A Scanner Darkly

Orange County, California, in the near future: anyone who takes the so-called drug "D" loses all touch with reality and develops different personalities. "D" has conquered the country, the state is powerless and has the population spied on by undercover police officers. The policeman Bob is also addicted to the substance. He can barely conceal his addiction, while his superiors become increasingly suspicious. Because Bob wears a state-of-the-art camouflage suit, his true identity remains secret - and so he is assigned to spy on himself as well as his friends. Bob sinks deeper and deeper into a drug frenzy until he can no longer distinguish between reality and his fantasy.

Filming the enigmatic stories of Philip K. Dick cannot be easy. In A SCANNER DARKLY, Richard Linklater once again utilises the rotoscoping technique he last used in WAKING LIFE, thus distancing himself from any established science fiction look. The plot is simply beyond criticism: multi-layered, varied, intelligent and surprising.

So what's interesting about A SCANNER DARKLY is the question of whether it makes sense to make a film, especially with well-known actors, only to "paint over" it again afterwards - and it does. After all, it is the protagonists in this film who are shown to their best advantage. The alienation effect that viewers experience through the rotoscoping also conveys the state that the protagonist must be in - and makes their dilemma tangible for the viewer. (Tom Maurer/VIENNALE CATALOGUE 2006)