My dad couldn't bear to watch the second half of this movie because right before he got his life together and went to school and became a family man, he lost 3 friends to drug induced psychosis.
These were my comrades whom I had. There are no better. They remain in my mind, and the enemy will never be forgotten. The "enemy" was their mistake in playing. Let them play again, in some other way, and let them be happy. My favourite quote of all time.
I love that at the last second of the movie he completes his mission without knowing it. The narrative of the films closes from that last line in that last second, the camera pans up and then you get Phil's remembrance, flawless. I cried when i saw this in the theaters.
It's such a bitter sweet ending... It seems as if Bob will bring the flower back and allow the police to bring down New Path and arrest the bastards, but even if he is successful, he's pretty much dead. He will never get back his mind, he will never be his old self again, just this shell. And that's the greatest point of this film: there are bad guys on both sides. They gave him the drugs without him ever knowing or wanting, and they knew it would destroy him. Sure, it may save millions of lives by arresting the drug makers, but is one innocent life worth it? What an amazing film...
You can take it either way, that he's just lost, or maybe the flower triggered some spark. And in that spark something is rekindled, psychosis is not necessarily permanent. So I choose to believe the latter, because he deserves to play again.
I agree with you. I think the ending is supposed to be hopeful. I've seen this film at least 6-8 times, it's one of my favorites of all time. The way he says he saw death rising from the earth... it sounds more like himself before he became a "husk". I think that's the spark Donna was talking about. Not only does it seem like he completes his mission, he may one day be alright again. This movie hits me in a way I can't describe. I recently lost my brother to addiction, and it only brings more meaning to this masterpiece.
That piece at the end. 'The "enemy" was their mistake in playing. Let them play again, in some other way, and let them be happy'. It absolutely breaks my heart. Especially knowing people who were destroyed by use. The idea a person can start down that road, make that mistake and it just rips them apart piece by piece and it was never their intention for that to be their fate. And having fucked up what it must be to look back on that place in the past that once was and realize just how untarnished you were. World could use less victims.
It was the ultimate drug book. It would have been the ultimate drug movie were it not spoiled by the absurd animation treatment it received. Too much Substance D??
@@bobaldo2339 the animation makes the movie, else they would've had to resort to CGI or something like that. the rotoscoping conveys the tweaker state of mind perfectly. it's actually quite genius imo.
InfamousMedia imo though while these are around the same rough topics i think philip k dick more has to do with empathy while requiem has more to do with ambition
I always tell people this is the strongest anti drug movie/book ever made. Never once does it tell you not to do drugs, it just shows the true danger of burnout and addiction.
if you have no sympathy for drug addicts, you might be just as uneducated, blinded or clueless, if not even more of it than most drug addicts.. i'm glad this movie helped you understand, i hope you can put it to good use..
my mother had brain damage from bath salts when I was younger. she recovered and gave her life to Jesus. When I was sixteen she was losing the cartilage in her spine. she could not afford treatment so they gave her fucking narcotic pain killers. she overdosed and died in her bedroom while I was playing Halo with my buddies. I found her after I turned my xbox off. I remember her funeral service at the church she would attend. they held it for free and over 200 people showed up. almost all of them had a testimony about how she saved their lives. One lady told a story about how she said "I wish God would take me now." and my mother put her hands on her shoulder and said "it's not your turn yet while smiling kindly." they have a mural of her on the wall of the house they hold there recovery meetings. The companies that make bath salts and synthetic marijauna still exist and more and more minds are destroyed by it. Her legacy must not be in vain. RIP Kimberly Ann Ballentine. you were the kindest and most loving person I have ever known. Maybe that's why God took you home. This world is hell.
When he bends down to pick up the flower it looks like a finger and an ear reaching out the soil. As if the ground is fertilised with the bodies of dead 'patients' at New Path. Great film will have to see if that is mentioned in the book
New Path is mess up really badly. They drug on people, destroy their lives, use them as cheap work labor and finally the bodies of those dead by the addiction they created are used to fertilize more drugs. Talk about Nightmare Fuel.
It really gives you a disturbing sense of how any law may resort to exploiting the weak for the sake of a 'greater good'. A Scanner Darkly reminds me that each individual, no matter what their faults can be, has equal human rights. Keanu Reeves is profoundly better here than he was in The Matrix.
A very under-rated movie. My friends at the time didn't get it. They thought it was just a cool movie to get high to. As someone with lasting effects from drug use in my teens, it hit me right in the feels. Thank you for this story, PKD.
The worst part/best part about it is Bob's treatment at the end. He's a child, mentally incapable, and that's how a lot of us feeling leaving that world behind or getting caught in the act. They don't treat you with dignity. So much shame, anger, fear, disappointment, missed opportunity from leaving that world and continual cycle of getting high, getting sober, getting high, getting sober. One day, you turn to face the past and all the poor decisions you made and it smacks you on the face like a cob web in an attic. Such a great portrayal of how it feels to be in recovery. I was an opioid abuser and I'll bet you my life that the doctors who treated me for it also had their hands in the pie like in a Scanner Darkly. The losers get trapped and the sellers get rich and on it goes.
Nate Salcido I was thinking more along the lines of a government organization that takes possession of drugs from drug lords then throws them right back out on the streets.
Trevor Philips the ending of this film reminds me of the end of requiem for a dream not as bleak obviously but that realisation of things are not as good as what they are is equally just as haunting
E Oyibo I think it depends largely on the role he's cast in. Something like this, he's a great fit because he can easily do the stiff, wooden acting, along with the scatterbrain he was while with his friends.
It worked cause of the rotoscoping really numbed down the facial expressions :D, no but he did work in this role, i think he can manage when he writing and directing really works to bring the better out of him.
I believe he is a bad actor, but i think it does not matter if he is bad or not...He is one of the most disciplined, modest, unpretending and professional actors in industry. He takes his job seriously regardless the movie he is acting in..That is the reason why i respect him and that is the reason why the studios keep hiring him..
May god rest the soul of those that suffered the hands of their addiction. At least they are at peace... That is what I think Phil was trying to convey, and I'm not even religious! They are comforting words though...
Some suggest this scene suggests hope of recovery for Bob Arctor, but that's not what I got. The closing lines speak of casualties and innocence and people not deserving what they got. To me, this scene frames Bob as an involuntary martyr who will never resemble his old self, but whose sacrifice holds hope of striking a major blow against evil. There is hope here, but Bob has no better outcome than living long enough and finding enough coherence to testify to what he's seen. His great reward would be little more than a soft bed and compassionate handling for the remainder of his days. He is unique only in that his employers needed him to succumb to his addictions for their purposes. The film is about the nonviolent nature of most drug use, and how its perpetrators and victims are generally the same people. With Bob, this is elevated in that he is a drug enforcer with a drug addiction whose superiors know about his weakness but have a use for it. Of all the paranoid types he hangs out with, Bob would have been the most justified in paranoia if he had any idea of the truth.
I agree. The only positive takeaway from the ending is that maybe, after everything, his unwitting sacrifice will have been worth something in the grand scheme by helping bring down New Path. But he himself won't ever be the same.
“This has been a novel about some people who were punished entirely too much for what they did. They wanted to have a good time, but they were like children playing in the street; they could see one after another of them being killed--run over, maimed, destroyed--but they continued to play anyhow... If there was any "sin," it was that these people wanted to keep on having a good time forever, and were punished for that, but, as I say, I feel that, if so, the punishment was far too great... These were comrades whom I had; there are no better. They remain in my mind, and the enemy will never be forgiven. The "enemy" was their mistake in playing. Let them all play again, in some other way, and let them be happy.”
I have first seen it in 2006, it was really upsetting. I was in my early adulthood back then, and it really touched, confused and frightened me at the same time. I did not see the movie, just this ending, because my flatmates watched it, and I only went inside when this ending played.
I remember when I was about 14 I would hang with a couple friends (they where 2 brothers and there father, they felt like family after a time) all the time at their house. They were really cool, down to earth people. But they had a lot of strange characters come around there house, more so after there dad got out of jail from a dui. Came to find out later when I was about 16 that some ex cons started cooking meth and selling it out of the house. I found this out when I came by in the aftermath of a police raid. I found my friends dad and his girlfriend drinking because both his kids and her son got taken any and they felt hopeless. I sat and talked with them about trying to get there kids back, fortunately there dad seemed to take the advice to heart and checked himself into rehab and eventually got his kids back. One of his sons went on to be sucessful, clean of drugs, and just had a kid recently. The other son was taking care of his dad after he had a stroke. Until he fell in with a bad crowd and started making dumb choices. Now there dad is living in a V.A. and the oldest son ex-communicated all friends, got into coke, and let his dad get evicted to run off with an escort in the ghetto. He may not be a friend anymore but I still worry about him. He was one of the few friends I considered brother. The only other person to make it out was a kid named Junior who was a shit at first but became cool later, gave his life to the church, and is doing his best to raise a deaf dauther, became a nutritionist in TX. everyone else from that house is either in jail, dead, homeless, or hold up in another den.
People call Keanu Reeves a bad actor, and say the only film he actually acted in was The Matrix. I never gave any of that much thought, but I've always felt Keanu was brilliant in this film.
The ending brings back memories of those I have seen buried or trapped in a nightmare they could only escape in death. Dick's words ring true, they pass on to us the pain of his life and loss of so much he loved. Rest Phillip, we will always remember you.
I read the book so many years ago. I loved the ending... cuz it's not fucking Disneyland. I recommend also The 3 stigmata of Palmer Eldritch and The Penultimate Truth.
Sad but true. Perfect ending though; his self-destructive cycle of addiction reaches its logical end, but at least it's not all in vain. I'll be visiting an old friend soon, at the long-term care facility where she lives [permanent brain damage, permanent liver damage, 'nuff said]. I might bring her a blue flower, if I can find one. Oh well. At least it's not Thanksgiving. ;-P
Yes we have so many overdoses in BC some might even be on purpose as suicide attempts but they rarely talk about the people who don't die but are damaged physically or mentally permanently. People don't realize how easy it is to get hooked on some drugs either. Lots of heroin users were prescribed opioids from a trusted doctor to start off with too.
