Mulholland Drive - See earlier review (September 2011). 7
The Elephant Man - A somewhat biographical film about Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man from the late 19th century. John Hurt gives possibly the performance of his career; completely believable, heartbreaking but also heart warming at the same time. The relationship between Hurt and Hopkins is beautiful. A film that stays with you for some time. 9
Blue Velvet - Lynch's most sexualised film out of the four. Frank, played by Dennis Hopper is fantastically weird and the highlight to this otherwise slightly drab and uninteresting film, compared to Elephant Man and Eraserhead. 6
After delving into the mind of the director who in many ways defines the surrealist film genre I was left intrigued and wanting more. The problem with reviewing his films however is its difficult to criticise Lynch because, for everything I pull apart, I feel some pretentious movie goer over my shoulder explaining the significance and symbolism that I completely failed to discern. Whilst Lynch's motives are intriguing and I did find myself browsing wiki and forums to unravel his bizarre imagination, firstly, a lot of the themes in his films are, like many pieces of art, down to the viewers discretion (Lynch refuses to let certain elements of Eraserhead ever be known!) and secondly, I believe it is more important to set the correct tone. For instance MD and Blue Velvet felt more like a hybrid between the completely abstract and plot less Eraserhead and the more mainstream, structured Elephant Man. In this sense I was never quite sure if I should be trying to follow a plot and engage with the characters, or just soak in and try to comprehend its abstract symbolism. Watching Blue Velvet I was waiting in anticipation for more crazy incomprehensible surrealism which only surfaced once or twice. Watching MD I kept hoping for a bit more plot and structure especially towards the end. If you want to see real surrealism watch Eraserhead, its a film experience unlike anything else. However if you want structure, emotion, superb acting then Elephant Man is probably more for you. For me they are both superb films for two completely different reasons and I would certainly recommend watching both of them. MD and Blue Velvet whilst interesting and very watchable are less focused on a specific tone of Lynch's palette.
I look forward to seeing more Lynch film in the future!
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