Under the Influence – Charlie Kaufman

Kaufman is, far and away, one of the best and most original screenwriters of his generation, and one of my all time favourites. His influence on me comes through more in what I endeavor my writing to be more than what my writing would be on a page, which perhaps sounds redundant, but I feel it makes some sense.

Originality

I couldn’t think of a better image than the above one to show quite how original Kaufman can be. The image shows a scene from Being John Malkovich, which, along with Adaptation served as my introduction to Kaufman’s work. The scene is simple – John Malkovich travels through a portal into his own head, and everyone around him has his face, and can only say the word “Malkovich”. Yes, it’s slightly… Odd, to say the least, but it’s also staggeringly original, especially when compared to saturated studio fare that comes out with such frequency. Original writing is inspirational for a simple reason – it allows one to aspire to be original, which, as a writer, is one of the best things you can do.

Metaficition

In both Synecdoche, New York (left) and Adaptation (right), Kaufman explores metafiction. It’s a difficult concept to describe (having a story within another story I guess you could say), and even more difficult one to write. For instance, Synecdoche… tells the story of a playwright (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) writing a play about life. His life, everyone’s life, just… Life. And it’s done masterfully, the play is not just a subplot, but a reality, a fully fledged story of its own. And metafiction is inspiring for a handful of different reasons, it’s originality (something that’ll be revisited several times I imagine), its intelligence and such. It is also a testament to the skill of the writer in question, and Kaufman does so masterfully. For its breadth, complexity and countless reasons, metafiction inspires me as it simply gives a window to explore something else entirely through what it is that’s also being written.

Characters playing the writer

I’ll admit that it seems vain and, yes, narcissistic to be influenced by such a concept, but I can’t help but be fascinated it. After all, it’s been done before in films like  All That Jazz, and Kaufman captures it just as well as someone like Fosse does. With Adaptation, Kaufman presents a bizarre, almost semi-autobiographical account of his attempts to adapt The Orchid Thief with his (fictional) twin brother. However, where Fosse use an author avatar, Kaufman takes it a step further uses the author – literally. Charlie Kaufman is a character in Adaptation. I’ve already admitted its an arrogant point of influence, but I can’t help but wonder, hyperbole, false modest, arrogance and all of that aside – how would I write myself? Not an avatar of myself, but literally myself. Adaptation showed it was more than possible, so, only time will tell if I find myself as a character within a script of my own.

My Perks of Being a Wallflower Movie Wishlist

Yesterday, I finished reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and I liked it a lot. Certainly more than I was expecting to, and in fact, the more I think about it, the more I liked it.

And so, since the film is coming out this year (I’ll admit that the upcoming film partially inspired me to buy the book a few days ago), I figured I’d create something of a wishlist for what I’d like to appear in the film that’s in the book.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show
 

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the cult musical, is referenced several times throughout the novel, complete with descriptions of how character’s go to movie theaters to see the film and act it out, complete with Patrick (Ezra Miller) playing the infamous Frank ‘N’ Furter. It’s not a major plot point or anything (in fact, I doubt much on this list will be, it’s mainly the little things I’d like to see, since the little things tend to get lost in the translation from book to film) but it’s just something I’d like to see.

The fight in the cafetria

In the later section of the novel, there is a fight between Patrick and a handful of other characters (for reasons I won’t delve into here). Something like this would be good to include because it’s one of the perhaps ‘grittier’ (for want of a better term) sections of the novel, and those kind of things would be well served to be in here so the film doesn’t lose any of punch that the book had.

The lights downtown and the pickup truck
 

From the looks of the trailer, they kept this, which is good, because it was one of the bits of the novel that I liked the most. It is, unfortunately, a difficult one to describe here. Essentially, when Charlie (Logan Lerman), Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick are out driving in Sam’s pickup truck, they go through a tunnel to go downtown, a sea of tall buildings and bright lights. And then of course, as in the trailer, Sam stands up on the back of the pickup truck and screams. It’s hard to describe exactly why I enjoyed this moment in the book, especially as it seems so insignificant in the scheme of it all, but it seems like it could be quite well done, and simply put, I’d like to see it in the movie.

Graduation presents

It’s not a spoiler to say that, since Sam and Patrick are seniors, that they’ll graduate near the end of the movie (as in the novel). And the graduation gifts that Charlie gets them, along with the little notes in them, were actually quite excellent, and the section was well done in the book, and if well done in the film, has the potential to be quite moving. But I won’t say what the presents are of course.