I always recommend the book or the movie to people, on the surface it’s a psychological thrill ride and when you go deeper you see what it’s truly about.
This movie totally reminds me of and seems like the heroin problem in our country today. Even though it's not a perfect solution the only better alternative is to legalize and regulate it's use (all hard drugs).Would you rather your loved ones and family members pay $1 a day while being supervised by a nurse or pay $300 a day to be poisoned and OD. Sad choice to make but it's whats realistic.
Seeing this movie for the first time as a teenager I did not get it. Seeing it for the second time a few years ago as a 28 year old man I was able to fully understand the movie. The ending left me feeling empty.
This is such a great movie not just because of the story, but how relatable it is. The drug is called “Substance D” cause PKD wanted the audience to imagine themselves a Bob, and the rest of the characters, to show what addiction can lead to. The crazy one at the beginning who sees the bugs(Freck), was if you were to keep on going down the path of addiction, and Borris(RDJ), Bob(Keanu), and Ernie(Woody), we’re all people at different stages of addiction. Whether it’s a drug, attention, social media, or Pron addiction. See help so you and play again; so you can be free. Don’t get trapped, by temptation or temporary happiness. Dopamine is a drug and a nasty one at that.
Cede control of your consciousness to anything but your own natural will and you become the potential zombie of: A) Psychopharmacology, B) Ideology, C) Theology, D) Technology, or: E) All of the Above-ology. Dick knew how to twist the twisted until it became the serpent that bit its own tail- and sometimes thereby woke itself up -by the pain and surprise and absurdity and laughter and terror of/at accidentally sinking one's teeth into oneself, -and the World you are. Art art ~in short.
i'm not afraid to admit i got choked up watching this ending. I hate that in our world innocent people have had to needlessly die over greed, lust for power and plain ignorance and intolerance. didn't mean to go on a rant but it's just sad
This film is very complex in nature, and there are many valid interpretations. As I live longer, see more, and revisit this film, more and more stands out, and more and more comes to light. It sheds light on the war on drugs, but it is much deeper than that. I believe that substance D is synonymous for the idea of Democracy. We believe that Democracy ensures our freedoms, but behind the scenes it is slowly entrapping us, soon to be slaves just as Bruce.
Wow...no, he didn't act in the Matrix, he had an entire movie written for him where he was essentially the character himself, same with this one. But I'll always know him as the more famous half of the Wyld Stallionz.
This movie has more to do with life than just addiction. We work so hard to be happy in life, only to find that we become addited to what we have to do in order to feel that joy. When we become addicts, we are merely prisoners sentanced to life with hard reality.
A blue flower (German: Blaue Blume) is a central symbol of inspiration. It stands for desire, love, and the metaphysical striving for the infinite and unreachable. It symbolizes the beauty of things. I don't think that this was a film/book about government corruption...maybe it is about those of us who do look deeper into reality...and our vision becomes dark...
A blue flower (German: Blaue Blume) is a central symbol of inspiration. It stands for desire, love, and the metaphysical striving for the infinite and unreachable. It symbolizes the beauty of things. I have read that the German author Novalis was the first to use this symbol . The main character was told to bring his girl blue flowers and that if he kept his sense of humor then he 'just might make it'...but he had already 'made it'...he was searching for more but his vision became dark.
Does this scene not enrage anyone else...this shit has been going on since we can remember. The elite know how to play the game.. I can't wait until we are one ahead of the. Dream on Bruce, Dream on Phillip our day will come and those resposible will tremble.
why can't he see the flowers when he stands up? Are they just too small for him to see from his height? I've always wondered if there's some like technology at play that's hiding the flowers, or if he's just so brain damaged that he doesn't understand he can't make out the small flowers (which would be pretty profoundly brain damaged, even by the standards set in the film)
In the book one of those men puts his hand in front of bob’s face blocking his view of the flowers on the ground and bob thinks they disappeared cause he’s so zoned out.
Arctor isn't the only one working in the fields. New Path has hundreds of enslaved druggies working for them. That's just another one of them. (They wouldn't have ONE guy tending all their flowers by himself).
I saw this movie at age 15. At the time, I thought that was a lot of people sick, dead, or dying because of drugs. Now the list seems much shorter to me.
P. K. Dick never had luck for good adaptations. Sure, Blade Runner is a great movie, but Dick's book was barely inspiration for it since main idea behind didn't even appear. In the book it's stated clearly that Androids even though they get more advanced and could pretend to be human, they couldn't do more - only pretend, cuz they lacked very important thing -> empathy. Most important motive of the book was empathy and how it makes us what we are. Same could be said about Total Recall or Minority Report - both fine sci-fi movies, but unfaithful adaptations. Scanner Darkly is different. This is very first, solid and faithful adaptation of P.K Dick book. Sure, there are minor changes, mostly about characters, but the main message, moral of the story stays the same. This book was about people that gave away their lifes for temporary moments of joy. It's about people who sold their future cheap. It was very important for Dick. He, more than any other person knew how narcotics destroy and burn mind, psyche. He wanted to tell a story about people who he once knew, people that were important to him, people who he watched disappear one after another. I think that of all books based or inspired by his stories, this would satisfy him the most.
