664. The Elephant Man (1980)

Running Time: 123 minutes
Directed By: David Lynch
Written By: Christopher De Vore, Eric Bergren, David Lynch, from books, The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences by Sir Frederick Treves and The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity by Ashley Montagu
Main Cast: John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Freddie Jones
Click here to view the trailer

BE LIKE THEM

I needed a short break from the "world of Apu" and so, my wife joined me as I turned to Netflix to stream David Lynch's second feature, The Elephant Man - based on the life of John Merrick, a severely deformed HUMAN BEING who was branded with the cruel nickname of the film's title.

We first meet Frederick Treves (Hopkins), a renowned London surgeon and anatomy professor, as he walks down back alleys and side streets, looking for a freak show act that he's heard about through the grapevine. He eventually finds a Mr. Bytes (Jones), the handler of The Elephant Man and offers him a handsome payday if he'll offer him a private showing. Bytes, fueled by greed, agrees and Treves lays eyes on Merrick (Hurt), a severely deformed man with tumors covering 90% of his body and skull deformities the likes of which he'd never seen. He hatches a deal with Bytes to bring Merrick into his university to be studied. Upon returning from his day out with Treves, Merrick is severely beaten by Bytes, being questioned about where he's been so late. Bytes actually beats him so badly that he is forced to call upon Treves once more, to treat his elephant man. Treves arrives and informs Bytes that Merrick must be admitted into the hospital, no question. Treves takes Merrick back to The London Hospital, where he himself practices and gives him a room in the isolation wing. Becoming more and more fascinated with Merrick by the day, Treves decides not to return him to Bytes, even after Bytes pays a visit wanting back his "property". Instead, Bytes is threatened with legal action by hospital administrator Mr. Carr-Gomm (Gielgud). After a while, Treves realizes that Merrick is actually not the imbecile that he originally though and finds out that Merrick can actually read, write and articulate intelligent thoughts, reciting the 23rd Psalm from memory and citing that he used to read the Bible regularly. After a longer while, Treves begins to think that he is perhaps no better than Bytes, while not beating him, he is perhaps exploiting him.

SPOILER ALERT!

John Merrick: There's something I've been meaning to ask you for some time now

Frederick Treves: What's that?

John Merrick: Can you cure me?

Frederick Treves: No. We can care for you, but we can't cure you.

John Merrick: No. I thought not.

That particular exchange is a rough one to hear. Man, it really transcends actors, costumes, makeup, scores and all the like that is a movie. It gets very real for a moment and not just there, but in several other spots during the incredibly emotional film. I really needed this one. I had seen The Elephant Man before, probably not long after I saw Mulholland Drive for the first time and was on a mission to see anything and everything directed by David Lynch. As I grew up, I realized David Lynch wasn't the be all, end all of directors and began to realize that a lot of his films weren't what they were cracked up to be or what I'd originally thought of them. In fact, the last time I watched The Elephant Man, I SOMEHOW gave it a '5/10' on IMDB. I must've been in a sour mood or something, because a '5' doesn't begin to do this movie justice.

I could go on and on about John Hurt and how he played Merrick to a tee, how he not only pounded on the makeup, walked with a gimp and talked through drooling speech, but also was able to bring human qualities to a very human man. I could even go on about Hopkins and how he was able to bring the goods right alongside Hurt, even though he had to know the majority of audiences and critics were going to go more gaga for Hurt, no matter how good he was. I could go on about the great scenes, the one I mentioned above or the hideous scene where Sonny Jim - the night porter - breaks into Merrick's room, alongside a bunch of his drunken cohorts and Mr. Bytes, and proceeds to torture Merrick. Or what about that ending? Man, one that had tears welling up in my eyes, as you watch the Merrick character take the pillows from his bed and glance up at a picture of a sleeping child. You already know what he's going to do before he does it. Moments prior he had gushed about his theater experience with his friend Frederick Treves and Treves promised to take him back again - perhaps meaning it, perhaps not. Andre Previn's Adagio for Strings plays on and Merrick lies down, wanting nothing more than to be like other people.