No epilogue

The one thing from the novel I don’t want in the film is the epilogue. It’s not exactly a bad epilogue, I just feel like, as in the novel, it distracts from the impact of the end of the narrative, especially when the end is so good.

And on that note, my film adaptation wishlist for The Perks of Being a Wallflower will now draw to a close.

Review – Cosmopolis

After last years rather restrained A Dangerous Method, Croneneberg’s latest film, Cosmopolis, returns to his older body of work more so than any of his last three efforts, all of which featured Viggo Mortensen in major roles. The film presents an unrestrained Cronenberg and has some wonderful elements and performances, but some parts just feel a bit… off.

Cosmopolis tells the story of an obscenely rich man, Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson) as he journeys across Manhattan in his stretch limousine, looking to get a haircut. Of course, the haircut is secondary to the narrative, and what matters itself is the journey.

Packer is played surprisingly well by Pattinson, who is distancing himself away from his breakout franchise in a way that is interesting, to say the least. His performance is strong, as he brings great charisma to the role and a surprisingly strong screen presence. His movements are slow and methodical, his voice very matter of fact. He captures surprisingly well the essence of a character who has been perhaps brainwashed by capitalism.

On his odyssey, various supporting characters, played by the likes of Juliette Binoche and Paul Giamatti are shown with him, either as associates, relationships, or obstacles. While the ensemble is uniformly solid, they are, with one major exception, nothing to write home about. That exception is the aforementioned Giamatti who, in limited screen time, absolutely steals the entire film, delivering by far my favourite performance of his entire career. His words are dripping with venom, and his explosions of anger are utterly spellbinding. I simply couldn’t take my eyes off of him whenever he was on screen.

Like Croneneberg’s last film, Cosmopolis also contains an awful lot of dialogue. But the dialogue here is different, it is less cold and expository as it was in perhaps too many places during A Dangerous Method. Here, the dialogue is always shrouded in a layer of mystery, and it’s enigmatic nature makes it fascinating to a degree, although, ironically, you can’t help but wish a little more had been exposed during the film’s last act.

Because that leads to one of the major issues with the film – it seems to be almost ‘missing’ bits and pieces. A lot of location changes and character introductions seem to abrupt, and you can’t but wonder ‘why’. The issue is that the film’s almost episodic nature slightly weakens the narrative, and it seems like a problem that could have been so easily remedied too.

On the plus side, while Croneneberg’s writing seems lacking in places, his direction is assured and solid. His aforementioned return to some of the older themes of his work, his use of sex and violence is done very well. Detractors of his last film will likely appreciate this a great deal, as thematically and visually, his work here is almost something of a stylistic homecoming. And a damn fine one at that.

With Cosmopolis, Cronenberg returns to some of his more visceral and sexualised work, and he does so very well. The provocative auteur has once again created an intelligent and intriguing piece of cinema. Pattinson is starting to show that he’s much more than a sparkly, brooding eternal teen, delivering a strong performance here. It suffers from the almost episodic structure, which hampers the pace and narrative strength. Damn fine cinema, and it’s always good to see an intelligent film so close to the beginning of blockbuster season. 

Review – Rock of Ages

The thing with Rock of Ages is, first of all, it’s a musical. Yes, it’s an obvious thing to start off with, but as with all musicals, that means if you don’t like the music, avoid this film. The music in question is 80’s rock ‘n’ roll, hair metal and the like, with standards from the likes of Bon Jovi, Journey and Poison all making appearances.

Now that that’s out of the way, onto the film.

Rock of Ages, based on the audience favourite stage musicals playing in New York and London (which I can confirm is excellent, having scene it twice, once in each location), is a story of rock, love and fame. The story of the film diverts from the stage show, which works in some places, but less so in others. The focus of the story becomes that of Sherrie (Julianne Hough) and Drew (Diego Boneta) and their romance as they pursue Hollywood fame in the music business. Alongside these two are a star studded groups of supporting players, from Alec Baldwin and a surprisingly tolerable Russell Brand as club owners Denis and Lonnie, Catherine Zeta-Jones as the fanatically religious Patricia Whitmore, and the cast highlight, Tom Cruise, as the burnt out, drug addled rock star Stacee Jaxx.

Cruise really brings his all to this performance, giving one of my favourites of his more recent turns, with energy, amusing melancholy, and a surprisingly good voice to the table. You can’t help but be reminded of Frank T. J. Mackey from Magnolia when you see him in this. He manages to upstage everyone around him, with all audience memebers focusing entirely on him whenever he’s on stage, particularly when he’s giving rousing renditions of Bon Jovi’s ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ and Def Leppard’s ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’.

