It is worth noting the similarities and differences in the tones of the two films. Almost all of Blade Runner is in the dark. The main colors are blue and gray. Although A Scanner Darkly is full of California’s famous golden sunlight, it is full of depression and despair. This dry and weak tone portrays the protagonist. The mental state of his companions plays an important role. Another important visual element is naturally the rotoscope animation used in the film. After reading the original novel, readers begin to doubt their perception of reality. If the film is to faithfully reproduce the novel, this feature should also be retained. Rotoscoping technology retains a sufficient sense of reality on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can express the feeling of characters in a psychedelic state. Compared with pure animation or traditional movies with lower cost, it can indeed bring the audience into a real and fake better. Discerning world.
The film basically faithfully reproduces the plot of the novel, and all expresses the worries of human beings who master advanced technology but use it indiscriminately. Scrambling suit and high-tech monitoring methods are the only sci-fi elements in the work, which play an indispensable role in the development of the plot, but sci-fi elements are only means. A Scanner Darkly focuses more on the destructive effects of drugs on human souls and even the disintegration of society as a whole. Philip K. Dick himself was dependent on amphetamines and lived with a group of drug-dependent people. This may make him write novels with a self-dissecting mentality, which makes the novels particularly cruel and heavy. Feeling, and brought this feeling into the movie.
Novels and films also allude to other social realities, such as large-scale surveillance. Although this point does not show a direct connection with the theme of the film, a character in the film says: "The more surveillance we have, the more drug we use." And the film also mentions that the reason for the increased dose of drug addicts is huge pressure. Therefore, perhaps the alienation and mental suffering of people under advanced surveillance technology is also one of the themes to be explored in the film/fiction.
The whole movie is filled with a lot of long dialogues, difficult noun explanations, and constantly changing perspectives of the screen language. The plot is also very difficult to understand, and it may be difficult to fully understand just by watching it, just like Keanu's the Matrix seven years ago. . But A Scanner Darkly has only three gunshots in the whole movie, so it is not suitable for audiences who want to see handsome men and beauties or hot scenes. But if you want to further understand Philip K. Dick and the recurring themes in his novels: the confused male protagonist, the terrifying large-scale company and the mysterious, neurotic black-haired woman, A Scanner Darkly should be a movie worthy of repeated taste.
For the original text, see my blog:
http://celadevra.wordpress.com/2006/08/18/a-scanner-darkly/
View more about A Scanner Darkly reviews
