Waking Life: Difference between revisions

In a 2001 interview Linklater estimated that the idea for the film "before I was even interested in film, probably 20 years ago.".<ref name="AVclubinterview">{{cite web|last1=Tobias|first1=Scott|title=INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD LINKLATER|url=http://www.avclub.com/article/richard-linklater-13739|website=AV Club|accessdate=20 March 2017}}</ref> Despite the long gestation process in his head, Linklater noted that before he came up with the idea of rotoscoping the film "didn't quite work" calling it "too blunt, too realistic"<ref name="IGN">{{cite web|last1=D,|first1=Spence|title=INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD LINKLATER|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2001/10/20/interview-with-richard-linklater|website=IGN|accessdate=20 March 2017}}</ref> stating that "I think to make a realistic film about an unreality the film had to be an realistic unreality.".<ref name="IGN"/>

Critical reaction has been mostly positive. It holds a rating of 80% across 137 reviews on review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]] — with critical consensus that "the talky, animated ''Waking Life'' is a unique, cerebral experience" — and an average score of 82/100 ("universal acclaim") on [[Metacritic]], based on 31 reviews.<ref name="RT"/><ref name="Metacritic"/> [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave the film four stars out of four, describing it as "a cold shower of bracing, clarifying ideas.".<ref name="Sun-Times"/> Ebert later included the film on his list of "Great Movies".<ref name="RogerEbert"/> Lisa Schwarzbaum of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' awarded the film an "A" rating, calling it "a work of cinematic art in which form and structure pursues the logic-defying (parallel) subjects of dreaming and moviegoing,"<ref name="Schwarzbaum"/> while [[Stephen Holden]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' said it was "so verbally dexterous and visually innovative that you can't absorb it unless you have all your wits about you.".<ref name="Holden"/> [[Dave Kehr]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' found the film to be "lovely, fluid, funny" and stated that it "never feels heavy or over-ambitious.".<ref name="Kehr"/>

Conversely, [[J. Hoberman]] of ''[[The Village Voice]]'' felt that ''Waking Life'' "doesn't leave you in a dream&nbsp;... so much as it traps you in an endless bull session.".<ref name="Hoberman"/> [[Frank Lovece]] felt the film was "beautifully drawn" but called its content "pedantic navel-gazing.".<ref name="Lovece"/>

The ''[[Waking Life OST]]'' was performed and written by Glover Gill and the [[Tosca Tango Orchestra]], except for [[Frédéric Chopin]]'s Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2. The soundtrack was relatively successful. Featuring the [[nuevo tango]] style, it bills itself "the 21st Century Tango.". The tango contributions were influenced by the music of the Argentine "father of new tango" [[Ástor Piazzolla]].