Of course, not all of the renditions work on film as well as they do on stage, particularly when you consider the predilection the film has of Hough walking down LA Streets singing power ballads (some of which work, others not so much). This leads on to one of the flaws of the film – the two leads. They’re not bad by any means, but their acting talent and chemistry is called into question when you compare them to some of the people around them. Boneta in particular, while fairly well cast physically and having a solid voice, seems very flat in his acting, and this really weakens his chemistry with Hough, who, while admittedly having one of the strongest voices in the company, does begin to grate on occasion.

The music, for me at least, was of course of the highlight of the film. While not being of my era, it is music that I love, and so many of the choices that aren’t in the stage show work so well, particularly the medley of ‘We Built This City’ and ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’, filled with energy, a surprisingly vocally competent Brand, and Zeta-Jones, who is a vocal powerhouse, also knocking ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’ (complete with church/gospel style opening), right out of the park.

The issue of altering the focus of the story so much, is that the subplots that worked so well on stage seem a bit out of place here. While Zeta-Jones’ plot works well, that of her characters husband, Mayor Whitmore (played well by an underused Bryan Cranston) seems irrelevant. And of course, the pacing is something of an issue. No, the film is by no means too long, at just over two hours, and, let’s face it, musicals tend to run for at least a couple of hours. The issue is, the dialogue lacks the energy that so many of the musical numbers have, and it can’t help but make the film lag. The script is by no means weak, it has some excellent laughs, some of which are achieved through musical numbers, particularly ‘I Can’t Fight This Felling’.

The film’s best asset is that it’s simply entertaining. Some of the performances are over the top, particularly Zeta-Jones, but in this film, they work perfectly, whereas in others they’d be slammed. It’s by no means for everyone, and those who haven’t seen the stage show may not ‘get it’, but it’s two hours of fun.

Flawed, and with underwhelming leads, it could be easy to write off Rock of Ages as a missfire, especially given some of the other reviews that weren’t as fond of it as I. But, if you like the music, give it a chance. It’s an enjoyable rock and roll romp with some excellent supporting performances and musical numbers you’ll have to restrain yourself from singing along to. 

Under the Influence – Ingmar Bergman

Oh, where to begin when discussing the incomparable Bergman? My introduction to foreign cinema with The Seventh Seal, after seeking out more of his work, particularly Persona and The Hour of the Wolf, I fell in love with his work, and a great deal of it has naturally played a role in shaping me as a writer, so I’m going yo try my best to articulate just what it is about Bergman that makes him so strong and so influential. After all, as a friend of mine said to me, he “had it”. This is the part where I try to articulate exactly what “it” is.

Cinematography

I could happily show a host of wonderful stills from Bergman films and hope that articulated my thoughts on it, and while there will be some stills, I’m going to try and explain it with words.

First of all, Sven Nykvist is my favourite cinematographer of all time, and with Bergman, created some of the most wonderful images that have embedded their way into my film related consciousness.

The Hour of the Wolf

To start, something painfully vague. There’s just something… About black and white shots, not just in Bergman films, but in cinema, from The Hour of the Wolf to Eraserhead and even Sunset Boulevard. They have a powerful, almost primal quality, that can evoke something real. Concentrated colours can do that, from black and white to the stark and powerful reds of Cries & Whispers.

Cries & Whispers 

Simply put, the imagery of Bergman films made me realise just how important imagery could be in cinema. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but it’s true. From the colours (or the lack of colours), to exactly how actors are positioned in a shot, like the one above from Cries & Whispers. In Bergman films, particularly Persona and Cries & Whispers the camera almost becomes a character unto itself, tracking and focusing on these people, revealing the truth about these people, or can shroud them in mystery.

And then there are his closeups. Bergman uses closeups wonderfully, from the agonizing opening of Cries & Whispers to the enigmatic blurring faces of Persona, these closeups are wonderful throughout all of his work. They examine the characters wonderfully, all of their pain and emotions.

Writing women

For me, Bergman is one of the two directors I hold in high esteem when it comes to writing female characters (the other being Woody Allen). Across his films, there are wonderful female roles masterfully acted, from the Strindberg style Persona, to the women in Cries & Whispers and, perhaps my favourite performance in a Bergman film, Liv Ullman’s emotional, powerful and utterly stunning turn in Scenes from a Marriage.

