'Waking Life' | Critics' Picks | The New York Times

A.O. Scott reviews Richard Linklater's unclassifiable 2001 cartoon philosophy seminar.
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'Waking Life' | Critics' Picks | The New York Times
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[@LaninaGilhi]

What I really enjoy in this movie, is that it reminds me of passionate conversations with friends in late evenings. When you no longer waste time on discussing work or gossip, but start discussing ideas and you get so into it, that it feels like your friends are finishing your sentences even better than you could have said it yourself. Also, it introduced me to the concept of lucid dreaming. Something that became a hobby of mine.

[@rosatravels1724]

LaninaGilhi really?? How...

[@FablesOutofSpace]

So you occasionally fly at will and go save some lives eh? Oh I wanna do that too bro...my dream!

[@konankunoichi94]

Yes! What I like about this movie is it encourages questions. Everyone might have an answer or a perspective. The lady near the end who expresses wishing she could be allowed to see people and be seen, I think that scene describes the potential of dialogue this movie presents. It offers something for everyone to open up about and share their similar or different views. To truly see eachother rather than crawl on by like the ants we grew up thinking we were. All topics about these scenes can be chances for people to connect and grow from eachother, the way humans are meant to.

[@theplanetruth]

This made me smile.

[@ScootyPuffSr7]

If you've ever posited the question: "Can an atheist have a spiritual experience?" I think this movie answers in the affirmative.

[@shiningwordschannel6564]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYXXcmetg7GFiNk.

[@Melfuckoff]

I was in AP lit when my English teacher played this for us in high school. I will never forget this movie forever it's so captivating.

[@chriscardenas8687]

Many of philosophies greatest topics covered in one film. Brilliant movie.

[@ArxivInsights]

This movie is so profoundly beautiful, it's hard to start describing my appreciation for Linklaters genius. The film touches upon so many deeply interesting philosophical topics and yet, manages to maintain a gracefully coherent flow through the almost mundane narratives of these relatable characters. Cinama at it's best if you ask me!

[@anasofiawebkinz]

Do you know any similar movies?

[@kickinon]

This movie on LSD changed my perspective on life forever.

[@alexanderrique579]

Me too I thought immediately everyone should watch this movie on l.s.d at least once in their life

[@Max-rn3eb]

@@alexanderrique579 watched like half of it for the first time yesterday after my friend who ive done a lot of acid with recommended it to me . plan to watch it the next time I take LSD

[@dennisburby8017]

This movie....is LSD.

[@mantistoboggan9788]

A half zip of mushrooms and the animations started expanding and merging with the setting around me. ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING

[@ayepursin395]

The first time I saw this movie it just came on TV while we were all on LSD, I stood up and talked for 3 hours after it ended.

[@swapnil3718]

this movie is all what you realize in an acid trip. the ineffable that you can't explain to anyone, linklater has done a fantastic job in translating those thoughts into words.

[@blinkth3dog]

This movie hits me as hard now at age 39 as it did when it came out 20 years ago. It gives me many chills, joys, sorrows,hopes.

[@Michael-et2uj]

This movie came out almost a month after September 11. I remember the Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert highly recommended it and said this movie could not have come at a better time. I went to see it in a mostly empty theater in Culver City, and then I went back it saw it the next day, and then I saw it again the next weekend. It was absolutely the right movie to watch during those bleak, depressing and fearful months after 9/11.

[@gud3742]

A thousand years is but an instant. There's nothing new, nothing different; same pattern over and over. The same clouds, same music, the same things I felt an hour or an eternity ago. There's nothing here for me now, nothing at all. Now I remember, this happened to me before. This is why I left. You have begun to find your answers. Although it will seem difficult the rewards will be great. Exercise your human mind as fully as possible knowing that it is only an exercise. Build beautiful artifacts, solve problems, explore the secrets of the physical universe, savor the input from all the senses, filled with joy and sorrow and laughter, empathy, compassion, and tote the emotional memory in your travel bag. I remember where I came from, and how I became human, why I hung around, and now my final departure's scheduled. This way out, escaping velocity. Not just eternity, but Infinity.

[@HammerBlow500]

I loves this movie! I kept saying to myself "Why don't real people talk like this?!"

[@heretopartyx3]

HammerBlow500 they do! these moments do exist, they're probably happening right now. you just have to make good choices on the people you surround yourself with

[@mimxiu5090]

+HammerBlow500 because they are asleep?

[@anthonylancebredes877]

They have no sleep

[@dididylan-pena6597]

We intense weirdos do

[@donley-io9hp]

Upon entering any town, ask a local, "where's the smug bullshitter nobody likes?" They will point you in the right direction, and you will find your people.

[@Japantiem]

People always say that this movie is pretentious, and NEVER provide any reasons why... how can it be pretentious? It is exactly what it is... a movie with people talking set to some trippy artwork. I think a lot of people need to revise their definition of "pretentious". This movie is not it.