I saw this movie recently and completely love this scene and all, but I'm not quite sold on the animation, feels like its just messing with my head, specially with those anonymous suits they wear.
That was the idea, to leave you feeling uneasy and disassociated. Life in the world of drugs, a much different reality than most people will ever know. I sort of grew up around this world and spent some time in it when I was living in san francisco, watching people I got to know simply disappear and reappear totally changed and often very desperate. Oddly one of the worst addicts I knew popped back into my life totally clean, it was still him, still crazy but also no longer self destructive and so selfish and fearful. That whole world is frightening and crazy.
Yeah is cold but look it this way. You can`t force your friends when they decide to fuck themselves up with drugs... there are interventions, but that's it. In the end they have to be the ones who decide to stay sober or to go down the downward spiral.
I think he can't see them because his mind has basically split into two by the point...damaged from the drug. So, one part of himself saw the flowers and knows they r there. And then the other part of his mind is in denial because that facility/rehab center claims to be battling the war on substance d so his natural reaction would be disbelief. Anyway that is my theory...maybe read the book...explained better I'm sure
Its not about whats causing because thats already established that the drugs derives from the blue flowers grown at newpath.They just needed the evidence to be able to shut them down.Bob sacrificed his life to end this epidemic.
The "Phil" in end credits is actually Phillip K Dick, mourning his own loss to addiction.
My dad couldn't bear to watch the second half of this movie because right before he got his life together and went to school and became a family man, he lost 3 friends to drug induced psychosis.
These were my comrades whom I had. There are no better. They remain in my mind, and the enemy will never be forgotten. The "enemy" was their mistake in playing. Let them play again, in some other way, and let them be happy. My favourite quote of all time.
Had to become an addict to stop the suppliers...That's crazy and brilliant at the same time.
AMN O-Jay he was sacrificed without even knowing it
Orange County sheriffs must have taken a page out the CIA playbook.
Most beautiful tribute to fallen friends and comrades in addiction ever put on paper.
Truth
I love that at the last second of the movie he completes his mission without knowing it. The narrative of the films closes from that last line in that last second, the camera pans up and then you get Phil's remembrance, flawless. I cried when i saw this in the theaters.
It's such a bitter sweet ending...
It seems as if Bob will bring the flower back and allow the police to bring down New Path and arrest the bastards, but even if he is successful, he's pretty much dead.
He will never get back his mind, he will never be his old self again, just this shell.
And that's the greatest point of this film: there are bad guys on both sides. They gave him the drugs without him ever knowing or wanting, and they knew it would destroy him.
Sure, it may save millions of lives by arresting the drug makers, but is one innocent life worth it?
What an amazing film...
You can take it either way, that he's just lost, or maybe the flower triggered some spark. And in that spark something is rekindled, psychosis is not necessarily permanent. So I choose to believe the latter, because he deserves to play again.
I agree with you. I think the ending is supposed to be hopeful. I've seen this film at least 6-8 times, it's one of my favorites of all time. The way he says he saw death rising from the earth... it sounds more like himself before he became a "husk". I think that's the spark Donna was talking about. Not only does it seem like he completes his mission, he may one day be alright again. This movie hits me in a way I can't describe. I recently lost my brother to addiction, and it only brings more meaning to this masterpiece.
Same here...Still do everytime it ends and I read the memo. So many friends lost...
FrankHeileryt Same here... Sorry for your loss.
That piece at the end. 'The "enemy" was their mistake in playing. Let them play again, in some other way, and let them be happy'. It absolutely breaks my heart. Especially knowing people who were destroyed by use. The idea a person can start down that road, make that mistake and it just rips them apart piece by piece and it was never their intention for that to be their fate. And having fucked up what it must be to look back on that place in the past that once was and realize just how untarnished you were. World could use less victims.
They do this same thing in the Big Pharmaceutical industry.
Dick was a good writer.
This was a good movie.
Take either of them as you will.
It was the ultimate drug book. It would have been the ultimate drug movie were it not spoiled by the absurd animation treatment it received. Too much Substance D??
@@bobaldo2339 the animation makes the movie, else they would've had to resort to CGI or something like that. the rotoscoping conveys the tweaker state of mind perfectly. it's actually quite genius imo.
This is probably the most convincing anti-substance movie I've ever seen.
the ending breaks my heart.
Requiem for a dream
InfamousMedia imo though while these are around the same rough topics i think philip k dick more has to do with empathy while requiem has more to do with ambition
The ending of the book and film that include the list of friends rips my fucking heart out it makes me weep. It doesn’t help that I could be included.