It's fascinating, if you look up the real story of John Merrick, they actually got a lot of it right on. The sack that he wore over his head, coupled with a black cap, the replica of the cathedral that he built while confined to his room and particularly interesting to me, his emotional outburst when being confronted by women. There is one particular story that I find very sad, that tells of Merrick meeting a woman who was arranged by Treves and the meeting being very short, as Merrick was overcome with emotion. Imagine being segregated from women to the point that if one smiles at you, you just start to cry. In fact, the only thing I couldn't find real proof of was a night porter sneaking into his room after hours to show him off to his friends, so perhaps that tidbit was added for dramatic effect, but hey, that's okay. They pretty much nailed everything else right on the head, so making up a few pieces is forgivable.

I can't really think of anything else to say, so I guess I'll wrap it up. The Elephant Man is currently streaming on Netflix and I 100% agree that it is a must see. Not only is it sure to give you a new appreciation for black & white cinema (the cinematography is spot on!), but also an appreciation for life, for kindness and for your fellow man. And if it gets to that ending and tears aren't at least making their presence in your eyes, then perhaps you are made of stone....

RATING: 8.5/10  If I had to nitpick, there is a portion about 30 - 40 minutes from the ending where the film does drag for a bit, which can account for this movie not being a full blown '10'. Still....this is as good as it's been for a while.

MOVIES WATCHED: 862
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 139

October 28, 2014  11:56am

626. ERASERHEAD (1977)

Running Time: 88 minutes
Directed By: David Lynch
Written By: David Lynch
Main Cast: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Laurel Near, Judith Anna Roberts, Allen Joseph
Click here to view the trailer

DREAM OF DARK AND TROUBLING THINGS

I've got to give a thank you to my brother for the delivery of this one last night, via his own personal collection. This was on Netflix, labeled as a "very long wait", but just a couple days ago it was transitioned to their "saved" section, meaning it's no longer available for at home delivery. Therefore, without my brother getting very interested in David Lynch many years ago (thanks to yours truly - one of the few times I introduced him to something, instead of vice versa), I would be hunting this one down. Thanks, bro!

Bear with me as I try my damndest to put together a feasible plot summary. The film's main character is Henry Spencer (Nance), a printer living in what seems to be a futuristic world, in what THE BOOK dubs a "postindustrial wasteland setting". We start with a strange man pulling levers in what looks like a prison cell. The man is scarred and scary and upon pulling the levers sends wormlike/spermlike creatures sailing out of the mouth of Henry, who is shown to us with just a black background behind him. After that, we watch as Henry walks home, grocery bags in hand and is given a message by his next door neighbor, that his girlfriend Mary (Stewart) had just been there and expects him for dinner with her and her parents that night. Henry goes to dinner and meets the odd duck parents. During the course of the evening Mary seemingly has an unrecognized seizure and the four dine on little "man-made" chickens, which hemorrhage blood and wiggle their legs when stuck by a fork. At the end of the evening, Henry learns that Mary has just had his baby, which is still at the hospital on account of it being premature. Later, Mary moves in with Henry, baby in tow. However, after a night of no sleep, due to the baby's crying, Mary decides to go back and live with her parents, leaving Henry to watch the baby. After he absence, Henry has an affair with his female neighbor next door and dreams of a woman in the radiator, who sings and dances, all the while stepping on the same wormlike creatures that escaped Henry's mouth in the beginning of the movie. Oh and I forgot to mention that the baby has no arms or legs and looks like a calf fetus. Welcome to the wonderful world of David Lynch.

Lets see, it was the winter of 2005 when I was introduced myself to David Lynch. I recounted the whole story of how I got interested in his work, in my "Blue Velvet" review, so if you're interested go back and re-read that one. It wasn't long after watching "Mulholland Drive" and a few others, that I decided to go ahead and do "Eraserhead" too. It was his first, so I lowered my expectations for the first time filmmaker, but truth be told I hated the film then and didn't care about the interpretations or the explanations, I just wanted it to end. I'd seen the film once or twice more since then and it never grew on me and even after last night's viewing, I'd still say that I had some trouble with it, although this time my interest in what was really going on here peaked. So what is going on in this one? What's the explanation? Well, I really didn't watch it with the forethought of trying to crack the code. I just sort of let this one wash over me and when I was done, if I had a thought or two, I'd run with them. Thing is though, I was too busy maintaining a look of horror and befuddlement that I didn't have time to develop theories and ideas. I mean, WOW, this one just blows your mind at how peculiar it is, doesn't it? I mean, who thinks up this shit? David Lynch, that's who!