Ullman and Josephson in Scenes From a Marriage

It is difficult to explain exactly why the women in Bergman’s films are so good. It is everything from the way he explores their psyches to how he has them stand their own against, or in some cases overpower so many of the male characters, another thing best shown in the shattering ‘Illiterates’ section of Scenes From a Marriage.

Bergman’s writing of women  had a simple influence on me – to consider all ways to explore characters of different genders and psyches, not just write mostly men because I am male.

Imagery

Anyone who’s seen it will remember the iconic chess with Death scene in The Seventh Seal, something that has stuck with me since I first saw it. And this was, along with the wonderful shots in Bergman’s films, showed the power and wonder of imagery in film. 

The Seventh Seal’s iconic ‘Chess with Death’ scene

Bergman, who has stated in some interviews that he was not religious, despite his upbringing, uses religious imagery wonderfully to communicate his themes, from the almost empty church that opens Winter Light to his use of a religious confession in The Seventh Seal.

Perhaps the best thing about the imagery of Bergman films is their lasting power. So many images from his work have embedded their way into the back of my mind, from the iconic moments of The Seventh Seal and Persona to the strange scene in Hour of the Wolf where Von Sydow is covered in makeup and mercilessly mocked. In simple terms, the sheer power of imagery was shown in Bergman films, and that is something has stayed with me.

The thing with Bergman is that, the emotional cores of his work often makes it difficult for me articulate exactly what it is about them that had such an influence on me, from the enigmatic Persona to the raw power of Cries & Whispers. Perhaps it’s exactly those things that had such an influence, the mystery, and the unrestrained power he uses. After all, Bergman, for want of better phrasing, “had it”.

20 Inspiring Cinematic Images

Film is of course a visual medium, and so it is only natural that the visual side should be so creatively inspiring, and that a chiefly visual film is the one that got me thinking about the long road to filmmaking.

So here, I will show 20 different images from 20 different films that inspired me creatively and added to my desire to make movies. However, just to (hopefully) make it a little more interesting.

My Top 5 LGBT Themed Films

This post is part of the 2012 Queer Film Blogathon hosted by Caroline at Garbo Laughs and the folk over at Pussy Goes Grrr. In honour of it, I’ll be writing about my five favourite films that are classed as having LGBT themes.

5 – Black Swan

Aronofsky’s unsettling psychological thriller, a tale of drive, obsession and psychosis, with the classic ballet Swan Lake masterfully used in the background, was one of my favourite films of 2010. From the incredible performance from Portman to the expertly crafted suspense and the bizarre sex scene (that didn’t seem at all erotic to me), where Nina, perhaps in a dream, is sleeping with Lily, and in a moment that shows the decline of her sanity, and perhaps the rampant nature of her ego, pictures herself where Lily is. Used to wonderful effect as a character device and a shocking moment. If you haven’t seen this film already, do seek it out, so much about it, from Portman’s performance, to the stellar opening scene, this is something that simply should be seen.

4 – Midnight Cowboy

One of my favourite Best Picture winning films, Midnight Cowboy is nothing short of excellent, from the gritty script to it’s iconic moments, like the much parodied, oft-imitated line, “Hey! I’m walkin’ here!”. It tells the story of a young male prostitute, played very well by Jon Voight, although he occasionally emphasizes the wrong elements of his character too often, and his sickly friend Ratso, played wonderfully by Dustin Hoffman, giving one of his best performances ever, as they try to survive in New York together. The chemistry the two of them share is wonderful, and truly elevates the film, and adds, what feels like a very subtle homosexual relationship, although it is never shown explicitly, these elements seem present throughout the film. From its opening scene to its devastating final moments, Midnight Cowboy is a true classic.

3 – All That Jazz

My favourite movie musical of all time, All That Jazz, the film everybody class Fosse’s 8 1/2 is a visually arresting, masterfully choreographed tale of drive, drugs, women and work, with Roy Scheider giving a stunning performance as Fosse’s self confessed author avatar – Joe Gideon. Perhaps not explicitly LGBT, a case can be made for it, considering things like Gideon’s rampant affairs (which can of course be read as overcompensation). All That Jazz also boasts one of my favourite finales in any film, as Gideon gets a final sendoff, singing an excellent last duet (but to say anything else would spoil it). From its choreography to its performances and excellently used soundtrack, All That Jazz is a wonderful tale of an artist caught in a free fall.