@@Overton_Windows you could be included?? What happened bro?
I saw death rising from the earth, from the ground itself, in one blue field.
Tuna1989 opium... Heroin epidemic of now?
t - MM - h herion??? You mean meth...
You mean pharms?
I had never known sympathy for drug addicts until I saw this ending.
I always tell people this is the strongest anti drug movie/book ever made. Never once does it tell you not to do drugs, it just shows the true danger of burnout and addiction.
Michael Sisti Exactly
if you have no sympathy for drug addicts, you might be just as uneducated, blinded or clueless, if not even more of it than most drug addicts.. i'm glad this movie helped you understand, i hope you can put it to good use..
my mother had brain damage from bath salts when I was younger. she recovered and gave her life to Jesus. When I was sixteen she was losing the cartilage in her spine. she could not afford treatment so they gave her fucking narcotic pain killers. she overdosed and died in her bedroom while I was playing Halo with my buddies. I found her after I turned my xbox off. I remember her funeral service at the church she would attend. they held it for free and over 200 people showed up. almost all of them had a testimony about how she saved their lives. One lady told a story about how she said "I wish God would take me now." and my mother put her hands on her shoulder and said "it's not your turn yet while smiling kindly." they have a mural of her on the wall of the house they hold there recovery meetings. The companies that make bath salts and synthetic marijauna still exist and more and more minds are destroyed by it. Her legacy must not be in vain. RIP Kimberly Ann Ballentine. you were the kindest and most loving person I have ever known. Maybe that's why God took you home. This world is hell.
Bail Organa u made me cry so hard
God bless you and your mom
fucking liar!!!!!!
Lol you died mate
When he bends down to pick up the flower it looks like a finger and an ear reaching out the soil. As if the ground is fertilised with the bodies of dead 'patients' at New Path. Great film will have to see if that is mentioned in the book
I've read the book, and there were a few hints that they use bodies in New Path for some uses. its very likely that its Jerry Fabin in the soil
AradSP i thought jerry fabin was also in new path. U see him briefly his hair is all shaved off and bald
There's a pretty clearly-defined fingernail on there.
New Path is mess up really badly. They drug on people, destroy their lives, use them as cheap work labor and finally the bodies of those dead by the addiction they created are used to fertilize more drugs.
Talk about Nightmare Fuel.
It really gives you a disturbing sense of how any law may resort to exploiting the weak for the sake of a 'greater good'. A Scanner Darkly reminds me that each individual, no matter what their faults can be, has equal human rights. Keanu Reeves is profoundly better here than he was in The Matrix.
❤
Greater good my ass
@@idkaboutthisfuckoffyoutube1041 "The greater good" is a phrase authoritarians like to use to manipulate and control their subjects.
but the matrix is the better movie overall
edit: but I really love both
............wat?
THAT's what you took from this movie?
A very under-rated movie. My friends at the time didn't get it. They thought it was just a cool movie to get high to. As someone with lasting effects from drug use in my teens, it hit me right in the feels. Thank you for this story, PKD.
The worst part/best part about it is Bob's treatment at the end. He's a child, mentally incapable, and that's how a lot of us feeling leaving that world behind or getting caught in the act. They don't treat you with dignity. So much shame, anger, fear, disappointment, missed opportunity from leaving that world and continual cycle of getting high, getting sober, getting high, getting sober. One day, you turn to face the past and all the poor decisions you made and it smacks you on the face like a cob web in an attic. Such a great portrayal of how it feels to be in recovery. I was an opioid abuser and I'll bet you my life that the doctors who treated me for it also had their hands in the pie like in a Scanner Darkly. The losers get trapped and the sellers get rich and on it goes.
It's a scary thing, but it seems like foreshadowing, or uncovering an undertone in life.
Yea like devil satanist
Nate Salcido I was thinking more along the lines of a government organization that takes possession of drugs from drug lords then throws them right back out on the streets.
Trevor Philips The shadow has already passed.
Trevor Philips the ending of this film reminds me of the end of requiem for a dream not as bleak obviously but that realisation of things are not as good as what they are is equally just as haunting
Trevor Philips .
"... and the CIA
And the BBC, BB King
And Doris Day
Matt Busby
Dig it, dig it, dig it, dig it..."
Keanu is such a damn good actor.
***** Not sure if sarcasm or...
***** when he chooses to be
***** With A Scanner Darkly Keanu had a good, motivating PKD story to work.
E Oyibo
I think it depends largely on the role he's cast in. Something like this, he's a great fit because he can easily do the stiff, wooden acting, along with the scatterbrain he was while with his friends.
It worked cause of the rotoscoping really numbed down the facial expressions :D, no but he did work in this role, i think he can manage when he writing and directing really works to bring the better out of him.
I love this movie and the ending makes me cry every time.
I believe he is a bad actor, but i think it does not matter if he is bad or not...He is one of the most disciplined, modest, unpretending and professional actors in industry. He takes his job seriously regardless the movie he is acting in..That is the reason why i respect him and that is the reason why the studios keep hiring him..
