in until a dream-like state falls upon the audience.

A man in a dream state encounters many characters who, one by one, talk about their views on the meaning, perception, and reality of human existence.

Dreams. What are they? An escape from reality or reality itself? Waking Life follows the dream(s) of one man and his attempt to find and discern the absolute difference between waking life and the dreamworld. While trying to figure out a way to wake up, he runs into many people on his way; some of which offer one sentence asides on life, others delving deeply into existential questions and life\\\'s mysteries. We become the main character. It becomes our dream and our questions being asked and answered. Can we control our dreams? What are they telling us about life? About death? About ourselves and where we come from and where we are going? The film does not answer all these for us. Instead, it inspires us to ask the questions and find the answers ourselves.

It's an entirely mesmerizing experience on its visual merits alone. The fact that it also goes for substance's jugular--relentlessly so-- makes it a truly rare and exceptional film. Some people will criticize this movie for over-thinking.

It allows people to speak freely on their own terms about life, love, hate, doubts, and dreams, then let's us make up our own minds about what's thought-provoking and what's pure bunk. The movie doesn't expect you to believe all--or any--of its thoughts. It merely presents thoughts to get you thinking.

At its core, all this movie is is a bunch of people jabbering about what they think life and death are, what they mean, and how they relate to each other.

Part of the rub that actually makes all this a good thing is that these people, whether you agree with them or not, say very interesting things. Most (though not

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