2 – Brokeback Mountain

The greatest romance film I’ve ever seen, and the only film that I almost cried at, Brokeback Mountain is one of my favourite films of the 21st century. Ledger is at the top of his game and Gyllenhaal delivers his best performance yet. The story is simple – it is a story about a love between two men. And it is a wonderfully crafted, understated film, for which Ang Lee rightly won an Oscar. I struggle to write about this film, I can’t really articulate my feelings towards it as I’d like to, but it is wonderful in every respect. If you haven’t seen it, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

1 – Mulholland Drive

Lynch’s labyrinthine masterpiece, and one of my favourite films ever made, is rather difficult to explain, with a complex non-linear structure, and the thematic depth and deeper levels one expects from the master auteur. Watts gives an Oscar worthy performance as Betty/Diane, who changes, throughout the course of the film from a perky Hollywood hopeful to a bitter, devastated woman, jilted by her lover Rita (played excellently by Laura Harring), who has all of the fame she so desires. The mind and subconscious of Watt’s characters are explored in abstract and literal manners, from her love scenes with Rita to the excellent scene in Club Silencio. This is not a film for everyone, but if you like it, you will love it.

50 Film Facts About Me

Inspired by the wonderful writers over at Southern Vision and And So It Begins… I have decided to work on a list of 50 film based facts about me, things that triggered and contribute to my ongoing love of cinema.

1 – When I was younger, I distinctly remember going to the cinema almost every weekend with my dad and my brother, but I can’t remember any of the films we saw.

2 – When I was about 12, I remember being utterly terrified by Pinhead

3 – Hellraiser was the first real horror film that I watched. I was about 15 at the time.

4 – Horror was my first great cinematic love.

5 – The only seen two silent films I’ve seen are  The Artist and Begotten

6 – The first black and white film I remember seeing was Night of the Living Dead.

7 – It was also the first film that made think about the idea of filmmaking, after I watched an interview with George Romero on the DVD.

8 – The film that made me want to be a filmmaker more than anything else was David Lynch’s Eraserhead

9 – I saw Phantom Menace at least three times when it was released in cinemas.

10 – The cinemagoing experience that I will always remember is when I saw Return of the King on its opening weekend in a backed out cinema.

11 – For some reason I can’t remember, David Lynch served as my gateway into foreign cinema.

12 – The first foreign film I remember watching was Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, which I loved. The image of von Sydow playing chess with death is one of the that truly sticks in my mind.

13 – I have never cried at a film.

14 – I once watched all three Godfather movies in a single sitting.

15 – The first images of homosexuality that I saw were those in Pulp Fiction

16 – The first director I became majorly interested in was John Carpenter.

17 – The Thing is my favourite of his films that I’ve seen.

18 – I have never looked at my phone while watching a film in the cinema.

19 – My favourite film opening of all time is Manhattan

20 – Manhattan  also contains my favourite ending of any film.

21 – I have seen Manhattan at least a dozen times, and whenever I watch it, no matter the time, I will watch it all.

22 – Three film performances have genuinely unsettled me – Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs, Bruno Ganz in Downfall and Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.

23 – I was utterly baffled the first time I watched Mulholland Drive.

24 – Unlike everyone in my Media class, I hated Kidulthood, it is one of the worst films I’ve ever seen.

25 – By contrast, I really liked Elephant, which they all loathed because “not many people spoke”.

26 – I prefer black and white film photography to colour film photography.

27 – Ironically, The Tree of Life  is the most visually beautiful film I have ever seen.

28 – I preferred Alien to Aliens.

29 – My least favourite Paul Thomas Anderson film is There Will Be Blood

30 – I love movie musicals. Especially Nine.

31 – I think Persona is Bergman’s masterpiece, and it has some of the best imagery ever used in film.

32 – My favourite actress is Tilda Swinton

33 – My favourite actor is Phillip Seymour Hoffman

34 – I think The Happiness of the Katakuris is a work of utterly mad genius.

35 – I’ve always preferred books to their film adaptations.

36 – The first documentary film I remember wanting to watch was The American Nightmare.

37 – I originally really wanted to make horror movies. Now I don’t constrain myself by saying I only want to make of a certain genre.

38 – I rarely agree with the Oscars.

39 – I love watching the Oscars.

40 – I’ve seen over 50% of the IMDB top 250 list.

41 – Cliche as I know it is, my favourite film of all time is The Shawshank Redemption.

42 – My favourite film from my childhood is The Lion King.

43 – I think Hans Zimmer is overrated.

44 – My favourite composer is Howard Shore.

45 – I want the hamburger phone from Juno

46 – I love superhero movies.

47 – The first film I remember thinking was a work of genius was Kubrick’s The Shining. 

48 – I hate it when people check their phones in cinemas.