[@OutOfTheBoxThinker]

A movie is typically called pretentious when it goes over most people's heads. People have a tendency to consider a topic, a conversation or a work of art "pretentious" when it involves ideas or people beyond their level of comprehension.

[@WalkAbout28]

OutOfTheBoxThinker All this movie is is a bunch of brief expressions of ideas and human emotion, to see it as pretentious means you're probably trying to make too much of it and failing. It doesn't provide any clear questions or answers or direction, it's just supposed to get you thinking. I don't see how this could be beyond anyone's "level of comprehension"

[@OutOfTheBoxThinker]

levi yearian IMO the movie goes way beyond brief expressions of ideas and human emotion. IMO "Waking Life" provides some of the deepest insights I've ever found in a movie.

[@nosleep1271]

+OutOfTheBoxThinker I concur, emphatically.

[@04dram04]

You clearly don't get what this movie is about. This movie is explaining the eastern philosophy that we are all experiencing a waking reality that is actually a dream state. Whe you go to sleep at night, it is just a dream, within a dream. Perhaps we are a collective consciousness of god's dream.

[@ZJ-Hebimetasan]

I enjoy watching this movie alone, it's one of my favorites. Never met someone I could talk to about this topics. Most people think, discussing ideas is pointless, unless it's a business idea.

[@gaurisam]

"It's bad enough that you sell your waking life for minimum wage, but now they get your dreams for free."

[@xTRVLNMANx]

My friend brought this movie over one night, never been the same since...

[@15070619942010512]

This is the kind of movie that seems to make real sense when one is stoned. I'm not joking.

[@OutOfTheBoxThinker]

When being high on marihuana, you mean? Try watching it during the final stages of an LSD trip. That's the setting this movie seems to be made for.

[@Caryutunarkzew]

***** You done bro? lol

[@15070619942010512]

OutOfTheBoxThinker Oh yeah for sure. All I'm saying is you can still catch the profundity in this film even if you're just having a sesh with mates and want to watch something. But yes acid is by far the optimal experience for it...

[@15070619942010512]

OutOfTheBoxThinker well?

[@mistyisland343]

Watch it with a completely sober mind and attest to the subject matter. Deliberately hear it, don't listen or experience. Then you will be able to truly delve into it, and the use of psychedelics and such will become irrelevant.

[@TheJayman213]

I need to rewatch this movie high af someday.

[@danarud3471]

You ever do it?😂

[@TheJayman213]

@@danarud3471 I did not :/

[@Vidyadude]

@@danarud3471 I'm about to.

[@AppealToTheStoned]

Highly recommended. Pun intended.

[@saileybowka3438]

from what i've seen from watching random scenes of this movie on yt i find that i am presented with uncomfortable truths about the nature of being told in abstractions. and whenever people feel uncomfortable or don't understand something, they usually place a negative meaning to it.

[@ryanshcrecongost4224]

Ik this is 4 years old but could u possibly elaborate plz

[@smoothandbold]

Best acid movie ever. It's like a visual poem. I can just put this on netflix in the background and listen to it like a podcast.

[@agbomb1385]

Stumbled upon this movie on eighth of shrooms. Badass🍄🔥

[@theplanetruth]

Yes!!!

[@dandycowb0y299]

Baking life

[@Tryppin]

there was no utter nonsense in this movie, if you think its utter nonesense you have yet to go deep enough into the depths of your own mind.

[@gaurisam]

Not many are willing to take that risk and that just sums up our world as we know it..

[@chadamc1]

My late fiancee Emily and my most favorite movie

[@Spvceman333]

You cant just watch this high off weed....gotta experience it on the lsd its critical.

[@milhousevanhouten529]

fo sho

[@alexspalding4945]

Critical definitely ... are we awake In a dream or sleep walking high on ketamine trying to walk in a straight line? The questions

[@renegadezen7841]

It's aged well. Still super dope

[@matthewred3]

Then I guess I'm not your average stoner because I watched this movie high as shit and fucking loved it. One of the greatest movies I have ever seen.

[@AndreideLosSantos]

My favorite movie of all.

[@GlenHallstrom]

I didn't read through all of the comments but I'm surprised that no one mentioned that this is a sort of sequel to Linklater's firs film "Slacker."

[@Ammon6]

Great movie, great music!

[@whackozombie]

A friend told me bout it... Guess what, I used to think he's an idiot and now I am fallin' in love with him coz this video and others made me realise the varied manifestations of beauty around me...

[@MobiusBandwidth]

absolutely.

[@MythObject]

@jomadasilva Exactly. I look at it as a journey of the unknown knowledge.

[@dontkeepthisname]

What a ridiculous insult to stoners. I'm a stoner and It's been my favorite film since my english teacher showed me in 11th grade.

