Happy Days

Not a great photo - but this shows why I prefer Un Certain Regard to Competition screenings! (despite having to queue for nearly an hour and a half to get in). It's a bit naughty because you're not supposed to have cameras in the screenings, but loads of people do (so don't post the picture anywhere else please!)

The buzz for "A Scanner Darkly" was building all day, and by the time we walked past the cinema at 8 on the way to dinner, a few people were already in line (for a 10:45pm screening). We joined the queue at 9:15. Once we got in, the vibe was really good, meanwhile outside apparently it was mayhem with people jamming the place trying to get in or get a good spot for pictures. The traffic was so bad that it kicked off ten minutes late, with Robert Downey Jr coming on stage with Richard Linklater and Keanu, and announcing "could the owner of the black Peugot please move your car?" Then he talked for a while, called Richard a genius and said Keanu is "a national treasure". Then Richard made a little speech in French, got the giggles at something Keanu said, and replied "but I've been practising that all afternoon."

Then they took their seats, and the film began.

I'm going to have to see it again - one thing was that I was so tired I think a lot of it went by me. The animation is amazing, wierdly lifelike, the technique has developed hugely since "Waking Life". It looks brilliant. The story meanders a bit, and it's fairly spaced out at times, but it kind of draws you into the strange world they inhabit. I can't say it's my favourite film of the festival, but if I'm honest, I wasn't in top form for seeing a film - not after the giddy afternoon we'd had, and given my zonked out state. But anyway, I got my Keanu moment, and I'm happy.