49 – I hate it when people fall asleep in cinemas.

50 – I love films with ‘The End’ after the credits.

100 Things the Movies Taught Me

A while ago, I saw a host of these posts popping up around the film blogging community and so, now I have the time on my hands, I figured I’d try my hand at it.

These quotes are things that I can relate to, find interesting or amusing, or that quite simply stuck with me.

1 – Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while… You might miss it. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

2 – Not everybody gets so corrupted. You gotta have a little faith in people. Manhattan

3 – Always be closing. Glengarry Glen Ross

4 – Nobody’s perfect. Some Like it Hot

5 – That’s why I can’t say enough times, whatever love you can get and give, whatever happiness you can filch or provide, every temporary measure of grace, whatever works. Whatever Works

6 – We’ll always have Paris. Casablanca

7 – Tomorrow is another day. Gone With the Wind

8 – All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. The Shining

9 – If that plane leaves the ground and you’re not with him, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life. Casablanca
 

10 – If you’re good at something never do it for free. The Dark Knight

11 – I don’t want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me. The Departed

12 – Separation can be a terrifying thing. Dead Ringers

13 – I’m very sorry the government taxes their tips; that’s fucked up. That ain’t my fault. It would seem to me that waitresses are one of the many groups the government fucks in the ass on a regular basis. Reservoir Dogs

14 – This isn’t life, it’s just stuff. And it’s become more important to you than living. Well, honey, that’s just nuts. American Beauty

15 – Remember those posters that said, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life”? Well, that’s true of every day but one – the day you die. American Beauty

16 – What if this is as good as it gets? As Good As It Gets

17 – I have a voice! The King’s Speech

18 – That’s how you’re gonna beat ’em. They keep underestimating you. Pulp Fiction

19 – And it’s time my luck changed. And it’s time something went right for me for a change. Julia

20 – We didn’t need words, we had faces. Sunset Boulevard
 

21 – Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. The Godfather: Part II

22 – Coffee’s for closers. Glengarry Glen Ross

23 – Live today as if it may become your last. Nine

24 – Nobody, no, nobody, is gonna rain on my parade. Funny Girl

25 – A relationship I think; is like a shark. It’s gotta keep moving forward, or it dies. Annie Hall

26 – I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody. On the Waterfront

27 – The only thing standing in your way, is you. Black Swan
 

28 – Unless you love, your life will flash by. The Tree of Life

29 –  I understand, all right. The hopeless dream of being – not seeming, but being. At every waking moment, alert. The gulf between what you are with others and what you are alone. The vertigo and the constant hunger to be exposed, to be seen through, perhaps even wiped out. Every inflection and every gesture a lie, every smile a grimace. Suicide? No, too vulgar. But you can refuse to move, refuse to talk, so that you don’t have to lie. You can shut yourself in. Then you needn’t play any parts or make wrong gestures. Or so you thought. But reality is diabolical. Your hiding place isn’t watertight. Life trickles in from the outside, and you’re forced to react. No one asks if it is true or false, if you’re genuine or just a sham. Such things matter only in the theatre, and hardly there either. I understand why you don’t speak, why you don’t move, why you’ve created a part for yourself out of apathy. I understand. I admire. You should go on with this part until it is played out, until it loses interest for you. Then you can leave it, just as you’ve left your other parts one by one. Persona

30 – Constantly talking isn’t necessarily communicating. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

31 – There are nearly thirteen million people in the world. None of those people is an extra. They’re all the leads of their own stories. They have to be given their due. Synechdoche, New York

32 – In this big game that we play, life, it’s not what you hope for, it’s not what you deserve, it’s what you take. Magnolia

33 – Happiness, where are you? I’ve searched so long for you. Happiness, what are you? I haven’t got a clue. Happiness, why do you have to stay… so far away… from me? Happiness

34 – I could take you somewhere. Shame

35 – Enjoy it while it lasts. Melancholia

36 – Schmucks are people too. Something’s Gotta Give

37 – Whatever happened to chivalry? Does it only exist in 80’s movies? I want John Cusack holding a boombox outside my window. I wanna ride off on a lawnmower with Patrick Dempsey. I want Jake from Sixteen Candles waiting outside the church for me. I want Judd Nelson thrusting his fist into the air because he knows he got me. Just once I want my life to be like an 80’s movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason. But no, no, John Hughes did not direct my life. Easy A
 

38 – It’s alive. Frankenstein

39 – I wish I knew how to quit you. Brokeback Mountain

40 – Even though I’m no more than a monster – don’t I, too, have the right to live? Oldboy