May god rest the soul of those that suffered the hands of their addiction. At least they are at peace... That is what I think Phil was trying to convey, and I'm not even religious! They are comforting words though...
This is becoming reality now.
The Newpath CEO or whoever he's meant to be: one of the best villains in film and with only 5 sentences to his part...
Yes, he embodies evil in one of the briefest most pivotal roles ever.
This movie is amazing. Completely underrated.
Some suggest this scene suggests hope of recovery for Bob Arctor, but that's not what I got. The closing lines speak of casualties and innocence and people not deserving what they got. To me, this scene frames Bob as an involuntary martyr who will never resemble his old self, but whose sacrifice holds hope of striking a major blow against evil. There is hope here, but Bob has no better outcome than living long enough and finding enough coherence to testify to what he's seen. His great reward would be little more than a soft bed and compassionate handling for the remainder of his days. He is unique only in that his employers needed him to succumb to his addictions for their purposes. The film is about the nonviolent nature of most drug use, and how its perpetrators and victims are generally the same people. With Bob, this is elevated in that he is a drug enforcer with a drug addiction whose superiors know about his weakness but have a use for it. Of all the paranoid types he hangs out with, Bob would have been the most justified in paranoia if he had any idea of the truth.
I agree. The only positive takeaway from the ending is that maybe, after everything, his unwitting sacrifice will have been worth something in the grand scheme by helping bring down New Path. But he himself won't ever be the same.
“This has been a novel about some people who were punished entirely too much for what they did. They wanted to have a good time, but they were like children playing in the street; they could see one after another of them being killed--run over, maimed, destroyed--but they continued to play anyhow... If there was any "sin," it was that these people wanted to keep on having a good time forever, and were punished for that, but, as I say, I feel that, if so, the punishment was far too great... These were comrades whom I had; there are no better. They remain in my mind, and the enemy will never be forgiven. The "enemy" was their mistake in playing. Let them all play again, in some other way, and let them be happy.”
Thanks to the book I don't trust rehabilitation facilities at all. If I get addicted, I'm fucked.
that's what you are taking away from this movie?
I have first seen it in 2006, it was really upsetting.
I was in my early adulthood back then, and it really touched, confused and frightened me at the same time.
I did not see the movie, just this ending, because my flatmates watched it, and I only went inside when this ending played.
The Audio book read by Paul Giamatti is a really good listen.
When you think about the ending to this is kinda sad,,,,
I remember when I was about 14 I would hang with a couple friends (they where 2 brothers and there father, they felt like family after a time) all the time at their house. They were really cool, down to earth people. But they had a lot of strange characters come around there house, more so after there dad got out of jail from a dui. Came to find out later when I was about 16 that some ex cons started cooking meth and selling it out of the house. I found this out when I came by in the aftermath of a police raid. I found my friends dad and his girlfriend drinking because both his kids and her son got taken any and they felt hopeless. I sat and talked with them about trying to get there kids back, fortunately there dad seemed to take the advice to heart and checked himself into rehab and eventually got his kids back. One of his sons went on to be sucessful, clean of drugs, and just had a kid recently. The other son was taking care of his dad after he had a stroke. Until he fell in with a bad crowd and started making dumb choices. Now there dad is living in a V.A. and the oldest son ex-communicated all friends, got into coke, and let his dad get evicted to run off with an escort in the ghetto. He may not be a friend anymore but I still worry about him. He was one of the few friends I considered brother.
The only other person to make it out was a kid named Junior who was a shit at first but became cool later, gave his life to the church, and is doing his best to raise a deaf dauther, became a nutritionist in TX. everyone else from that house is either in jail, dead, homeless, or hold up in another den.
ok
You had too much of a good thing already, only to realize the drugs werent that good at all ; Just a never ending spiral.
People call Keanu Reeves a bad actor, and say the only film he actually acted in was The Matrix. I never gave any of that much thought, but I've always felt Keanu was brilliant in this film.
I saw...
I saw death rising from the Earth, from the ground itself... in one blue field.
The end breaks my heart, it really does.
The ending brings back memories of those I have seen buried or trapped in a nightmare they could only escape in death. Dick's words ring true, they pass on to us the pain of his life and loss of so much he loved. Rest Phillip, we will always remember you.
I read the book so many years ago. I loved the ending... cuz it's not fucking Disneyland. I recommend also The 3 stigmata of Palmer Eldritch and The Penultimate Truth.
warmecanic Oh well shit... If we're going to Eldritch now I'd better get my hat. I'm bringing a can of UBIC if you don't mind.
Tony Smith Yeah, that could be handy. Just in case
Eerily similar to the idea of the "Truth" campaign against smoking being led by Big Tobacco, itself.
I mean, they were compelled by law to fund a campaign on the truth about smoking (after so many years of deceiving the public).
I would love to have the chance to sit down and talk to Keanu over a coffee.He's such an interesting guy! 🍁🇨🇦 🍁
Gives me chills...