I have no doubt that there's an element of dreams in the picture, because if you know Lynch, you know he loves the usage of dreams and is a big fan of "The Wizard of Oz". I tried not to look at too much explanation stuff from other web sources, but I looked at a few and some point to a strong theme of sexual urges and of course, there's thematic elements of fatherhood. I hate to use a cop out like this too, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the film is just intentionally messed up, for the sake of keeping the audience guessing at answers that don't exist. I've been told that "Lost Highway" is intentionally screwy, with no real answers, so maybe this one is too. However, it's too easy to chalk it all up to that and maybe someday, when I have more time, I'll watch this one a few more times, while using web resources to try and crack this nut.

Honestly though, it works well as just watching the freakish images and getting horrified. I won't lie, when my wife got up to go to work at 4:30 this morning, shutting the door behind her and waking me up for a split second - it was during that split second that I couldn't get the image of that freakish chipmunk cheaked woman out of my head and the lever puller, both coming up behind me and ready to convert my upcoming dreams to nightmares. I didn't awake with nightmares, but wouldn't have been surprised if I had. That being said, obviously the film left some sort of an impression on me, which is never a bad thing. However, I just can't give high marks to a film where my internal monologue just couldn't stop saying "What the fuck!" over and over again. It was, as Ray would say, just one to get through, albeit with with more than a dash of intrigue and interest in what was really going on. I'll keep an open mind with this one going forward and definitely want to revisit it someday.

RATING: 4/10  But for now, call it a solid '4' and maybe growing a bit with next month's recap. Also, don't forget, we still have "The Elephant Man" to tackle yet, so Lynch has one more shot to impress.

MOVIES WATCHED: 811
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 190

March 1, 2014  5:57pm

739. Blue Velvet (1986)

Running Time: 120 minutes
Directed By: David Lynch
Written By: David Lynch
Main Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Hope Lange
Click here to view the trailer

TROUBLE UNTIL THE ROBINS COME

Since my wife and I were both off tomorrow and needed a couple of movies to watch, I decided to let her do the honors in picking the two movies that would replace "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" and "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre". All she really had to work with was our DVD collection, so (with a little urging from yours truly) her first selection was "Blue Velvet".

Jeffrey Beaumont (MacLachlan) is home from school because his father has just been placed in the hospital, after suffering a severe stroke. One day, while walking home from visiting his father at the hospital, Jeffrey crosses a field and happens upon a human ear lying in the grass. He takes the ear directly to the police station and an investigation is opened. Jeffrey, perhaps driven by boredom and the fact that nothing ever happens in his crummy, little hometown of Lumberton, goes to visit the police detective that night, Detective Williams, who is also a neighbor. Det. Williams tells him that he'll have to stop asking questions about the case, but promises that once everything blows over, he'll tell him all about it. While walking home, he runs into Sandy Williams (Dern), the detective's daughter, who walks with him and tells him tidbits of the case she heard, since her bedroom is right above her father's office. She recalls hearing the name Dorothy Vallens (Rossellini) over and over and knows that she lives in an apartment building, not far from their street.  Jeffrey is fully intrigued by the prospect of murder happening right in the middle of Lumberton and can't stay away from the case. Jeffrey schemes to break into Dorothy's apartment and find out more about the ear and what's really going on with Dorothy Vallens. He pulls Sandy in with him and what Jeffrey ultimately finds out is that Dorothy's husband and son have been kidnapped and are being held by psychopath Frank Booth (Hopper). Frank is holding Dorothy's family hostage so that, in turn for keeping them alive, she'll do sexual favors for him.

In dreams, I walk with you. In dreams, I talk to you. In dreams, you're mine, all the time. Forever.