41 – You can’t control life. It doesn’t wind up perfectly. Only-only art you can control. Stardust Memories

42 – Faith is a torment. It is like loving someone who is out there in the darkness but never appears, no matter how loudly you call. The Seventh Seal

43 – It takes backbone to lead the life you want. Revolutionary Road

44 – Just get through the goddamn day. A Single Man

45 – Life is a cabaret, old chum. Cabaret

46 –  I’m seeing something that was always hidden. I’m in the middle of a mystery and it’s all secret. Blue Velvet

47 – It’s showtime folks. All That Jazz
 

48 – Stay here with me. We’ll start a jazz band. Lost in Translation

49 – Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And good things never die. The Shawshank Redemption

50 – You is kind, You is smart. You is important. The Help

51 – Morally you’re supposed to overcome your impulses, but there are times you don’t want to overcome them. Carnage

52 – The best trick the Devil pulled was convincing everyone he didn’t exist. The Usual Suspects

53 – And so I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Actually, make that “I run through the valley of the shadow of death” – in order to get OUT of the valley of the shadow of death more quickly, you see. Love and Death

54 – Don’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling. Inception

55 – All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words. Milk

56 – Do I kill everything that I love? J. Edgar

57 – I feel like a little adventure. The Aviator

58 – If you existed, I’d divorce you. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

59 – A man’s attitude… a man’s attitude goes some ways. The way his life will be. Mulholland Drive

60 – To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering, one must not love. But then, one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you’re getting this down. Love and Death
 

61 – The internet isn’t written in pencil, it’s written in ink. You write your snide bullshit in a dark corner because that’s what the angry do nowadays. The Social Network

62 – You can like the life you’re living, you can live the life you like. You can even marry Harry, but mess around with Ike. And it’s good, isn’t great, isn’t swell, isn’t fun, isn’t it? But nothing stays. In fifty years or so, it’s gonna change, y’know. But, oh, it’s heaven. Nowadays. Chicago

63 – We’re not drinking fucking merlot. Sideways

64 – In this family, we do not solve problems by hitting people! A History of Violence

65 – Sometimes you have to do something unforgivable, just to be able to go on living. A Dangerous Method

66 – Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn. Gone With the Wind

67 – My conclusion is: hate is baggage. Life’s too short to be pissed off all the time. It’s just not worth it. American History X

68 – A little guilt goes a long way. The Machinist

69 – I’m bored with sitting around. I’m a dramatic character. I need forward motion. The Purple Rose of Cairo

70 – I wanted to know how these things started. Now I do. These feelings just creep up on you out of nowhere. In the Mood For Love

71 – It’s a strange world, Sandy. Blue Velvet

72 – If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person? Fight Club

73 – I feel something important is happening around me. And it scares me. Three Colours: Red

74 – In heaven, everything is fine. You’ve got your good things, and I’ve got mine. Eraserhead

75 – Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called “The Pledge”. The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course… it probably isn’t. The second act is called “The Turn”. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you’re looking for the secret… but you won’t find it, because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn’t clap yet. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call “The Prestige”.The Prestige

76 – You should’ve gone to China, you know, ’cause I hear they give away babies like free iPods. You know, they pretty much just put them in those t-shirt guns and shoot them out at sporting events. Juno

77 – Methinks our friend’s a tad bit fuckered in the head. Zodiac

78 – Your conversational skills are really deteriorating as the day goes on. Hard Candy

79 – Long live the new flesh. Videodrome
 

80 – The sky is pocked with stars. What eyes the wise men must have had to see a new one in so many. The Lion in Winter

81 – What am I doing? I’m silently judging you. Magnolia

82 – We’re emotional illiterates. We’ve been taught about anatomy and farming methods in Africa. We’ve learned mathematical formulas by heart. But we haven’t been taught a thing about our souls. We’re tremendously ignorant about what makes people tick. Scenes from a Marriage

83 –  It’s always difficult to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And wherever you run into it, prejudice always obscures the truth. I don’t really know what the truth is. I don’t suppose anybody will ever really know. 12 Angry Men

84 – Don’t believe everything you hear on the radio. Citizen Kane

85 – You’re gonna need a bigger boat. Jaws

86 – There’s always a bigger fish. Stars Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace

87 – Use the Force. Star Wars

88 – I’m the one who’s fighting. Not you, not you, and not you. The Fighter

89 – In bed by nine? That’s when life just begins! Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

90 – There’s a hole in the world like a great black pit and it’s filled with people who are filled with shit and it’s morals aren’t worth what a pig would spit, and it goes by the name of London. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

