After ‘Fast Food Nation’ in the running for the Palme d'Or, American director Richard Linklater presents this time a second feature film, ‘A Scanner Darkly,’ in the Un Certain Regard section.
'A Scanner Darkly' Press Conference at Cannes © Guillaume Roujas
Adapted from Philip K. Dick's eponymous futuristic novel, the film uses a technique combining live takes and CGI imagery, thus conferring on it a unique visual aspect.
Starring Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson and Winona Ryder, ‘A Scanner Darkly’ takes place in the year 2013, in an America which combines the war against drugs with the war against terrorism.
A policeman is forced to play the mole to spy on his friends, before receiving the order to spy on himself. He then begins an inexorable descent into the absurd and paranoia, where loyalties and identities become blurred.
"Being faithful to this book forced me to narrowly combine comedy and tragedy, a task appreciably more difficult in cinema than in literature," explains director Richard Linklater.
"I wanted ‘A Scanner Darkly’ to capture the humor and exuberance of the original book without sacrificing its sadness and tragic sound. It was certainly a challenge, but that's where the heart of the story lay."
With this tool as a possibility in my world, it felt like this was the best possible way to tell this story, and there were some practical considerations. It was ultimately very low budget. I think it looks cool too, kind of a graphic novel come to life look.”
Keanu Reeves on acting for this film as compared to a true live action film: “It's not really; it's the same circumstance. The only difference was that I hadn't had any experience doing a production on digital capture.
Keanu Reeves on the Red Carpet at Cannes © AFP
In film the reel lasts about 10 minutes, but in this process, the cassette is 45 minutes. It was kind of learning a different tempo rhythm. It was cut, action, cut action. You could just keep doing take after take.”
Richard Linklater on the process: “’Waking Life’ was the first time it had been done. As far as the process, it was like stepping out from an indie film to a studio film, even though this is still a low budget movie.
It took a lot more time, at least 500 hours per minute. It's a very labor intensive process: 50 computers, 50 animators animating for 15 months. There is an artist sitting there drawing, painting, and coloring. It's very much an artistic process.
Some people think you put in the images [live action] and out it comes. Not at all."
Richard Linklater on how Philip K. Dick's book inspired him: “In reading this book, I always thought it was his most personal novel; his daughters confirmed this to me. It's the ultimate statement on how he saw the future.
You can read something written 30 years ago and by and large think it is your present, which is how I feel about ‘A Scanner Darkly'. I think he saw the future clearly about how governments and corporations used power that can alienate people from one another and themselves.
In '77 when the book came out, it was seen as conspiracy, paranoia. This is a science fiction movie, but we all looked around and said, ‘We are living in science fiction right now'.”
The actors on how they liked their animated selves:
Robert Downey Jr on the Red Carpet at Cannes © AFP
Richard Downey Jr.: “I though it was very slimming. There's kind of a richness in texture that I didn't anticipate and a lot of nuances available. It turned out really great.”
Keanu Reeves: “I was happy to have the performance translated, the attention that was taken that really showed the detail. It's beyond spectacle; it was a form that sort of matched and formed the ideas in the movie.
The ambition was to have a strong emotional connection or feel with these characters.The animation was really successful in doing that.”
© Festival de Cannes
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