David Lynch’s Lime Green Set: Essays and Viewpoints

The Short Films of David Lynch

Continuing on with the robustly awesome Lime Green Set from David Lynch, we now delve into a particularly interesting DVD in the set: The Short Films of David Lynch. This is a collection of Mr. Lynch’s early shorts, as well as some very rare, hard to find short films.

To begin, let’s have a look at the list of short films we get:

• Six Men Getting Sick
• The Alphabet
• The Grandmother
• The Amputee
• The Cowboy & The Frenchman
• Lumiere

These short films all have an optional introduction by David Lynch himself, which of course you should view so you can hear the back story on them. Some of these short films are actually reminiscent of early Terry Gilliam work, but only because of some of the way the artwork is moving on the screen. There really is no other similiarity. Gilliam does his thing, and Lynch does his. I’m just more or less trying to give a comparison for those of you who have never seen any of these short film before now. Let’s have a look at each one:

• Six Men Getting Sick - 1967, film projected on a sculptured screen, 1 minute looped

6 men getting sick...and how!

This is Mr. Lynch’s first film project, and is odd as a ‘movie’, but as an art project, well, it’s even more odd! Seriously, this is a very interesting project, and to think that he was doing this is the late 60′s really shows how original and inventive his mind is. Some may consider it stupid or gross, but it’s art, and not everyone is going to appreciate it for what it is.

• The Alphabet - 1968, 16mm, 4 minutes

V is for Viewing Screen.

Again, we have a short introduction, one which I found nearly as fascinating as the short film itself, although not nearly as creepy. Yes, The Alphabet has a very sinister mood to it, and some very creepy aspects to go along with that. It has such a dark atmosphere to it, and is very surreal, with a little girl singing the alphabet over the imagery is just haunting. This one is also very much art, and some really inventive art, at that.

• The Grandmother – 1970, 16mm, 34 minutes

Grow your own Grandma, with Chia Gran!

Continuing in the artful style of The Alphabet, we have The Grandmother, and oh boy is this one a mind trip! While still ‘arty’, this can probably be considered Mr. Lynch’s first film, as he received a grant to work on it, and is longer than his previous two efforts, although technically it is his third.

A young boy decides to grow his own Grandmother on his bed. After she grows, things..take a nasty turn, to put it bluntly. Another surreal one from Mr. Lynch, but did you expect anything less?

• The Amputee - 1973, Video, 2 versions: 5 minutes, 4 minutes

Catherine Coulson as the Amputee.

This is a kind of slow piece, but with a comedic punchline at the end. It stars David Lynch and Catherine Coulson, (perhaps known better to you as the Log Lady from Twin Peaks). The narrative is actually rather interesting, as the Amputee internalizes a letter she is writing, and the last scene is pretty funny. A nice little short film here.

The visual quality isn’t up to par with the previous short films, but it is completely watchable. This is due to it being shot on video and you can see the wear lines coming up every so often. I thought that this added a bit of charm to it, almost like we are seeing in on a routine in this person’s life.

• The Cowboy & The Frenchman - 1988, 35mm, 26 minutes

Cowboys, Frenchman, Indian.

Okay, I’m going to have to admit, this one is a little much for me. Not in terms of offensiveness or anything like that, and it’s certainly not boring, but there’s something about it that just doesn’t set with me very well.

I don’t hate it by any means, but I’m not in love with it, either. There are some really, really funny parts in this short, especially by Harry Dean Stanton. He is just really on with his delivery. The Frenchman is also funny, but overall I’d have to say it’s my least favorite on the disc.

Actually, the tone of this short film reminded me of David Lynch’s sitcom ‘On the Air’. While I thought that On the Air was a pretty funny sitcom, this one doesn’t achieve the same height of laughter for me. I really enjoy David Lynch’s bizarre sense of humor, he always has it in place, even if subtly, in his films. True, the cliches are in place as intended, steadying themselves for satire and hilarity, but a lot of it just doesn’t loft itself up high enough. While it is an interesting one to watch, I don’t see myself viewing it regularly.

• Lumiere - 1995, 35mm, 55 seconds

A familiar Lynch scene.

This is easily my favorite short film of the bunch. The project for this one was that specific filmmakers were given a Lumiere camera and were told to make a one minute film, with some attached conditions:

1. Only 3 takes.
2. Only natural light.
3. No sound syncing.
4. Once the camera started rolling, it could not be stopped.

It’s amazing to me how such limitations breeds such creativity. While yes, this is a very, very short film, it shows more innovation and inspiration than some big blockbuster movies I’ve seen come out of Hollywood. Maybe that’s a bit exaggerated, maybe it isn’t, I suppose that’s up to the viewer to decide. Well, since I’m the viewer, I’m saying it and you’ll just have to accept that until you view it for yourself.

