I watched Hitchcock's Spellbound this past week, and I was struck by the similarity between this:
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(Peck)
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(Bergman)
...and this:
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(Harring
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(Watts)
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(Theroux)
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(Watts)
When I first saw Mulholland Dr., I got the sense that the "the eyes have it" suspense-shots were borrowed from the films of a previous time, but Spellbound is the first one I can directly relate it to. Does anyone else know of any other examples?
Also, Spellbound contains the famous Salvador Dali dream sequence, which possibly indicates an interest on Hitchock's part in surrealism. This leads me to wonder if anyone else thinks David Lynch stands far and completely apart from other great filmmakers working today by working in a surrealistic vein. I don't mean "whimsical" or "unrealistic" or "postmodern," which are things we could variously call the other greats, like the Andersons, Scorsese, Todd Haynes, Tarantino, etc, but surrealistic. I think his closest predecessor is Luis Bunuel, who is one of the only directors I can think of whose structure/purpose/themes parallel Lynch's.
I really don't believe Hitchock really had an interest in surrealism besides the storyline of Spellbound made him have an interest in one so he got together with Salvador Dahli to make it to connect the loose ends of his thriller. The use of the surreal scene actually seems completely against the code of surrealism in the first place because everything is explained at the end to its meaning in the name of the thriller genre. My own feelings for Lynch and his connection to Hitchcock is that Hitchcock in some of his movies, has been an inspiration for how he sets out his film to interest the audience. The feelings and touches of the thriller as done with some aspects of the filmmaking technique of Hitchcock. Lynch's end though belongs in the rule of Bunuel in going for the unexplainable, though, in some movies like Blue Velvet, I feel Lynch kept too close to the tidiness of Hitchcock's thriller genre.
~rougerum
Sorry: this is pretty unrelated I guess, but I rewatched Persona again the other day, and I can't state whether or not any shots in Mulholland Drive directly eccho shots in that film, but there are a number of moments in Bergmans' film where there are very similar shots of the troubled blonde and the troubled brunette looking directly into camera (explicitly merged at one point). Moreover, the whole film in general - on a repeat viewing - made me think that it was undoubtedly a major influence on Mulholland Drive: the swapping characters etc... Also therefore perhaps - to get back to the thread - a surrealist influence on Lynch...
That's a good insight children considering how inviteful that film feels at time in photography of the two women and how unlike Hitch, it very matches well with purposes of a lot of Lynch films. I think there may be some influence on Muholland Dr. from Persona in just the feeling of how the characters are some and some ideas relating to meaning or inclined meaning.
~rougerum
Quote from: The Gold TrumpetThat's a good insight children considering how inviteful that film feels at time in photography of the two women and how unlike Hitch, it very matches well with purposes of a lot of Lynch films. I think there may be some influence on Muholland Dr. from Persona in just the feeling of how the characters are some and some ideas relating to meaning or inclined meaning.
~rougerum
Oh yes, absolutely... there's a much closer parallel there. I was just so much more surprised to see something in any of Hitchcock that so closely correlated with Lynch. It's really just the shots I capped above. I really enjoyed
Spellbound, but I didn't mean to suggest that it was a really direct influence... I was just wondering if Lynch was inspired by that particular photographic technique, and where else he might have gotten it from, if not from
Spellbound.
Persona is certainly in my top 5 films of all time, ever.
Mulholland and
Spellbound, wonderful as they may be, aren't.
David Lynch is totally today what Bunuel was even back when he made Un Chien Andalou. I watched that film twice in a row at my school's library, soon after hearing of its infamy, and I've gotta say, it's really funny what someone can come up with they throw all the rules out the window and are purposefully nonsensical.
That said, I hated Blue Velvet, and disliked Mulholland Drive. Though I have to admit, next to Donnie Darko, Mulholland Drive is one of the most original movies I've seen in a very long time. Luis Bunuel, even fifty years later, was still up to his old tricks when he made Cet obscur objet du desir (That Obscure Object of Desire), a film I just saw about three weeks ago. But this time around he actually told a coherent story, and for that he should be commended, although the final impact, though "explosive," left something to be desired (no pun intended).
So where Lynch is concerned, I give him mucho points for originality. He is one of the few directors today who works without a net. And while I can't approve of what he did with his characters in Mulholland Drive, he, like PTA, is someone who keeps us dreaming. If you just look at some of Lynch's personal quotes on IMDb, you can kind of get in to his mindset -- of how films to him are like good music, or like a duck. And then Mulholland Drive starts to make a little more sense. Not too much, but just a little.
