David Lynch First Timer (1 Viewer)

[soop.spoon]

Though dysfunctional, offbeat regular people with tragic lives always seem to stay with me long after I wake up the next morning to begin my day. As I said in an earlier post what I read about those two films in particular turned me off in a violent way. Maybe I should seek these titles if I’m just overreacting.

If this is the way you feel, avoid David Lynch at all costs. Stick to Dune and The Straight Story.

You'd be hard-pressed to find anything more depressing than The Elephant Man and Mulholland Drive tends to leave people feeling quite empty. Blue Velvet is one of the most distubing dramas in decades.

Good luck.

 

[Richard Travale]

I would recommend Blue Velvet as a starter. It has all of the bleakness and weird stuff that one would expect from Lynch but it is also a pretty good mystery type movie.
I really liked Wild at Heart as well (Laura Dern connection)and did not find it all too messed up.
Then move on to mind benders like Lost Highway and Mulholland Dr.
If you decide to ever watch Eraserhead, do it it on a nice warm sunny day to counteract the movie itself.

 

[obscurelabel]

Eraserhead is bleak, downbeat, and disturbing ... I've only seen it once ... it has a moment that gave me the biggest laugh I've ever had in a movie theater:

When the "baby" is sick and Henry is trying to figure out what to do, this is just about as dark and twisted as a movie can get. Then, quick cut to the "baby" wrapped up in a blanket with a vaporizer -- the whole audience gasped and then cracked up.


Also more laughs:


I considered the dinner sequence to be comedy - deathly black comedy. Okay, maybe I was the only one laughing at that one

 

[Rich Malloy]

Take in Mulholland Dr. several times to get past all the weirdness and abstraction, and then just try to concentrate on the underlying story that is being told. Once you get to that point, I think you'll find that this is one of the most disturbing character studies ever committed to film.

I completely agree. And on or about the third viewing, you're no longer unlocking the puzzle of the plot and character identity, but rather unlocking a certain character's psyche. Like most great films, it's eminently rewatchable and rewards successive viewings with both new pleasures and understandings. It's one of Lynch's richest offerings.

However, I don't think it really catches a flow until about 45 minutes in. It does, at first, feel very much like the setup and introduction of a television series, which is of course exactly what it was. But once place and characters are established (at least, once you think this has happened), and the Nancy Drew part begins, it just rolls along, with the Silencio Club being the climax of this middle sequence. Then, the final section, the true unravelling and revealing of what we only thought we knew, is simply harrowing. Brilliant, breathless and very moving, albeit tragically so. I like this movie better everytime I see it.

I'd also recommend "The Straight Story", and would suggest that it's no less Lynchian than "The Elephant Man", even though the latter's subject matter would seem to lend itself better to his sensibilities. And there's a tragic element here that goes beyond the brothers' estrangement, and which I think lends a further emotional depth to the film and the relations of the main characters. Consider the brief admissions Alvin makes about his days as "a mean drunk", how different he must have been then, how hard, how emotionally detached, how unreliable. And then ask yourself "what exactly happened the night Rose's kids died in the fire?". It's never addressed directly, but I think the implication is fairly clear as to who might have been responsible.

But, for me, the ultimate David Lynch creations are "Eraserhead", "Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks". I still consider this to be the very core of his ouevre (ick... that sounds sorta yucky).

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

Mulholland Drive is simply awesome. Warning: As others have mentioned, it must be watched multiple times, though. You might want to read some of the lengthy Internet discussions of the film, but don't dare peek at them until you've seen the film at least once. That's an order!

 

[MarcusUdeh]

Thus far I’ve seen three Lynch movies.
Dune, only the Alan Smithee television version
Mulholland Dr., I love this film, it’s one of my favorite movies now
Just rented Blue Velvet, I like it, but what’s keeping me from loving it
Is the movie’s ending

Was the ending meant to be a dream?

After they leave Dorothy’s apartment the screen fades to white.
We are shown a lot of easy going suburban life, as though the events that
Took place during the movie didn’t happen.

 

[MartinTeller]

The "easy going suburban life" is the veneer. It can be real or fake, it doesn't really matter. It's just a symbol of the ideal American life that doesn't truly exist.

 

[richardWI]

Glad to see you liked Mulholland Drive. As far as interpreting the ending of Blue Velvet, I agree with the previous poster. One of Lynch's re-ocurring themes is people living "layered" lives. Jeffrey experiences several people at different layers. Most of them happen to be very abnormal beneath the surface layers, and act abnormally when they think no one else is looking. The very first scenes of the movie and the last scenes are white picket fence nostalgia and the weirdness is sandwiched inbetween these bookends. Maybe it was a dream, maybe not. Just like Matrin said, it doesn't really matter. What matter is that it happened, or seemed like it happened

Now that you've seen Mulholland Drive I suggets you read Ebert's brilliant review of it. http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_...10/101205.html The last paragraph applies could almost apply to the ending of Blue Velvet:

"This is a movie to surrender yourself to. If you require logic, see something else. "Mulholland Drive" works directly on the emotions, like music. Individual scenes play well by themselves, as they do in dreams, but they don't connect in a way that makes sense--again, like dreams. The way you know the movie is over is that it ends. And then you tell a friend, "I saw the weirdest movie last night." Just like you tell them you had the weirdest dream."

 

[Dwayne]

Well, if there were more seasons other than the first available on DVD, I would also recommend Twin Peaks.

For me, Lynch's strength is his ability to evoke incredibly strong emotional responses from ordinary things in no particular order or structure. His films feel like, and have the very essence of, dreams, which I think makes them great.

 

[MarcusUdeh]

Well people I did it I rented Wild At Heart. This post will not be a few brief thoughts on my journey through the violent and disturbed world of Lynch. As an aspiring filmmaker I’d have to say this movie really should have gotten an NC-17. Truly if ever there was film that needs to be seen by adult eyes only this is it. The sexual content was explicit but not quiet soft porn. It didn’t bother me since it fit with the story’s characters and the rawness the director was going for. But the violence was beyond Verhoeven. The opening murder scene, which caught me completely off guard, caused a gut feeling of disruption within me. I suppose after I caught my composure that David’s intent was to ruin one’s own sense of comfort. People know they’ll see adult content (violence and sex) but at the jarring level that’s throw on us the audience like a bucket of pigs blood from Carrie. Many other directors use this type of mental mood persuasion as Wes Craven did with the opening murders in the Scream films.

My impressions of the film are somewhat—I’m content that I now feel Lynch is my number one favorite American filmmaker period. I’ll say that I love this movie over the bull crap that is True Romance – I hate that movie even more now since it seems to me to be a watered down version of Wild At Heart. Isabella Rossellini was wasted here, without the campy quality of her Adrienne Barbeau bouffant. I love Laura Dern she is Lynch’s muse, though many could say Naomi Watts is in the running to take that spot. Nicholas Cage was of course Nicholas Cage brilliant as ever.

The ending sucked but I’ll still seek this film on DVD when the MGM Special Edition is released.

 

[Zak Hepburn]

You should see the un-edited preview version of WAH,Lynch had to cut it down after so many walk out's.
Lynch is just my ultimate filmaker,his stuff is moving,funny and just works on every level of the mind.
Without a doubt the true definition of the word artist.

 

[Justin_S]

Couldn't agree more with the above poster. Lynch films are among the most effective films I've ever seen. Glad to see you liked Wild at Heart. It definitely ranks among Lynch's best, and I'm dying for a R1 DVD of it. Now, you MUST see Lynch's second best film, the amazing Lost Highway!

 

[richardWI]

I love Laura Dern she is Lynch’s muse, though many could say Naomi Watts is in the running to take that spot.

He does seem to have an almost Hitchcockian fetish for blondes... of course Laura Harring wasn't exactly chopped liver!

 

[Shane Gralaw]

I agree that Lost Highway is one of Lynch's best. The unusual structure and thematic content are quite similar to Mullholland Drive (a spurned lover wishes the death of the person they still love and concocts a fantasy to help him/her accept their violent actions and explain their shortcomings). I thought it was strange that everyone just assumed that LH was Lynch being weird just to be weird, but seemed to understand Mullholland Drive's brillance immediately. This is another that deserves multiple viewings (and a little patience) before it finally comes together for the viewer.

Now let's get that damn DVD released, already! I am tired of watching bad VHS copies to see it in it's OAR. This was the one title I wanted most when I first got my DVD player in 1999. The wait has been long enough!

 

[Ruz-El]

SE's for all Lynch movies!

I'd love to get Wild At Heart, probably my favorite Lynch movie.

Anyone have a link to a site that explains Mulholland Drive? I've seen it ince, and it immeadiatly got banned from my house hold, my wife hates David Lynch movies (except Twin Peaks, which she loved), and considered this to be the last straw. (She thought Lynch was being weird for weird sake, and horribly pretentious, I said boo hoo to her, and well, lets say she one the battle on this one )

Another vote for twin peaks season 2 on DVD, this is probably the best television ever, with damn near every episode being amazing. the fact season 2 is not on DVD is the only reason I havn't bought season 1. (I'd hate to rewatch season one, and then dig out my VHS copies of Season 2!)

 

[MarcusUdeh]

[c]delete[/c]

 

[Justin W]

I read up on Eraserhead and I think that movie would freak me out. I think A Clockwork Orange is one of the scariest movies ever. I'm afraid to watch Eraserhead. I've seen Mulholland Drive (one of my favorite movies ever) and The Elephant Man (didn't care much for it, boring). I think I'm gonna try the straight story next.

 

[Zak Hepburn]

I picked up the R4 "Lost Highway" dirt cheap,but would love a more offical version.
If only the postage for Eraserhead & the Short films disc's on his website was not so expensive to OZ.
Getting them I would only need "Wild at Heart" to complete my collection.(oh an Twin Peaks S2 )

 

[MarcusUdeh]

[c]delete[/c]

 

[Seth_B]

Russell -

Here is a pretty good explaination of the movie. WARNING ... do not read this unless you have watched the movie.

archive.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/2001/10/23/mulholland_drive_analysis/

Sigh - I don't have enough total posts to put a URL up so you'll have to type the http in front of the above address. Can someone do that for me?