Certainly, these short films are not for the casual viewer, they are more for the hardcore Lynch fan, (like me). Having this disc included in the Lime Green Set is a no-brainer, for sure. It ties in with the rest of set wonderfully and gives us insight into the early development of David Lynch as he eased from ‘painter’ to ‘filmmaker’, although the two are combined greatly on the material presented here.

You could buy the disc as a standalone. It was available from the David Lynch website long before the Lime Green Set was ever released, but for those that didn’t get around to buying it before now get the chance to add it to their DVD collection through the Lime Green Set.

Happy viewing!

Blue Velvet

Continuing on the groundwork I’ve laid for the Lime Green Set by David Lynch, we now make our way to a film of his that is, according to me, one of the greatest films of ours or any generation past: Blue Velvet. The dark humor, the characters, the intrigue, the mystery…it’s all here and Lynch uses them all, and more, perfectly. Not only are his script and direction spot on, but the actors are also deeply invested in their characters, which just gives that much more to the film.

For a 23 year old film, it holds up very well. The crime/mystery aspect of the story is timeless, so even though you can tell the film takes place in the mid to later 1980′s, it could very well take place in current times, or even the 1960′s. That’s one of the beautiful things about this film, the timelessness of it. Lynch creates a small town world in which we can slip into anytime, anywhere.

Credits Title. Works great with L.S.D.

From the opening credits, a flowing blue velvet background with type overlayed, the film mesmerizes you. The music adds a certain mysterious charm to it which invites you in as you also feel a slight bit of hesitation. Then we are introduced to the small town of Lumberton through beautiful images. We are shown a fire truck, roses, quaint homes on any street, USA. It is within the opening sequence that we are warned about the type of world we are entering.

As these wholesome images are shown to us, the idyllic small town life, we see a man watering his garden as he succumbs to a stroke. He falls to the ground while his pup tries to get at the water hose he still holds. The music slowly fades out and is overtaken by sounds…growling, grumbling, low sounds, as the camera pans down to below the earth, where we see insects in grotesque close up. It is a very interesting first scene, and one which shows us that even though Lumberton is a quaint small town, seemingly perfect, it does have it’s dirty underside, it’s bad bugs which also inhabit the town.

Jeffrey pretends to be the bug man.

Our protaganist Jeffrey comes home from College due to his Father’s stroke, which we saw in the opening. While walking back from visiting him in the hospital, he discovers an ear in a field where he was throwing rocks at some bottles. He takes the ear to Detective Williams, a cop he knows from his neighborhood, who in turn takes it to the crime lab to have it examined.

Later, when paying a visit to Detective Williams to inquire about the ear, he tells Jeffrey to just try and turn off his inquisitive nature, as the police are now investigating the ear and its origins. As Jeffrey is leaving, he runs into Detective Williams’ daughter, Sandy. Her introductory scene is as beautiful as they come, as she speaks to Jeffrey from the darkness, but then slowly walks into the light, into view. It is a scene that captures mystery and innocence, much like Sandy herself. She is definitely the catalyst to Jeffrey’s obssession, as she tells him that her room is right over her Father’s office, and she hears many details about the cases on which he is working. She relays quite a bit of information to Jeffrey about the case he is so curious about.

Sandy makes an appearance from the shadows.

Of course, the two team up to try and find out some more information, which means they must first visit an apartment building on the wrong side of town where one Dorothy Valens lives. She is a name Sandy heard her Father talking about in reference to the ear. From there, Jeffrey is drawn to a world that he would probably rather not visit, but this is an interesting aspect of Jeffrey. He is drawn by his curiousity, the hope to find out the truth about the ear and all those involved and maybe even solve this perplexing mystery. He cannot look away nor resist its gentle pull. As he allows himself to get pulled in further, he learns more about the people involved in this bizarre situation, and as fortune would have it, he meets one disturbed individual in particular that is involved: Frank Booth.

Frank Booth. You do not want a love letter from him.

As many great films as Dennis Hopper has done, I believe that the the role of Frank Booth is easily his most renowned. There’s a reason for that. He plays the character to utter perfection. You see, Frank Booth is a very disturbed man, but he is also an obsessed man, much like Jeffrey, but definitely on a different level. He is a psychotic man, and also one who is too much in love. He will do whatever is necessary to get what he wants, and even more to keep it. Many have stated that Hopper overacted in this role. While that may be true to a certain degree, I think they need to also consider how over the top Frank Booth is. He has no trouble making proclamations of his feelings, and he also doesn’t really care about you think about that. Yes, Frank Booth is over the top, and Dennis Hopper captured that perfectly.

