Waking Life is the most visionary, beautiful, awe-inspiring, and life-affirming cartoon I have ever seen. It's near the top of the list for any film. It takes the form of a series of intellectual conversations (monologues, really) involving a young man who wakes up after being hit by a car. There's not really a plot, except this man's journey toward self-awareness. One of the scenes in the film has a director and an interviewer talking about the philosophy of French New Wave critic Bazin, who thought that the medium of film was not primarily a storytelling medium but a way of helping to create a "holy moment," where we understand God, if for only just a moment. The scene is funny, as the two men become uncomfortable trying to create a holy moment by staring at each other, but this film, more than any other in recent years, illustrates that Bazin could be right. The film is something of a series of holy moments, wherein the main character (and the audience) takes small steps toward understanding what it means to be human.

It is animated, in that Linklater directed live actors and then had his animators create an inspiringly new style of animation around them. It is fluid, ever-moving, as if the entire world were bobbing around on the surface of an ocean. The style so perfectly fits the film that I was constantly astounded to the point that I watched most of it with an idiot grin on my face. The animation changes subtly throughout to fit the scenes; some of them are realistically rendered to where you can almost see the actors underneath, while others are cartoonish and unfinished. The style allows literally anything to happen: we take it in stride that one scene features a chimpanzee lecturing on the origin of the species, or that the main character might be talking to a man who slowly turns into an alien-like creature, or that the main character might just float away if he doesn't grab hold of the door handle of a car. In a film that is literally about human beings breaking free of darkness, the fact that characters (or buildings) might break free of the fundament and drift into space just makes sense.

In a film that is a series of monologues, there are lots of opportunities for memorable characters and cameos. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, from director Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise, make an appearance that grants the couple the happy ending they deserved from the earlier film. Steven Soderbergh, Oscar winning director, shows up, as do the actors Nicky Katt and that guy you'll recognize but don't know the name of, I forgot his name (Adam Goldberg). I'm still trying to figure out which character I liked the best; at this point I have to pick the wild-haired man on the bridge who says that "I like to go salsa dancing with my confusion."

In the midst of all my fervent praise, I need to mention that around 95% of the population of this country would probably mutter "This is boring," and walk out ten minutes into it (others might mutter "this is pretentious crap" and walk out with them). It is definitely not for everyone. But if you've ever found yourself seriously contemplating what it means to be alive or to be human, there's something in it for you. Just give it a chance.