Hopefully, they're overconfident enough NOT to strip search him before Thanksgiving leave...
Sad but true. Perfect ending though; his self-destructive cycle of addiction reaches its logical end, but at least it's not all in vain.
I'll be visiting an old friend soon, at the long-term care facility where she lives [permanent brain damage, permanent liver damage, 'nuff said]. I might bring her a blue flower, if I can find one.
Oh well. At least it's not Thanksgiving. ;-P
This is an intense film has this oppressive vibe to it, it's a gem to those who appreciate it.
That list at the end always gives me chills....
Yes we have so many overdoses in BC some might even be on purpose as suicide attempts but they rarely talk about the people who don't die but are damaged physically or mentally permanently. People don't realize how easy it is to get hooked on some drugs either. Lots of heroin users were prescribed opioids from a trusted doctor to start off with too.
I always recommend the book or the movie to people, on the surface it’s a psychological thrill ride and when you go deeper you see what it’s truly about.
This movie totally reminds me of and seems like the heroin problem in our country today. Even though it's not a perfect solution the only better alternative is to legalize and regulate it's use (all hard drugs).Would you rather your loved ones and family members pay $1 a day while being supervised by a nurse or pay $300 a day to be poisoned and OD. Sad choice to make but it's whats realistic.
Never noticed that finger sticking out of the ground before that's whacked. I guess bodies are good fertilizer...Idk just fuckin creepy
Seeing this movie for the first time as a teenager I did not get it. Seeing it for the second time a few years ago as a 28 year old man I was able to fully understand the movie. The ending left me feeling empty.
This is such a great movie not just because of the story, but how relatable it is. The drug is called “Substance D” cause PKD wanted the audience to imagine themselves a Bob, and the rest of the characters, to show what addiction can lead to. The crazy one at the beginning who sees the bugs(Freck), was if you were to keep on going down the path of addiction, and Borris(RDJ), Bob(Keanu), and Ernie(Woody), we’re all people at different stages of addiction. Whether it’s a drug, attention, social media, or Pron addiction. See help so you and play again; so you can be free. Don’t get trapped, by temptation or temporary happiness. Dopamine is a drug and a nasty one at that.
If you look closely you can see another character moving through the field.
Cede control of your consciousness to anything but your own natural will and you become the potential zombie of: A) Psychopharmacology, B) Ideology, C) Theology, D) Technology, or: E) All of the Above-ology.
Dick knew how to twist the twisted until it became the serpent that bit its own tail- and sometimes thereby woke itself up -by the pain and surprise and absurdity and laughter and terror of/at accidentally sinking one's teeth into oneself, -and the World you are.
Art art ~in short.
“D is finally death… Slow death, from my head down”
i'm not afraid to admit i got choked up watching this ending. I hate that in our world innocent people have had to needlessly die over greed, lust for power and plain ignorance and intolerance. didn't mean to go on a rant but it's just sad
This film is very complex in nature, and there are many valid interpretations. As I live longer, see more, and revisit this film, more and more stands out, and more and more comes to light.
It sheds light on the war on drugs, but it is much deeper than that. I believe that substance D is synonymous for the idea of Democracy. We believe that Democracy ensures our freedoms, but behind the scenes it is slowly entrapping us, soon to be slaves just as Bruce.
True. Your comment is from 9 years ago, but Democracy is dead in 2021. Welcome to the Future.
a good, interesting, and sad book, especially the end credits
as soon I see those names appear in the credits I always feel my eyes fog up and a lump in my throat, every time
Wow...no, he didn't act in the Matrix, he had an entire movie written for him where he was essentially the character himself, same with this one. But I'll always know him as the more famous half of the Wyld Stallionz.
The instrumental music, whats the name of the song and who composed it? Its so dark and beautiful.
The song is called little blue flowers by Graham Reynolds
This movie has more to do with life than just addiction. We work so hard to be happy in life, only to find that we become addited to what we have to do in order to feel that joy. When we become addicts, we are merely prisoners sentanced to life with hard reality.
what a sad movie.
A blue flower (German: Blaue Blume) is a central symbol of inspiration. It stands for desire, love, and the metaphysical striving for the infinite and unreachable. It symbolizes the beauty of things.
I don't think that this was a film/book about government corruption...maybe it is about those of us who do look deeper into reality...and our vision becomes dark...
“Crazy job they gave me…”
A blue flower (German: Blaue Blume) is a central symbol of inspiration. It stands for desire, love, and the metaphysical striving for the infinite and unreachable. It symbolizes the beauty of things.
I have read that the German author Novalis was the first to use this symbol
.
The main character was told to bring his girl blue flowers and that if he kept his sense of humor then he 'just might make it'...but he had already 'made it'...he was searching for more but his vision became dark.
1:46 Unregistered Complexity Weapons -- The Legends Collection
I think Keanu suits this roll as he's got to be a bit derp in it.
