Long Days, Long Months: 6 August

Watched A Scanner Darkly. Except for the portrayal of the "scramble suits," I don't quite see the point of the animation. Not sure also if I like the contemporary setting, as the novel brilliantly captures the paranoia of 1970's California post-hippie drug culture. Fittingly - since Richard Linklater directed - the story doesn't just have a new time, but also seems to have a new place: Texas. Not really, of course... but the characters' demeanors, the colors...

Thinking about those "scramble suits," I wonder how VALIS would work if turned into a movie. Of course, an actor playing both Phil and Horselover Fats would not be anything special for Hollywood, which has used the gimmick of the same actor playing two different versions of the same character, or two different characters, on screen simultaneously. But, if an actor is portraying different versions of the same character (a past and present version, say) whoever sees these differing versions acknowledges the magic, or the absurdity, of the situation. Moreover, usually only the character himself is made aware. In contrast, how would we convey Phil's friends acting as if Horselover Fats is indeed a distinct person, as if the situation is normal? Simply having the same actor playing both Phil and Horselover Fats would give a result too comical given the subject matter. Perhaps animation could work here as well.