One of the standouts for me is one of the smaller roles. That is the character Ben, portrayed by Dean Stockwell. He is so delightfully warped, yet mellow, that he is the perfect complement to Frank Booth. When they share screentime together, short as it is, it is an amazing chemistry, and you can’t get a much better performance than Ben lip synching Roy Orbison’s ‘In Dreams’. Genius.

Ben sings a song.

There are so many layers to this film, it’s quite dense and rich. It works on every single level, too. In fact, it’s about as close as you can get to a perfect film. It is a dark film, make no bones about it. For any brief moment of levity is brought down quickly, almost as if you think you’re going to get away from the darkness of the world around you, but it snatches you back down and makes you pay attention. It is as charming as it is revolting. Some of the themes are disturbing, yet contain a raw realism to them.

Blue Velvet has some of the most beautiful shots commited to film. I know you’ve heard that before from me when discussing David Lynch, but you’ll hear it many times over in the future, too. It’s just a fact. Lynch is a painter first and foremost, and it really shows through in his visuals. The way he sees things, and in turn shows us through the lens is truly astonishing.

Dorothy Vallens is a night club singer.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The DVD has some pretty nice extras on it, including:

• Documentary: Mysteries of Love
• Deleted Scene Montage
• Siskel & Ebert “At the Movies 1986
• Photo Gallery
• Trailer/TV Spots

The documentary has some great early footage with Lynch talking about his creative process for creating Blue Velvet. There also interviews with Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern, Dennis Hopper, and a couple producers. It is very interesting to hear the actors discuss their roles and their first time meeting David Lynch. They understood the movie and their characters they were portraying so well, it’s no wonder all of their performances are top notch. This is a really great documentary.

A young David Lynch talks about the making of the film

The deleted scene montage is an interesting piece. Not all of the scenes cut from the film were in a restorable condition. As such, they show us several photo montages to fill in those scenes. There is only music playing over them, but they are very interesting to see. An unusual addition to this set, one which is unusual in a good, original way.

It’s actually kind of mind blowing to think that the original cut of this film was 4 hours long. I can’t even really fathom that. It would sure be interesting to see, as I’m sure there are more characters and more interactions between the ones already in the film. Probably a lot more backstory, too. Since we can’t have that 4 hour cut, these deleted scene montages work well to give us at least an idea of what they may have been like, back in the film.

I don’t really know why they included the Siskel & Ebert bit, except for maybe either posterity’s sake, or just to show what a clueless ass Ebert is. I’ve never really liked him and this only further cements it. I would think that a film critic would be able to separate the actress from the character, but apparently he can’t. If you’re interested in seeing just how out of touch a world famous movie critic can be, watch it.

The gang's all here.

The photo gallery is divided up into 3 areas: Lumberton, USA, International Posters, and Peter Braatz photos. There are some really beautiful pictures in this gallery, including a bunch of behind the scenes photos. I don’t know about you, but when there’s a film I really like, such as this one, I just love to see old photos taken on set and seeing the cast hanging out, or the director directing his actors, or whatever. It’s just cool to see.

The Trailer/TV Spots feature has the original trailer for the film, and 2 television spots that ran to promote the film. Nothing too exciting there, but it is fun to watch them and see how they promoted such a dark film back then.

In the end, I cannot show enough appreciation for this film. It is truly a masterpiece of cinema that will capture you and not let go. Dennis Hopper called David Lynch’s style ‘American Surrealism’, and I could not agree more. His keen artistic eye shows us a story in moving pictures in a way that only David Lynch can imagine. This film should be mandatory viewing for all film school students, and as Kyle MacLachlan says, “everyone should see it at least once in their life”. I couldn’t agree more.

The Elephant Man

The Elephant Man

Here we are on my second post about David Lynch’s Lime Green Set, this time about the film The Elephant Man. This was Lynch’s second feature, and while this film doesn’t offer up the ‘weird factor’ that Eraserhead had in his debut feature, there is still some Lynch imagery integrated into the film. The film offers up a very interesting, albeit partly fictional in some circumstances, dramatic biopic that is both sad and inspiring.

The Elephant Man centers on John Merrick, who is afflicted with a congenital defect that has completely deformed his body. He is found working in a Freak Show for an abusive carnival leader by Doctor Treves, who takes a keen interest in him and his condition, thus bringing him to live in the hospital where he works.

The doctor gives no more credit to Merrick’s intellect than any other person at first, but as he converses with him, introduces him to other hospital staff, and starts listening to him, he realizes that Merrick is not only well versed with many interests, but that he is also a compassionate, warm person who wants nothing more than to be treated with a little dignity and to be loved.