[@WilkoParts]

Hey man, there's no need to literally destroy waking life with your fucking analogies. Thanks alot.

[@theplanetruth]

I love this film. I thought I loved INFINITY CHAMBER (and I do), but I LOVE THIS MOVIE.

[@malachickisawesome]

Nice

[@Frosty4447]

one of the best movies of all time

[@LordGreystoke]

and then we stop dreaming and we die. Life is but a flirtation of energy that moves on to something else.

[@thodorisvlastos6304]

Just happened to watch this movie .it was mesmerising . For its whole duration i was completely sucked in it .

[@callumewart520]

Movie kinda changed my life

[@romeosdistress]

@LeakedGamers Haha, no matter, no harm done.

[@danielsolorio3388]

It looks like the MOLOTOV FRIJOLERO VIDEO and also HIT ME.

[@ianryan379]

a scanner darkly

[@mygoditsfullofstarss]

@LatinFunkJazz how about attention defecit disorder? I've had the same feeling of dreaming thru my waking life (to steal a quote from the movie), and I was diagnosed as an adult as having severe ADD.

[@romeosdistress]

@LeakedGamers I would imagine it was a small enough dose to concentrate on the film? I can quite easily enter the state that the characters are in on a high dose, but I certainly wouldn't watch any film whilst doing so. To me, the definition of tripping is to remove yourself from the environment in which you're sitting.. if I drop 5 hits, I'm hardly going to bother working the remote at that point.

[@krishna_0777]

I watch this movie three time

[@AlkisGD]

My comment was half joking, half serious :p Sorry for not seeing the previous discussion, the person you were responding too deleted their comment and severed the thread. I should also note that I don't tend to care about the dates of comments. Replying to your comment mostly puts our comments in a thread that anyone can pick up, your (anyone's) answer isn't mandatory or even expected most of the time. Comments will exist as long as KZbin lasts/wants, which could be more than we do.

[@mesmeriffic]

@imsolive89 You're hilarious. You'd fit right into Oceania. Which has always been at war with Eastasia.

[@AlkisGD]

How about your non-average stoner seeking to experience this movie through, what they perceive to be, a transcendental clarity of perception, during an altered state of mind, brought on by the use of psychoactive substances?

[@tisue]

THIS WAY OUT, NOT JUST ETERNITY BUT INFINITY

[@dave2daresqu]

@LatinFunkJazz abstract thinking develops in the human mind at age 12..that is when we begin to think of all the intangible things....that might be the cause of ur thinking and constant questioning of reality.

[@eerievibes6854]

Low budget scanner darkly vibe

[@kareemshams4541]

Please people, anyone know a movie with a similar philosophical touch like this one? Best movie definitely

[@meredith5879]

This film is the best example I can find of what 17 years of severe dissociation/derealisation was like. Feeling of being dead and the world feeling intangible. I thought the way out was to study ontological philosophy but in the end of was all useless. I finally got out by finding medicine that balanced out my chemical deficiency. Still have nightmares about what it was like.

[@afunnywill]

That's a bit presumptuous. i consider myself a bit of a stoner and watching the movie high gave me the ability to watch it from a different and arguably more introspective perspective. Let's not forget Linklater wrote/directed one of the most cult stoner movies of all time. I'm fully convinced he had stoners in mind when he made this. the visuals specifically have a very broad appeal.

[@romeosdistress]

Not that it's any of your business, but I'm a recovering addict. I know quite a lot about what it means to self-identify with words relating to drug use and as such none of them say anything about the person other than that they do so at the expense of something else. If someone is stoned out of their mind whilst watching a film, they're not really watching the film. I'm not sure what's so controversial about that statement..

[@imsolive89]

@amindbody of course you can test them out, just by believing in them is testing them out. Tell a christian that his religion is no good because you cant test it out or someone else cant test it out. he'll laugh at you. It works for him because he believes in it like it were scientifically proven. So you must take strange ideas and believe in them like god and if they fail you just try another idea and keep on believing

[@imsolive89]

@mesmeriffic when you are able to tell yourself 2+2 = 5. You will be ready

[@mesmeriffic]

@imsolive89 Hahah what? Where are these people who became invulnerable to bullets and could fly once they believed they were superman? Since it's so absurd that someone could really believe what you just said I'll assume you were joking. Ideas can only be "manifested" if they were consistent with reality in the first place. If you don't believe electromagnetism exists, do all the molecules in your body suddenly fly apart? No. Your beliefs only matter as inspiration for actions in reality.

[@dontkeepthisname]

It's not my business, I never asked. If they aren't watching the film, what are they doing?

[@mllll5382]

Not resurrecting an old conversation but romeodistress, the fact that you said you were an addict says it all.You also mentioned 'escapism' yeah, that is what addicts do, not normal people who take drugs for recreational or even medicinal or therapeutic ways. You were simply abusing it to feel numb, it is no wonder why you would not get it while being high. Not to say I got 100% of it, there were parts where I was tripping too much on the artwork, but their words did ring true to me for whatever it meant during that time even if I cannot remember it now...though that was years upon years ago. In my opinion I believe you are just simply projecting onto others. Doubt you will ever see this, but it had to be said. This is coming from someone whom has lost a friend to addiction, so do not even pull that crap on me.

[@romeosdistress]

You are replying to a comment that's about 15 months old and I think the matter is essentially put to bed now. Read through the thread if you wish, but I'm not really interested in adding anything new - not being aggressive or anything, just don't feel like going back to this topic.

[@romeosdistress]

I'm not particularly fussed if I insult stoners. I am sure if you smoke a bit of thai stick to mellow out before putting on a film, that might help you from being distracted from anything else, but when you can hardly keep your eyes open because you're so lean, you'd be better off watching Anchorman. If someone self identifies as a "stoner" I would imagine they are in the second camp, not the first.

[@newbiebaker]

@LatinFunkJazz hey me too since my 12 years! im confused...

[@romeosdistress]

@LeakedGamers no, not particularly. Trolling someone into thinking they're having a real conversation with a potentially intellectual conclusion doesn't really say much about your intellectual prowess. Shame.

[@baronwaffles391]

Way better on powerful mushrooms but rather dangerous...

[@mesmeriffic]

@imsolive89 Just because someone believes ideas that spur profound emotions doesn't mean the ideas themselves are real or valid. It just means that those ideas are powerful in making that person feel 'enlightened' or just happy. This is particularly evident by the multitude of believers who subscribe to contradictory religions and mutually exclusive philosophies. It seems like it's just emotion and pandering to our personal biases.

[@matt2.052]

You clearly don't understand the point then

[@romeosdistress]

Maybe so; I wasn't really someone who ever got that whole moderation thing other people were talking about. My drug of choice never was weed and I tended to look down in a very presumptuous way people for whom it was. A year without any drug in, that all feels a bit silly to me now. Peace.

[@mariadelrosarioherrera9691]

mmmm dont think any of it is nonsense

[@romeosdistress]

I didn't care for your insinuations that I didn't know what I was talking about. When the truth is, I do, more than you realize. It's a fairly obvious answer as well. If you are off your face, you are busy being off your face. Not studiously absorbing discourse on posthumanism, semiotics, or Flow My Tears the Policeman Said. Again, I don't see what I've said that is so controversial. As a sober ex-junkie, there's little as tiresome as elitist stoner pseudo-intellecutialism.

[@zanderbagley6836]

kinda funny alex jones is in this movie

[@romeosdistress]

@DudeYourRight What a ridiculous insult of this great film. Your average stoner wouldn't last 3 minutes with this film.

[@shannonparatene1957]

It's this simple, if anyone knows of a better philosophical movie (not doco) that's better than this, name it.

[@04dram04]

This guy clearly doesn't get this movie. This movie is explaining the eastern philosophy that we are all experiencing a waking reality that is actually a dream state. perhaps a collective consciousness of god's dream.

[@rudraksh5840]

Of course you don't know what you are talking about.

[@matt2.052]

​@@rudraksh5840wym?

[@krishna_0777]

Advaita vedanta philosophy waking state dreaming state and deep sleep state and last forth is when we wake up when we reach our real nature of self (atman) turiya is forth state sometimes it's called as nirvikalpa samadhi i think some point are misleading in my comments and i think i write unaccurate but its fact

[@krishna_0777]

But eastern philosophy is Little bit confusing

[@krishna_0777]

Eastern philosophers not go for progress they go for what is life

[@dontkeepthisname]

Well, I hope that you're aware that your assumptions and imagination is very far from reality. I'm sorry you judge people so easily based on your preconceived ideas of what the word 'stoner' implies.

[@yaratzejimena5058]

indio

[@AJsMillions]

Eugh! I can't believe so many people are recommending LSD to go hand in hand with this film.

[@leonardcsapo416]

Hey man! Didn't expect to see you here :D

[@sunkintree]

In this barely functioning existence, most people lack the ability to turn themselves inwards and think, until ushered to do so by chemical intervention. It's merely a reflection of society. No need to get hung up about it.

[@TomHutchinson5]

Not Scott's best work.

[@c0mputer]

Screw this crap. When does Transformers 6 come out? I hear a robot poops out a boombox in this one!

[@babys0382]

The animation is so creepy.

[@haozi2978]

Sophomoric intro philosophy....nothing deep

[@vervor]

It’s a movie about way more than philosophy. It’s more about ideas in general and experiencing reality and how and why we do. To reduce it to “sophomoric philosophy” is really selling it short, and trite.