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Waking Life

  • 20012001
  • RR
  • 1h 39m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
64K
YOUR RATING
Waking Life (2001)
Home Video Trailer from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Play trailer1:03
1 Video
99+ Photos
  • Animation
  • Drama
  • Fantasy
A man shuffles through a dream meeting various people and discussing the meanings and purposes of the universe.A man shuffles through a dream meeting various people and discussing the meanings and purposes of the universe.A man shuffles through a dream meeting various people and discussing the meanings and purposes of the universe.
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
64K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Richard Linklater
  • Writer
    • Richard Linklater
  • Stars
    • Ethan Hawke
    • Trevor Jack Brooks
    • Lorelei Linklater
Top credits
  • Director
    • Richard Linklater
  • Writer
    • Richard Linklater
  • Stars
    • Ethan Hawke
    • Trevor Jack Brooks
    • Lorelei Linklater
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 527User reviews
    • 143Critic reviews
    • 83Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 wins & 21 nominations

    Videos1

    Waking Life
    Trailer 1:03
    Waking Life

    Photos101

    Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater at an event for Waking Life (2001)
    Ethan Hawke at an event for Waking Life (2001)
    Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater at an event for Waking Life (2001)
    Ethan Hawke at an event for Waking Life (2001)
    Ethan Hawke at an event for Waking Life (2001)
    Richard Linklater at an event for Waking Life (2001)
    Waking Life (2001)
    Waking Life (2001)
    Waking Life (2001)
    Waking Life (2001)
    Waking Life (2001)
    Waking Life (2001)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ethan Hawke
    Ethan Hawke
    • Jesseas Jesse
    Trevor Jack Brooks
    • Young Boy Playing Paper Gameas Young Boy Playing Paper Game
    Lorelei Linklater
    Lorelei Linklater
    • Young Girl Playing Paper Gameas Young Girl Playing Paper Game
    Wiley Wiggins
    Wiley Wiggins
    • Main Characteras Main Character
    Glover Gill
    • Accordion Playeras Accordion Player
    Lara Hicks
    • Violin Playeras Violin Player
    Ames Asbell
    • Viola Playeras Viola Player
    Leigh Mahoney
    • Viola Playeras Viola Player
    Sara Nelson
    • Cello Playeras Cello Player
    Jeanine Attaway
    • Piano Playeras Piano Player
    Erik Grostic
    • Bass Playeras Bass Player
    Bill Wise
    • Boat Car Guyas Boat Car Guy
    Robert C. Solomon
    • Philosophy Professoras Philosophy Professor
    Kim Krizan
    Kim Krizan
    • Selfas Self
    Eamonn Healy
    • Shape-Shifting Manas Shape-Shifting Man
    J.C. Shakespeare
    • Burning Manas Burning Man
    Julie Delpy
    Julie Delpy
    • Celineas Celine
    Charles Gunning
    • Angry Man in Jailas Angry Man in Jail
    • Director
      • Richard Linklater
    • Writer
      • Richard Linklater
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The movie took 3 weeks to shoot and another 3 weeks to edit using Final Cut Pro. It also took 15 months to animate.
    • Quotes

      Speed Levitch: On really romantic evenings of self, I go salsa dancing with my confusion.

    • Crazy credits
      Because almost none of the characters are named, a clip from their appearance is shown during the credits.
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: The Million Dollar Hotel/The Invisible Circus/Head Over Heels (2001)
    • Soundtracks
      Mi Otra Mitad de Naranja
      Performed by Tosca Tango Orchestra (as TOSCA)

      Written by Glover Gill

      Courtesy of Nois Records

    User reviews527

    Review
    Top review
    Waking Life: philosophical therapy.
    This film, if seen by someone who has DEEPLY considered the mysteries of life, will thoroughly delight. If you don't have a spiritual bone in your body, avoid. It has its flaws, but only in retrospect or through the eyes of another will they be found--and then forgiven if you have even an ounce of heart or a particle of transcendence.

    It gets beneath one's radar and past one's filters.

    For instance, it hits you perceptually with constantly varying animation styles, and after some time, you adjust to this so much that when you leave the theater, THE WORLD IS ANIMATED--a poetic way of saying that your connection to the proposition that all things are real is loosen WONDERFULLY!

    And then, it hits you intellectually by parading a dozen+ viewpoints of persons who would not necessarily disagree with one another, but show the vast importance to us of the personal way we manifest our philosophical axioms and how much that depends on our individual interests-not all of us are psychologically constructed to be philosophers, but all of us can be analyzed to have a philosophical set of suppositions. Waking Life challenges these suppositions by merely presenting to you, in dramatic form, persons who vividly present their `takes' on the concepts and how they are impacted by them...especially emotionally.

    Ultimately, this is not a movie, and it shouldn't be viewed as such; instead, one should approach it as therapy. See it, be with it, relax, and GROW. Every time you see it again, the concepts saturate your nervous system with reinforcing patterns that will later "echo" in your dynamics in synergistic ways. A seed gets planted and with repeated viewings the seed gets watered.

    Go to this event. See it from a seat that's within the first ten rows of the theater; immerse yourself. Let go. All you have to lose (loosen) is identification with a reflection of the real you.
    helpful•116
    35
    • kolangandedg
    • Nov 7, 2001

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 7, 2002 (Australia)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Đánh Thức Cuộc Đời
    • Filming locations
      • San Antonio, Texas, USA
    • Production companies
      • Fox Searchlight Pictures
      • Independent Film Channel (IFC)
      • Thousand Words
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $2,901,447
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $88,977
      • Oct 21, 2001
    • Gross worldwide
      • $3,176,880
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 39 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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