Dr. Treves is overcome with emotion at first sight of Merrick. A truly beautiful scene.

One of the most renowned actress of the time shows an interest in John Merrick, and as she does, high society follows suit. It’s a morbid fascination to these people, as a way to boast among their friends when hob knobbing about their elitist party circles. “I met the Elephant Man”. It’s an interesting spin, though only briefly touched upon in the film. It shows how these supposedly more civilized folks are basically using him in the same manner that the ‘common folk’ did, as an exhibit….a conversation piece. The actress, Ms. Kendall, is not like those that follow in her footsteps. Rather, she strikes up a genuine friendship with John Merrick.

The night porter is a different story altogether. He uses Merrick as his own tourist attraction; charging barfly’s to come for a visit and see ‘the Elephant Man’. They make him dance like a marionette, pour liquor on his head, and make girls kiss him. Then, in a final act of cruelty, put a mirror in front of him so he can see himself. While you may think this would be one of the sadder moments in the film, it is handled as such that it is more about the devilish deeds of those with no compassion. The jovial drunks mire about to the sounds of carnival music, which in itself is reflective of John Merrick’s roots and exemplifies how even though John Merrick strives to make himself a better person, even though some people have given him his dignity and basic human rights back, others do not see that, and don’t care anyway. They see what they want.

Merrick in his room.

Of course, the night porter’s shenanigans lead to John Merrick being kidnapped by his former abusive carnival leader, who has had a difficult time with letting go of John. He sees him as his property and not a person at all, but a way to scrape by and make a living. Merrick does get away, thanks to the aid of fellow carnival folk, but does not get far before being cornered on the subway system, leading to one of the better scenes in the film, with Merrick exclaiming ‘I am not an animal…I am a human being…I am a man’.

The film is loosely based on the book, The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences, by Sir Frederick Treves. Many instances have been changed and liberties taken from actual events, obviously for the sake of creating a more dramatic film. In this it succeeds quite well, yet nothing is too overdone in this regard; everything is very much grounded in reality.

The performances in this film are nothing short of extraordinary. We have John Hurt playing the titular role of the Elephant Man, Sir Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Frederick Treves, and joining them, a cast of actors such as Anne Bancroft and others more than qualified to live up to their end in making this film a masterpiece.

One of my favorite shots in the film, as Dr. Treves seeks out the Elephant Man.

The picture quality on this black and white film is very good. I personally don’t think it is near the caliber of Lynch’s previous effort Eraserhead, but it’s not far behind. The blacks are rich and deep, with the whites showing a perfect balance to that. The rumor is that there is a blu-ray in the works, which I suspect will look even more amazing, especially if Lynch himself is in charge of the mastering.

EXTRAS! EXTRAS! READ ALL ABOUT ‘EM!!

There are three extras on the Elephant Man disc. The first is a half hour feature titled ‘The Elephant Man’ revealed. It is a great account of how the Elephant Man movie came to be. It has interviews with Mel Brooks, Jonathan Sanger, John Hurt, and more, all recounting and sharing stories.

Joseph Merrick's skull, the template for the effects used on the film.

The second extra is a short feature titled ‘Christopher Tucker’s Workshop’ in which he shows the model he used to work with on creating the make-up for John Hurt to wear. It is short, but quite interesting to see.

Similarly, the third feature is a narrated photo gallery, which is also very interesting to see. Chris Tucker talks over photos of him working on the elephant man head. It is a scant 4 minutes, but has some interesting tidbits.

David Lynch shows us his schemy fingers.

Also included with this Lime Green Set is an accompanying disc to the Elephant Man movie, yes, a DVD Extras disc. There are 3 noted extras on this disc, the first being a look at the life of the real Elephant Man, Joshua, (not John as in the movie), Merrick. It is hosted by the Royal London Hospital archivist Jonathan Evans. It is a very interesting little documentary as Mr. Evans recounts Joseph Merrick’s life and he also compares factual events with the events portrayed in the film.

The second extra is a very good interview with David Lynch upon which he expands on the story of how he landed the director’s chair. He also tells of his reactions to the acceptance of the film, and some funny little Lynch anecdotes about the making of the film.

The excellent John Hurt.

The last extra is an equally candid interview with John Hurt, who portrayed John Merrick. He speaks of the kindness experienced working on the set, as well as his lengthy make-up and transformation.

All in all, the extras are interesting, even if they’re a little on the short side, but they definitely help to round out the entire Elephant Man story and give some more insight into the people who created this film, as well as the subject himself.

Overall, The Elephant Man is a triumph in filmmaking. It is both uplifting and sad, a mark which many filmmakers cannot hit, but Lynch has done successfully here. It is a timeless tale that may teach you a lesson about humanity and the way we view people different than ourselves.

Eraserhead

In Heaven, Everything is fine.

This is my first post in an ongoing series I will do as I make my way through the David Lynch Lime Green Set. This set contains a few of Lynch’s films, as well as short films, content from his website, and many extras peppered throughout. The first film in the set, Eraserhead, is my launching post, and I couldn’t think of a better film to begin with than this surrealist mindtrip.

As you may or may not know, David Lynch is one of, if not my favorite, filmmakers. His amazing attention to detail and beautiful cinematography always captivates me, not to mention his offbeat humor and twisted scripts. The way he approaches his craft impresses me, getting the performances he wants out of his actors for his unusual, other wordly stories.

Eraserhead is his first film, and next to Blue Velvet, probably his most renowned. It is a surreal film, that many won’t or can’t make heads or tails out of. Sure, if you look at it with a fixed perspective, you could probably put a linear explanation on it. However, Lynch himself has said that nobody has come close to what the movie means to him, and this is 30 years later! Clearly, it seems that nobody is going to be able to crack Lynch’s meaning, but the beauty of surreal movies is coming up with your own conclusions, and Eraserhead is just the movie for that.

Henry

Years before, it was next to impossible to find Eraserhead. The only format it was on was VHS and as DVD took over that market, a copy became increasingly difficult to find for rent, and copies of the tape were outrageously priced on sites such as ebay. I had only seen it two times prior to purchasing this set, and both viewings were done over a weekend on a rented copy of the VHS tape, (lucky for me, my local video store guy was into stocking films off the beaten path). Thankfully, it was released a few years back on the David Lynch website, and now on the Lime Green Set.

Since Eraserhead is more of an experience, I won’t go trying to give any explanations or interpretations, that must be decided on for yourself, (or you could do a search and see what you find, but that’s no fun, and besides, that’s other people’s thoughts and concepts on what the movie represents). However, I’ll give a short plot summary:

• Henry is a lonely soul. His girlfriend, Mary X, shows back up in his life after disappearing some time ago with news that she’s had a baby…or something. As such, Mary’s parents force them to be married and that Henry take responsibility and help care for the baby. Things start going down from there.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the baby a bit more. Many people have stated over the years that they think it is a cow fetus, and while I can see why they would think that, it just does not seem possible. Sure, it’s a nice theory, but to keep a cow fetus alive for all that time…I don’t see it as possible. At all. Even if they kept a dead fetus, it just wouldn’t work. Mainly because you just couldn’t deal with rigormortis, the stench, etc. for the many years it took this film to be made. It is a puppet of sorts, no doubt, but the amazing detail that went into this creation is just astounding. I’m still in wonder and awe at the detail given in creating this baby. From its moving eyes to its mouth, specifically when it spurts out its food when being fed by Mary X, truly this creation is a technical marvel from the early 1970′s. (just as an aside, check out this replica prop).

The infamous Eraserhead baby.

As for the DVD, this movie has never looked better than on this release. It is a black and white film and just looks amazingly crisp. The sound is also crisp, even overpowering at times, as is the intention of Lynch. It is not uncommon to hear scraping industrial sounds, or swooshing, heavy winds building over and over again, layering themselves over the scenery and complimenting it.

There aren’t any extras on the disc, save one: a 90 minute ‘conversation’ with Mr. Lynch. I say conversation loosely because it’s basically Lynch sitting at a microphone, smoking cigarettes as he tells the story of Eraserhead. For David Lynch fans, this extra is well worth a viewing as he goes into some great detail about the making of the film. There are some fascinating insights into the making of the film, even some phone call conversations with Catherine Coulson, (later well known as the Log Lady from Twin Peaks). Sadly, you will not find any answers about how the baby was made. I’m pretty sure he’s taking that one with him to the grave.

Documentary DVD Extra: David Lynch, cigarette, microphone.

All in all, Eraserhead is a fabulous debut film from a very visionary director. If you’re interested in viewing it and you can’t find it for rent locally, try queing it up in Netflix. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can purchase the DVD stand alone or coupled with his Short Film DVD release at his website’s store. Don’t forget that it is also packed into the amazing Lime Green Set, which I really only recommend to fans of David Lynch. A blind purchase may be a bit risky for a newcomer to his work, but it just might be a risk worth taking.

*the lead picture on the Eraserhead post of the Lady in the Radiator is from The Skipping Hippy and his flickr account.

Author: Devon

A dude who likes movies. Well, most of them.

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