There was a period in the mid-2000s, when digital was first taking full root as the new form of filmmaking, when some directors decided to test the technical possibilities of the format. 2006 was a watershed for this, with Pedro Costa, David Lynch and Michael Mann turning in radical works that boldly explored unique properties of lighting, compression and image speed. In terms of blockbuster filmmaking, the high water mark for the use of digital remains Speed Racer, a living cartoon that fulfills the Wachowskis' attempts to make anime out of the Matrix films.
When I think of this film, I think of Sergei Eisenstein's love for Snow White, how he saw in animation the potential of a total filmmaking,…