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A Scanner Darkly
... was brilliant. Go and see it. Apart from a couple of departures1, it was very close to the book - the dialogue was (as far as I can tell) pretty much lifted entirely from the text. It really caught the feel of the story, with its ambiguity, its paranoia, and its ruminations on identity and perception - the first film of a Dick book to take the philosophy seriously. The rotoscoping was a great idea, particularly the way it allowed them to have bits of scenery moving around randomly - very psychedelic. The aphid sequence at the beginning was brilliant - in the book it's just a bit weird and unsettling, but in the film it's hands-in-mouth awful. And the "list of the fallen" at the end had me close to tears.
For those of you not in the know, Keanu plays Robert Arctor, an undercover drugs squad detective trying to uncover the supply of Substance D ("Slow Death"). But in order to infiltrate the drug subculture, he has to become a drug user, and eventually becomes an addict. Worse, the drug gangs have so heavily infiltrated the police that even his superiors can't know his cover identity, so he must report on himself as if he were a criminal. The Substance D breaks down the connection between the two halves of his brain, causeing hallucinations and cognitive impairment, and makes him forget who he is - is he a narc posing as an addict, or an addict posing as a narc? And who is this "Bob Arctor" guy on the scanners, and where's he getting all that money from?
In other news,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mrpjantarctica has changed the look of his site, and I've finally found a computer that can play his (excellent) videos of life in Antarctica. Go and watch them!
[And speaking of Antarctica, here's some drily funny advice for contractors at McMurdo base.
1 A couple of characters are elided, some plot points of mostly minor significance are changed somewhat, and there's a reference to "our troops fighting in foreign lands to stop the drug supply".
For those of you not in the know, Keanu plays Robert Arctor, an undercover drugs squad detective trying to uncover the supply of Substance D ("Slow Death"). But in order to infiltrate the drug subculture, he has to become a drug user, and eventually becomes an addict. Worse, the drug gangs have so heavily infiltrated the police that even his superiors can't know his cover identity, so he must report on himself as if he were a criminal. The Substance D breaks down the connection between the two halves of his brain, causeing hallucinations and cognitive impairment, and makes him forget who he is - is he a narc posing as an addict, or an addict posing as a narc? And who is this "Bob Arctor" guy on the scanners, and where's he getting all that money from?
In other news,
mrpjantarctica has changed the look of his site, and I've finally found a computer that can play his (excellent) videos of life in Antarctica. Go and watch them![And speaking of Antarctica, here's some drily funny advice for contractors at McMurdo base.
In the constellation of complaints, food and mail are the brightest stars. There is little you can say about either subject that has not already been whined, moaned, or groaned about already. In the interest of craftsmanship, it is best to remember that if you are going to complain, then you should do so in a way that entertains those around you, because no one really feels sorry for you anyway.]
1 A couple of characters are elided, some plot points of mostly minor significance are changed somewhat, and there's a reference to "our troops fighting in foreign lands to stop the drug supply".