EDIT: Oh yes, and Persona is brilliant, though other Bergman films are less so. Nattvardsgästerna, anyone? *cringes*
Suspense shots are important to get pure fear, terror, joy, etc across to the viewer. They are some very good examples you have there, with the close up of the eyes. In some shots, you can have a bigger view which involves the surrounding around the actor. But with some, you'll find that the surrounding is meaningless, it doesn't need to be there. As long as the expressions on the actors face are there, the viewer almost ignores the surrounding.
One example I have is from a film called 'Die Blechtrommel/The Tin Drum', (1979), and is set in the time of during and after the second world war. It's based on a Gunter Grass' novel. It's about a young boy growing up in that era. Theres a shot from the film, where the boys sitting there watching whats going on below him, with the most impressive expression ever, mid drumming his tin drum. I would post you all a picture, but I'm not great at using the scanner! lol. But, my point is, you can see the whole of his body, and a little bit of the bells behind him etc, but the key to that shot is his expression. The way his eyes are full of horror! Great shot.
Brunuel= surrealism (I'm not an especialist but Brunuel always used takes w/ eyes - I don't know the right reason......un chien andalou scene can't get out of my mind....)
Hitchcock= suspense (I always thought those kind of takes on suspenses are to reafirm some truth in the characters, like, somethings you cannot hide when faced in the eye....)
Mulhollnad Dr: the best mixture between both genres....all the best Lynch got surrealism+ mystery like Blue Velvet, Lost Higway and Twin Peaks... Don't see a link between the first two, but definitely from both on Lynch.
Quote from: OnomatopoeiaDavid Lynch is totally today what Bunuel was even back when he made Un Chien Andalou.
I don't know... I'd feel really dirty agreeing with you. I think Bunuel was and is in a class all by himself and Lynch will never be what Bunuel was.
ATTN: NYC
Do you want to watch Vertigo on the big screen? So does David Lynch. Do you want to watch it with him? Me too. You can buy your tix here:
http://www.movietickets.com/house_detail.asp?house_id=9598&rdate=12%2F4%2F2006
MOVIE NIGHT WITH DAVID LYNCH
IFC Center
Monday December 4th 7:30pm
$15
this isnt even on the IFC Center website yet, so you can thank me and TimeOutNY for the headsup.
http://www.ifccenter.com/index
-------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: an email was sent. more details...
In the latest edition of the IFC Center's "Movie Night" program, the visionary director of Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks presents one of his short films and a special 35mm screening of Alfred Hitchcock's masterwork VERTIGO, this Monday evening at 7:30pm. VERTIGO's themes of dopplegangers, obsession, and women in distress are mirrored in Lynch's latest, INLAND EMPIRE, which opens for its world premiere theatrical engagement exclusively at the IFC Center Wednesday, December 6.
INLAND EMPIRE stars Laura Dern in a tour-de-force performance as, perhaps, an actress who lands a dream role that quickly devolves into nightmare. Intrigued by the texture and freedom of consumer-grade DV, Lynch started out shooting tests with Dern; over the next two years, he grafted on scenes encompassing Hollywood machinations, conjugal intrigue, Polish curses, and even a rabbit-headed sitcom parody. The result is as dark, unpredictable, and utterly compelling as anything he's ever done, both a masterful recap of a career -- including appearances by Lynch veterans Justin Theroux, Laura Harring, Grace Zabriskie, Diane Ladd, and the inimitable Harry Dean Stanton -- and his most radical and experimental movie since Eraserhead.
In the "Movie Night" program, the IFC Center turns over a theater to special guests and lets them call the shots. Audiences can discover what some of their favorite authors, musicians, artists, and filmmakers would pick if it were Movie Night at their house. Participants appear in person to share why they made their selections: to acknowledge the brilliance of a timeless classic, spotlight an unsung gem, or defend a guilty pleasure. Past guests include the filmmaker David Gordon Green, Slovenian theorist and philosopher Slavoj Zizek, singer-songwriter-actor Will Oldham, director and Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam, French auteur Gaspar Noe, and author Jonathan Lethem.
Tickets to this special event are $15, $12 for seniors.
Did anyone go? ^
yep. it was a lot of fun, though Lynch didn't stay to watch the film :( there was a brief introduction and general Q&A before the film where he answered questions and showed his Lumiere short.
when asked about other films that inspired him he named a handful also naming the directors. those were Rear Window (Hitchcock), Lolita (Stanley Kubrick), 8 1/2 & La Strada (Fellini), My Uncle (Jacques Tati), Stroszek (Werner Herzog), Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder).
RANDOM Whatever POST FOR TODAY...
i think if i ever saw vertigo in a movie theater i would cry a lot.
RANDOM post to incite taz' JEALOUSY FOR TODAY...
I've seen it twice on the big screen in the last year.
I've never met David Lynch, though. :yabbse-sad:
Quote from: Ghostboy on December 07, 2006, 06:58:49 PM
I've never met David Lynch, though. :yabbse-sad:
loser.