I first encountered David Lynch in 2005. I was working at a Movie Gallery and a friend & co-worker couldn't stop talking about a movie he'd been renting everyday, for the past week. We got free rentals at this particular video store and every night, I'd notice this co-worker return and re-rent the same film, over and over again. One night, we got to talking about it and it turned out that the film was called "Mulholland Dr." and was directed by somebody named David Lynch. I'd seen "Blue Velvet" before, but nothing else of this David Lynch's and since I liked "Blue Velvet", decided that I'd give this "Mulholland" movie a try...when he was finished with it. It turned out that the reason he kept renting it, over and over again, was because he couldn't figure it out. Apparently every night he'd watch it, try to crack the code that was "Mulholland Dr." and fail. Even back then I considered myself a fairly smart guy when it came to films, so I was sure that I'd rent it, figure it out in one sitting and be proud as punch when I returned to work the next day to shed some light on my friend's ongoing investigation. Except, it wasn't quite that easy and Lynch had stumped even me. It wasn't so much the unsolvable qualities of "Mulholland Dr." though that got me going, but rather the dreamlike atmosphere, the characters that had both human and inhuman qualities and the pure weirdness. Anyway, I decided then that I was going to become a HUGE David Lynch fan, watch everything of his that I could get a hold of and probably watch them over and over again, not unlike my friend and his obsession with "Mulholland". However, a few years later, after I got married, I revisited some of Lynch's filmography and decided that maybe I went a little too gaga for this guy and that really, he only had two masterpieces: "Mulholland Dr." and "Blue Velvet", with the latter being the most mentally accessible.

What's not to like about "Blue Velvet" really? Oh sure, there's a TON of cursing, some nudity and a bunch of sexual content & dialogue, but if you're a big boy or girl, you can handle and what you'll get in return is an amazing time at the movies. "Blue Velvet" works on so many levels, whether you're the type of movie goer that likes to dig a little deeper or whether you're the type that just likes to sit back and enjoy the ride - "Blue Velvet" will accommodate all tastes. Isn't it funny how sometimes the scariest films are the ones that you wouldn't necessarily classify as horror films? I'd consider "Blue Velvet" to be ONE OF the freakiest movies I've ever seen and it's because we're dealing with real people here. I have no doubt that there are people walking the streets right now, somewhere in the country I live in, somewhere in the state I live in, perhaps somewhere on the street I live on, that are just as psychotic as Frank, if not worse. To me, one of the things this film represented was the birth of evil. When we open, we zoom in on Anytown, USA. A fireman waves hello from his truck, roses outside of a white picket fence are highlighted and a man waters his lawn. It all has a very "Leave It to Beaver"-esque quality and while we're never told when the film takes place, I'd assume it takes place in the 50s or so.

Now then, when you hear the word "evil", you probably don't think of the suburbs circa 1950, where Peggy Sue, the homecoming queen and Bobby, the football quarterback could go down to the candy store and get a couple of sodas, all the while flipping through the jukebox to find their favorite tune, presumably something they heard on 'Bandstand'. No, you probably don't think of that when you hear the word "evil". In fact, what you probably think of is something current, perhaps something you saw on the news or perhaps you think of something artificial, like green pea soup spewing out of the mouth of Linda Blair. Maybe you even think of something biblical, but certainly there was a time when the general consensus says evil didn't exist in our country and kids could walk home from school freely without being nabbed and the worse thing to happen on a Friday night was maybe a car race between the Sharks and the Jets. So to me, this film smashes that misconception and says, "Yes, evil has always existed and even in the most unlikeliest of places; on Main Street in Anytown, USA, with a very neat girl and a very neat guy.

The whole film feels unreal and sometimes the line between reality and dream are a little blurred, as Jeffrey falls further and further down the rabbit hole and is constantly pulled between the world of the good (Sandy)and the world of the evil (Dorothy and Frank). The film incorporates elements of voyeurism, film noir and sadomasochistic behaviors. I'd even go so far as to call Frank Booth ONE OF the greatest and scariest movie villains of all-time, right up there with Hitchcock's most evil characters. Dennis Hopper, that once young kid who played opposite James Dean in "Giant" and "Rebel Without a Cause", shatters every preexisting thought you ever had about him and gives you a new persona to remember. Don't forget to keep your eyes peeled for Dean Stockwell and his Roy Orbison lip-synch. Every scene is carefully constructed and essential to moving the story. Lynch had been on the scene since 1977, but didn't really cement his name until 1986 and the release of "Blue Velvet".

RATING: 9/10  I can't go all the way because there were a few flaws (too few to mention), but it's still a damn good movie and proof that whether you love him or hate him, David Lynch knows how to make an outstanding film.

MOVIES WATCHED: 696
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 305

June 3, 2013  1:37am