Dazed and Confused

Currently there is a plethora of strangers patrolling the halls, nooks, and closets of my apartment to see if this is where they want to live once we vacate.  I have hidden with my tea, but they seem to have no problem finding me, as my hiding place is actually kind of out in the open.  The morning was full of cleaning, tidying, and also looking at a potential apartment of our own.  Oh, the fun of it all.  Since my wife and I do not have a place lined up as of yet, the only definite in life is the fact that we will be out of our current apartment by the end of December.  We have so far viewed some disastrous accommodations.  Moments like this, it is fine to desire simpler times.

Perhaps that is what drew me to review Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused, a film that looks at the life of high school students, focusing around the last day of school.  While a lot of movies that focus on the end of the school term follow students who are graduating and moving on to college or careers, Linklater takes a different approach to the film.  His focus is on the shifting environments students find themselves in, following those who are now about to enter into high school as freshmen, and those who are about to be elevated to seniors.

There are probably a lot of people who would look at this film and believe that it is just stupid, stoner humour.  There are also a number of people who have seen it and perceive it as stupid stoner humour, but it is a film that is so much more than just that.  Yes, it does have a number of characters who partake in the use of marajuana.  It even has an ever so creepy Matthew McConaughey.  It has typical adolesent behaviour, staying out late, partying, and destroying property.

What this film excels at is creating the memories of high school, and even though it is a period piece, there are a number of social structures and people that almost all of us could relate to from our experiences.  Linklater brings this all out through great establishing shots as well as a soundtrack that is second to none.  There is such a smattering of songs throughout, that we are constantly reminded of the feel and the style of the film.

One of the aspects of this film that I appreciate the most is the depth that Linklater is able to give to all of the characters.  So many films seem inept at even giving us more than a surface concept of the few main characters they may have.  In Dazed and Confused, there are characters almost too many to count.  By the end of the film, we know enough of each of the characters to know who they are, why they act the way they do, and what the transition phase means to them.  This is all done through a well crafted script that never has blatant explanations of anything.  At the same time, it isn't hidden and needed to be deciphered, but is on a level that is seamless for all audiences.

This film is part comedy, part coming of age, and part contemplation movie.  It shows the transformation that people start having at that age when they look towards questioning what they do not understand and starting on the road to forming an opinion of their own.  As I said, it is about people in transitions in their lives, but at a time when social pressures are enough to completely mold a person, and individual thoughts and stances can be a very scary thing. 

While many hang onto their high school lives as their prime, this film paints the opposite picture.  It is a place we stop along the way.  It is who we are when we don't know who we are.  We may not know our destination, and that is alright.  It is what is to come that brings the adventure and journey.  It is fitting that the final shot of the movie is friends driving down a road, with the camera facing out through the front windshield as the car approaches a horizon.  What is on the other side is not important, as that is the journey.  High school is behind us, perhaps to be remembered with some fondness, but this movie states that it is merely a stop and there is no known future other than the company we choose to keep as we head towards it.

Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars