Rattle My Cage (Directorial)

[bluebell]

Huh? What the...?
Holy red herrings and lox, what the hell was that?!



...And now you've seen inside my brain (heaven help you, poor dear), because those were my expostulations after having experienced my first "David Lynch mind-fuck", as Jomar so aptly called it. Post-Mulholland Drive viewing in 2003.
That's when I started really caring about movies as films. As art.

Since Inland Empire was released last week, I feel especially compelled to launch this, because I think Lynch's movies are really rich in discussion material.
Or at the very least, excellent jumping-off points for sharing opinions that can span a range of topics.

Wow. That was the most specific generalization I've ever seen in sentence-form.
Go me.

Anyway, I'm starting this thread for a few reasons:
1) I'm so taken aback by the number of you who know and enjoy David Lynch's work that it only seems appropriate to have a geek-out thread about it.
2) I try to pay special attention to film directors because, well, I'm a movie nerd and directing is another form of art to appreciate.
That being said, I'm primarily labeling this as a Lynch thread, but discussion of other directors is welcomed and probably inevitable, as ties can (and probably should) always be made to others who are contemporaries and those who have come before.
3) I'd really like to, in tandem with the Lynch discussion, talk about what it entails to be a viewer. To really understand film and where its creators are coming from.
4) Charley and Jo asked me to.
5) I have my orders from the Black Lodge.

One of the things I've learned as I've become an avid film-watcher is that, as with writing, the watching is just as important as the making was.
The viewer (if patient and understanding) should attempt to watch with an open-mind. To know that appreciation doesn't always come fast and easy.
Most of the time you have to work for it; exercise the eyes and the mind to not only grasp, but enjoy the otherness of what is being experienced.

There are so many factors that go into watching Lynch's work.
Or else there aren't. Some people can't get past the all-encompassing Weirdness. They completely block it out.
And that is the Weirdness specific to Lynch, never mind the general weirdness that can be found elsewhere; the weirdness that is considered so far from normal that "horrible" is the first word people reach for in response.

If I never have to read another Amazon movie review by someone with little or no patience to understand the movie both in and out of context, I'll be all too happy.
Generally, what people don't understand, they condemn.
(I know, I know. Thank you, Captain Obvious.)

As with books and music, sometimes we have to grow into things. It can take years to look at a particular novel/cd/dvd and finally get it.
An embarrassing confession of mine is, the harder I resist something the more I wind up liking it.
Which means that from the first moment I teased a friend about his avid love for the Linda Ronstadt boxed set I was cosmically slated to buy Hummin' to Myself a few years later, and to now readily accept her into the musical fold.

For myself, I try to watch with an open-ended scope of time. I try to allow for the possibility that even if I ardently hate something right now, I may not hate it two years down the line.

Still, I do understand why some people have a hard time watching Lynch's films. They can be scary, grotesque, kooky, and utterly off-putting.
But one of the weird cyclical nuances of growing into a film or a director is realizing that what pushes you away can also be what draws you in.

 

[slyc_willie]

Care for some coffee?

 

[cloudy]

Care for some coffee?

that was my line!

I haven't seen many of his movies, bluebell, but Twin Peaks remains my favorite TV show EVER. The weirdness attracted me, of course...I mean, who can resist a dwarf speaking backwards? But more than that, the symbolism that would hit you with the strength of a major epiphany days later, or not, and leave you feeling like such a dumbass that you just couldn't get it.

It was revolutionary for television, and its one of those shows I could see over and over, and notice something new every single time.

I'm planning on branching out a little further with his movies. The major obstacle I have to overcome is finding someone to watch them with me. Twin Peaks wouldn't have been nearly as much fun if I couldn't dissect it the next day with everyone.

 

[bluebell]

The first thing I want to talk about is what my friend and I call The Lynch Effect. Brilliant wording, I know.
Lynch's work is alternately so rhythmic and so jarring, it can be difficult to grasp all at once.
(As with so many things, repeat experience is necessary to form a full opinion.)
After it's all over and you're sitting there slack-jawed, wondering what the hell happened and calculating the precise moment you wet yourself, your brain begins to fix it all.

Unless you've been seriously scarred and never want to watch a Lynch film again.
But for the most part, it's like a rabbit-hole of remembrances. You happen upon the really interesting and evenly-plotted ones first before really remembering just what it was you saw and how insane things got.

For me, the best example of this is Wild at Heart. The first thing I reach for is the plot, because it's probably one of his most even movies.
But then when I sit down to watch it, I remember, "Oh yeah, Nicholas Cage beats the shit out of that guy at the very beginning and it's really graphic and gross." And, "Whoa, that Laura Dern rape scene is just a teensy bit disturbing..."
And other things I forget to remember.

Blue Velvet is probably the one that does that the least for me. Fixes itself, I mean.
Between the Dennis Hopper character and the other assorted beasties that populate the film with fear, blood, and murder, the whole thing is pretty brilliantly fucked up.

And that's one of the qualities I really admire about Lynch's work: his insistence on documenting really raw human emotion.
The film world is still clucking about Naomi Watts masturbating so freely in Mulholland Drive, and that hit about five years ago. Talk about raw.

So many films are just middling. They don't demand an expansive emotional range from either their actors or their audience, but Lynch forces you to feel it all; arousal, revulsion, utter fear, contentment, unease, confusion, despair, and humor.

His humor always seems to be an acquired taste. Or just an acquired knowledge.
When I went to see Inland Empire in the theater, my friend and I were the only ones not laughing at the rabbits, but we were hysterical during the scene with all the girls doing the Locomotion.
If you watch his stuff enough, you start to know when he's being funny, or at least, when it's okay to laugh.

Mulholland Drive, to me, is one of the most imminently quotable movies; it's scripted so oddly and yet so fully.
I can always come up with an excuse to say "Just call me Coco, everybody does."

Or to laugh at the wonderful way Lynch works vengeance for every day pet peeves into his films.
The road rage incident in Lost Highway. Or Adam Kesher's revenge in Mulholland Drive, a la golf clubs connecting mightily with the windshield of the people who want to keep him from directing his movie.
Those two make me really happy.

Does anyone else find the humor in how Lynch sees the world, and how he puts it on film? How daily it is, and yet how separate?
If we do laugh at it, do we laugh because it's funny, because it's odd, or because we honestly don't know how else to approach it?




I think I'll leave this here for now, but I'd love to hear what you guys have to say.

As long as you don't throw cranberry sauce at me, we're okay.
(It jiggles independent of touch. That's scary to me.)

 

[bluebell]

Damn, you guys are fast!

that was my line!

That's okay, Cloudy. You can choose another pick-up line.
I'm easy.
(Shh! )

I'm planning on branching out a little further with his movies. The major obstacle I have to overcome is finding someone to watch them with me. Twin Peaks wouldn't have been nearly as much fun if I couldn't dissect it the next day with everyone.

And that is one of the big things. You absolutely have to watch it with at least one other person. Otherwise it just isn't fun.
Want me to come over? We can have David Lynch snuggle-time.

 

[bluebell]

Care for some coffee?

Only if it comes with a slice of pie or a donut.

 

[cloudy]

And that is one of the big things. You absolutely have to watch it with at least one other person. Otherwise it just isn't fun.
Want me to come over? We can have David Lynch snuggle-time.

Perfect. I'll make coffee.

 

[starrkers]

That's okay, Cloudy. You can choose another pick-up line.
I'm easy.
(Shh! )


And that is one of the big things. You absolutely have to watch it with at least one other person. Otherwise it just isn't fun.
Want me to come over? We can have David Lynch snuggle-time.

I'm jealous. No one around here gets David Lynch.

 

[Lee Chambers]

Who is David Lynch?

 

[bluebell]

I'm jealous. No one around here gets David Lynch.

Why don't you come snug-up with Cloudy and I?
Nice an' warm in 'ere.

Who is David Lynch?

There's kinda-sorta some answers in here, but there's also some dithering and general silliness.
We're so eloquent.

 

[rootsfan]

When worlds collide

*pokes head in timidly* I'm not a Lit author, at least yet, please don't beat me with your quills, kind folk.

Oh, this thread looks very good so far, dear bluebell. I'm too wiped to contribute tonight, but soon.

You can choose another pick-up line.
I'm easy.
(Shh! )

Good to know.

 

[bluebell]

*pokes head in timidly* I'm not a Lit author, at least yet, please don't beat me with your quills, kind folk.

I think your un-noobiness helps you out.

Oh, this thread looks very good so far, dear bluebell. I'm too wiped to contribute tonight, but soon.

You've already heard me muse about some of it!
But you should definitely post that YouTube clip in here. It's priceless.

Good to know.

 

[Lee Chambers]

There's kinda-sorta some answers in here, but there's also some dithering and general silliness.
We're so eloquent.

I asked the question in that thread too, didn't get much of an answer.

What I know about David Lynch is that he made the series Twin Peaks which ran when I was a kid and it was something I had no interest in (I think I was like eight years old at the time) and also the prequel movie to it called Fire Walk With Me.

The only reason I know about the movie is because of the Cartoon Network show Lil' Bush. During a scene where Bush is trying to come up with solutions for returning "Hot Dog Day" to their school, Rumsfield suggests burning down the school and Cheny agrees with a frothy mouthed muttering of "Rawr Rawr Fire Walk With Me Rawr Rawr". Curious, I looked up the movie and read the synopsis of it. I didn't get the connection in the joke and I still know nothing about David Lynch.

 

[bluebell]

*snicker* No wonder I had deja vu!
I'm so goofy.

The very short answer is:
David Lynch is a director who has more of a cult-following. His fans are super devoted, but he's also been recognized in the mainstream (had an Oscar nod for his movie Mulholland Drive).
He's got a really kooky sense of humor, and makes movies that can be very difficult to swallow. He is just as popular as his work is. It's kind of a cyclical thing.
Plot is almost impossible to delineate, as he works mostly with differing time periods and characters. Plus he's got a big thing about filming in the same wacky way that dreams come to you when you're sleeping.

He did co-create/write/direct Twin Peaks with Mark Frost.
He also did Short Films (from his college days), Fire Walk With Me (which you know about), Blue Velvet (a kind of crazy love quadrangle), Wild at Heart (pretty much a love story, with lots of Wizard of Oz imagery), Eraserhead (possibly one of the weirdest movies ever made), Mulholland Drive (sort of a mistaken identity/dreamy alternate universe character study), and his newest, Inland Empire, which you already read about in that thread.
Those are his specific brain children.
He also directed The Straight Story, The Elephant Man, and one of the versions of Dune.

This is incredibly condensed and probably not nearly good enough to describe, but really, description doesn't do it.
Go rent a couple.
Like I said, words fail. The man is about seeing and hearing.

 

[trysail]

Proper Care and Handling


Uh...., er....., ummm.....,

at the risk of being lynched, may I humbly suggest that Lynch-newbies skip "Eraserhead?" Quite frankly, if you don't have a better way to spend two hours, I'm a little worried about you.

On the other hand, if you really are a serious masochist, why not make yourself a triple feature of John Water's "Mondo Trasho" and "Female Trouble" along with "Eraserhead." They can, moreover, be effectively employed for the purpose of terminating budding friendships with people you really wish weren't intent on befriending you.

"Wild At Heart" and "Blue Velvet" have the advantage of providing relatively mild samples without the potential for inflicting lifelong mental illness.

 

[bluebell]

Praising Trysail's excellent insurance coverage

Good advice, Trysail. I probably believed I was issuing a similar warning, but then again it was late and my head is never on quite right.

<gibberish>

Though, personally, I'd shy away from Blue Velvet for Lynch first-timers as well.
However, your oogy triple movie slam idea with the John Waters films is truly a gem.
My head hurts and my soul aches just thinking about it.

Pink Flamingos just put me over the edge. Call me a wuss, but I felt so dirty after watching that movie, I wanted to pull my brain out and scrub it with Tilex and bleach.
It did afford me with a particular wonder of a line, though.
"Eat the bird, bitch!" is bound to afford a glowing vernacular home-run someday.

</gibberish>

 

[neonlyte]

I remember Blue Velvet almost as much for 'audience effect' as for the film. I first saw it in Lisbon, with Portuguese sub-titles, and contrary to the norm, there was no audience talking (whispering) over the sound track, just collective intakes of breath, penetrating silences and spontaneous applause at the end, a bit like the survival applause after a bumpy flight and dodgy touch-down. Blue Velvet is not the sort of film an English speaking audience would applaud, which might allow to applause to be read as a measure of the audiences appreciation of Lynch / the film, or simply relief they had collectively survived the ending, either way, I'm sure I wasn't alone in checking my ears for insects.

 

[jomar]

However, your oogy triple movie slam idea with the John Waters films is truly a gem.
My head hurts and my soul aches just thinking about it.

Pink Flamingos just put me over the edge. Call me a wuss, but I felt so dirty after watching that movie, I wanted to pull my brain out and scrub it with Tilex and bleach.
It did afford me with a particular wonder of a line, though.
"Eat the bird, bitch!" is bound to afford a glowing vernacular home-run someday.

</gibberish>

1. Nasty as it was, if you're going to do John Waters films you MUST see Pink Flamingos. Then you can smile smugly at John Travolta and Hairspray, which is what he'll be mostly remembered for. Cry Baby was fun too.

And the line my friends and I came away with was, "Do my balls, Momma! Do my balls!"

2. Nobody's mentioned Kevin Bacon yet.

3. I forgot Lynch directed Dune. I thought that one sucked. Plodding, plodding, the spice. Had some nice scenes though.

4. I now want to go back through his movies. Especially, wild at Heart, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire (shudder).

 

[rootsfan]

Though, personally, I'd shy away from Blue Velvet for Lynch first-timers as well.

And yet, that is exactly the Lynch film I saw first--in a theater, with little advance info. AND, it was on a second date! I really liked it. She, not so much. (But we still went on to date for a while.)



Fellow Lynch fans, here is the Youtube clip to which bluebell referred last night. It's short, yet very pleasing. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4wh_mc8hRE

Pink Flamingos just put me over the edge. Call me a wuss, but I felt so dirty after watching that movie, I wanted to pull my brain out and scrub it with Tilex and bleach.
It did afford me with a particular wonder of a line, though.
"Eat the bird, bitch!" is bound to afford a glowing vernacular home-run someday.

Oh, it was seriously icky, no doubt about it. And yet I agree with jomar, those who wish to understand Waters need to watch it--all his sensibilities and ongoing themes are on display. It also inspired my college roommate/bandmate and I to write a bad song after the death of Divine.

 

[trysail]

A Night To Remember (with apologies to Walter Lord)

Pink Flamingos just put me over the edge. Call me a wuss, but I felt so dirty after watching that movie, I wanted to pull my brain out and scrub it with Tilex and bleach.

Bluebell, dear, you are a true hoot. Every generation has defining moments. Without fail, everyone in my parent's generation recalled EXACTLY where they were when they heard the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. A later generation has never forgotten where they were and what they were doing when the uber-saint, Jack Kennedy, was assassinated. Similarly, the memory of "Pink Flamingos" will linger with us as long as we draw breath.

I am (and was) as "white bread" a fellow as you're ever going to meet. In 1977, I was a graduate student at a well-known "white bread" university. I and a roommate, the rich scion of a prominent Virginia family, intrigued by the scuttlebutt surrounding "Pink Flamingos" took a night off and went to see it. An hour and thirty-three minutes later, we looked at each other in stunned astonishment. Not a word passed between us. We were in what can only be described as "clinical shock." After a couple of minutes, we rose from our seats in silence. As quickly and quietly as we could, we slinked out of the theater and into the night. I am not exaggerating. If we had been able to locate paper bags to put over our heads to minimize any chance of recognition, we wouldn't have hesitated. As it was, all we could do was to stay in the shadows and pray that we didn't run into anyone we knew. I felt filthy, cheap, and defiled. All I wanted to do was get home and get in the shower.

Baltimore's a funny town. There are some "characters" running around here- always have been. John's one of 'em.

 

[bluebell]

C'mon baby, do the locomotion

Nasty as it was, if you're going to do John Waters films you MUST see Pink Flamingos. Then you can smile smugly at John Travolta and Hairspray, which is what he'll be mostly remembered for. Cry Baby was fun too.

I suppose you're right. I mean, grasping his reputation for being sick doesn't fully wash until Pink Flamingos is viewed, even if you have seen all the others.
Have you seen Serial Mom with Kathleen Turner?
His other movies are sick, but that one really does kind of disturb me, even though there are some funny lines.

And the line my friends and I came away with was, "Do my balls, Momma! Do my balls!"

Ha!
I believe that was the part where my friend started gagging into the pillow.
He was also particularly disgusted by the turkey-baster impregnation.

For me that utterly gaggy stuff didn't come until...the endy bit.
You know what I mean. Everyone knows what I mean.
Oh, and the chicken sex bit. *shudder*

I now want to go back through his movies. Especially, wild at Heart, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire (shudder).

See! It's the syndrome!
I don't understand why Inland Empire is garnering such horrified reviews from people. I'm not sure Charley is all that thrilled about it either.
I think the problem for me is that Laura Dern is fascinating, but there are these slow, plodding scenes with Jeremy Irons and even though they fit, you kind of have to be like, "What are we doing here, David?"
Julia Ormond's character is particularly WTF-ish, but in a great way, and that scene where Laura Dern dies at the end is flippin' fabulous.

 

[jomar]

I suppose you're right. I mean, grasping his reputation for being sick doesn't fully wash until Pink Flamingos is viewed, even if you have seen all the others.
Have you seen Serial Mom with Kathleen Turner?
His other movies are sick, but that one really does kind of disturb me, even though there are some funny lines.

I did, but it's been so long ago...

Ha!
I believe that was the part where my friend started gagging into the pillow.
He was also particularly disgusted by the turkey-baster impregnation.

For me that utterly gaggy stuff didn't come until...the endy bit.
You know what I mean. Everyone knows what I mean.
Oh, and the chicken sex bit. *shudder*

And the playpen and the scrambled eggs! It's a sign of the apocolypse that a recent entertainment tonight (or something) segment on John Waters talked about Pink Flamingos and Divine and showed the movie clip of him/her following a dog...

See! It's the syndrome!
I don't understand why Inland Empire is garnering such horrified reviews from people. I'm not sure Charley is all that thrilled about it either.
I think the problem for me is that Laura Dern is fascinating, but there are these slow, plodding scenes with Jeremy Irons and even though they fit, you kind of have to be like, "What are we doing here, David?"
Julia Ormond's character is particularly WTF-ish, but in a great way, and that scene where Laura Dern dies at the end is flippin' fabulous.

I think part of the problem with IE is that it's not as mesmerizingly, enticingly, beautifully WTF-ish as his others, most notably Mulholland Drive. I really think this movie has to be seen several times to reveal itself, and even then I bet it's a bit of a "Huh." Dern should be nominated for a Academy Award, but she won't. And yeah, flippin' is the right word for the murder is real is a movie thing. Another great WTF moment that will make sense upon other viewings - like wasn't the homeless woman talking about debts that must be paid?

 

[bluebell]

And the playpen and the scrambled eggs!

I actually found Edith Massey to be the best bit of the movie.
Mother in a pen, lamenting the late arrival of the egg man? Heh.
Stop it, Jo, I'm forgetting that I ought to be properly horrified about the whole thing.

I think part of the problem with IE is that it's not as mesmerizingly, enticingly, beautifully WTF-ish as his others, most notably Mulholland Drive. I really think this movie has to be seen several times to reveal itself, and even then I bet it's a bit of a "Huh." Dern should be nominated for a Academy Award, but she won't. And yeah, flippin' is the right word for the murder is real is a movie thing. Another great WTF moment that will make sense upon other viewings - like wasn't the homeless woman talking about debts that must be paid?

I completely understand what you mean by the comparison to Mulholland Drive. I think a lot of that boils down to budget and the fact that he went digital (which is probably the biggest bone of contention for fans and non-fans alike).
It gives him the versatility he wants to film over and over, for longer periods of time and is, of course, cheaper, but what is being sacrificed?

I think especially after Mulholland Drive, clearly his most richly shot and glossy movie, the change to Inland Empire is sudden and might jar people all the way over to "Ugh."
Also, its length might be a deterrent. Obviously Lynch loves his long movies, but Inland Empire feels like it takes the cake, even if it is comparable to some of the others. The way it unfolds is very leisurely and some people don't have the patience for it.

Repeat viewings are the only way. Even then, I'm not sure everything is mapped out. More like you've gotten enough and can begin to smooth over the rough patches; they don't rankle so much.

You're right about Laura Dern. Such a shame.

And just as an aside, does anyone else think the cover they chose for the second season of Twin Peaks just looks horrid?
They made people wait for years and that's what they gave?

 

[rootsfan]

I actually found Edith Massey to be the best bit of the movie.
Mother in a pen, lamenting the late arrival of the egg man? Heh.
Stop it, Jo, I'm forgetting that I ought to be properly horrified about the whole thing.

Well, thank you for reminding me! It's been so very long since I saw it. I have to agree, the mother was the best part. For quite a while after I saw the movie, my college roommate and I would randomly break into chants of "Eggs! Eggs! Eggs!"

I think it's better to be selectively horrified about Pink Flamingoes.

 

[CharleyH]

Now, before I get into auteur Lynch, lets discuss his daughters film, "BOXING HELENA". Did she ever direct a film after that?