Does this scene not enrage anyone else...this shit has been going on since we can remember. The elite know how to play the game.. I can't wait until we are one ahead of the. Dream on Bruce, Dream on Phillip our day will come and those resposible will tremble.
why can't he see the flowers when he stands up? Are they just too small for him to see from his height? I've always wondered if there's some like technology at play that's hiding the flowers, or if he's just so brain damaged that he doesn't understand he can't make out the small flowers (which would be pretty profoundly brain damaged, even by the standards set in the film)
In the book one of those men puts his hand in front of bob’s face blocking his view of the flowers on the ground and bob thinks they disappeared cause he’s so zoned out.
@@ahambrahmas oh interesting thinks for the info
Dislikes are from junkies with permanent brai damage who thought its cool to do drugs
Arctor isn't the only one working in the fields. New Path has hundreds of enslaved druggies working for them. That's just another one of them. (They wouldn't have ONE guy tending all their flowers by himself).
The only thing that would have made this perfect is if the CG filter faded away by the last shot, as he sobers up and we learn the truth
It's not a filter they actually animated it
Cool idea though
I saw this movie at age 15. At the time, I thought that was a lot of people sick, dead, or dying because of drugs. Now the list seems much shorter to me.
The ending is creepy to me for some reason... just the scene alone creeps me out.
Well, according to doctors it's possible that some of the damage will reverse itself. His brain looks pretty fried but maybe...
I always wonder how Keanu Reeves was like during highschool
Love so this world be there
P. K. Dick never had luck for good adaptations. Sure, Blade Runner is a great movie, but Dick's book was barely inspiration for it since main idea behind didn't even appear. In the book it's stated clearly that Androids even though they get more advanced and could pretend to be human, they couldn't do more - only pretend, cuz they lacked very important thing -> empathy. Most important motive of the book was empathy and how it makes us what we are.
Same could be said about Total Recall or Minority Report - both fine sci-fi movies, but unfaithful adaptations.
Scanner Darkly is different. This is very first, solid and faithful adaptation of P.K Dick book. Sure, there are minor changes, mostly about characters, but the main message, moral of the story stays the same. This book was about people that gave away their lifes for temporary moments of joy. It's about people who sold their future cheap. It was very important for Dick. He, more than any other person knew how narcotics destroy and burn mind, psyche. He wanted to tell a story about people who he once knew, people that were important to him, people who he watched disappear one after another. I think that of all books based or inspired by his stories, this would satisfy him the most.
Philip K. Dick is a fucking god...
He's good, when he plays himself... :)
Fucking deep this end
It's sad they sacrifices Keanu's spirit and mind for the sake of justice. For the greater good I suppose..
the greater good
a tragically hopeful ending.
about 70% of the world watches movies with mainly action and sex. Most Keanu Reeves movies rarely have either. We can't all be intellectuals ;)
Of course, organised religion brought us the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Right On. What a great bumper sticker.
hes talking about the plants being death itself because of the chemicals in them thats why hes spraying them down as well
Brilliant point!!
what would you recommend then, how would you run the place.
STRANGE MOVIE!!!!!
Keanu Reeves is the fucking man
I saw this movie recently and completely love this scene and all, but I'm not quite sold on the animation, feels like its just messing with my head, specially with those anonymous suits they wear.
+Victor Duchnik Kind of feels like... you're on drugs when you watch it?
That was the idea, to leave you feeling uneasy and disassociated. Life in the world of drugs, a much different reality than most people will ever know. I sort of grew up around this world and spent some time in it when I was living in san francisco, watching people I got to know simply disappear and reappear totally changed and often very desperate. Oddly one of the worst addicts I knew popped back into my life totally clean, it was still him, still crazy but also no longer self destructive and so selfish and fearful. That whole world is frightening and crazy.
Substance D is fictional, and as far as I know the damage is supposed to be completely irreversible.
Yeah is cold but look it this way. You can`t force your friends when they decide to fuck themselves up with drugs... there are interventions, but that's it. In the end they have to be the ones who decide to stay sober or to go down the downward spiral.
Most Keanu Reeves movies either have OR sex.
I think he can't see them because his mind has basically split into two by the point...damaged from the drug. So, one part of himself saw the flowers and knows they r there. And then the other part of his mind is in denial because that facility/rehab center claims to be battling the war on substance d so his natural reaction would be disbelief. Anyway that is my theory...maybe read the book...explained better I'm sure
Til we meet again.
MADDONNA ОТДЕЛЬНАЯ ТЕМА бритни спирз массив ааттак ферги джада пинкет смит брэд питт
Why don't they just get the flowers and do a laboratory analysis
Its not about whats causing because thats already established that the drugs derives from the blue flowers grown at newpath.They just needed the evidence to be able to shut them down.Bob sacrificed his life to end this epidemic.
I don't get why he can't see the flowers until he bends down. Can someone explain this to me cuz Im lost
Whatever you say, Proud... American...
LOLZ.
И ДМИТРИЙ АНАТОЛИЕВИЧ МЕДВЕДЕВ ПРИ ЖИЗНИ 2 шанс
Are those night howlers?
lady gaga CAT ALEKSANDRA