91 – You’ll find the shame is like the pain, you only feel it once. Dangerous Liaisons

92 – One late autumn night, the disciple awoke crying. So the master asked the disciple, “Did you have a nightmare?” “No.” “Did you have a sad dream?” “No,” said the disciple. “I had a sweet dream.” “Then why are you crying so sadly?” The disciple wiped his tears away and quietly answered, “Because the dream I had can’t come true.” A Bittersweet Life

93 – You need to put a lot of effort into not caring. Scenes from a Marriage

94 – Some men change. Well, they don’t change – they reveal. They reveal themselves over time, you know? Inland Empire

95 – I closed the book, and felt this strange mixture of wistfulness and hope, and I wondered if a memory is something you have or something you’ve lost. For the first time in a long time, I felt at peace. Another Woman

96 – Some of our stars are the same. The Silence of the Lambs

97 – Everything is exactly the way it’s meant to be. A Single Man

98 – You met me at a very strange time in my life. Fight Club

99 – There’s an old joke – um… two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of ’em says, “Boy, the food at this place is really terrible.” The other one says, “Yeah, I know; and such small portions.” Well, that’s essentially how I feel about life – full of loneliness, and misery, and suffering, and unhappiness, and it’s all over much too quickly. The… the other important joke, for me, is one that’s usually attributed to Groucho Marx; but, I think it appears originally in Freud’s “Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious,” and it goes like this – I’m paraphrasing – um, “I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.” That’s the key joke of my adult life, in terms of my relationships with women. Annie Hall
 

100 – There are no more barriers to cross. All I have in common with the uncontrollable and the insane, the vicious and the evil, all the mayhem I have caused and my utter indifference toward it I have now surpassed. My pain is constant and sharp, and I do not hope for a better world for anyone. In fact, I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape. But even after admitting this, there is no catharsis; my punishment continues to elude me, and I gain no deeper knowledge of myself. No new knowledge can be extracted from my telling. This confession has meant nothing. American Psycho

Under the Influence – David Lynch

If my earlier post on Eraserhead didn’t give it a way, I’m a big David Lynch fan. In fact he’s my favourite director. And so, to kick off this new series of pieces on who and what I draw my influence from as an aspiring filmmaker, I figured that Lynch would be the best place to start.

Surrealism

Surrealism has fascinated me for a while now, from Artaud to Dali, and I always wondered how it could be used in film, how someone could create the dreamlike and nightmarish on screen. After all, creating something surreal is a totally different challenge when comparing it on film and in a painting.

And then of course, through a friend, I stumbled on Eraserhead, my introduction to the surreal. However, as the majority of that has been covered here , I won’t dwell on Eraserhead, I’ll talk about some of his other works instead.

Inland Empire stands on a level with Eraserhead in terms of the heights of surrealism that Lynch can reach. Of course, surrealism is chiefly based around the unconscious, the dreamlike, and through Inland Empire, Lynch explores this in great depth in his labyrinthine three hour feature.

It is about, as the poster suggests, “a woman in trouble”, but explores so much more than that. From it’s moments of nightmarish horror, to bizarre non sequiturs that feature anything from prostitutes to rabbits, Lynch dives straight into the unconscious and roots himself there for at least half of the film.

Surrealism is a difficult thing to write about, both in terms of this piece, and in terms of the script, but, simply put, there is something about it, and the artistic freedom that it can entail, that I find enticing and inspiring. After all, the unconscious is rather vast, and is clearly full of ideas that range from the fascinating (the structure and style of Mulholland Drive), the bizarre (the rabbits shown above, from Inland Empire) and the terrifying (the baby from Eraserhead or, simply but, that face in Inland Empire. Anyone who’s seen the film will no doubt remember it.

Subversion of idyllic settings

Above is the opening shot of Lynch’s cult classic, Blue Velvet. With it’s roses, perfect blue sky and white picket fence, it is a truly idyllic town.

Nothing sinister could possibly be lurking here, right?

Wrong.

Where Lynch succeeds is by showing these locations, with their roses and fences and such, is by subverting it entirely. After all, in Blue Velvet, the sweet little setting is the home of Frank Booth, one of the most unhinged villains in modern cinema.

He does the same in the iconic TV series Twin Peaks, and it’s darker film prequel, Fire Walk With Me. The town of Twin Peaks may be full of eccentrics, but it seems harmless enough. However, the town is hiding several dirty little secrets.

And of course, that is where the wonder of both Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks lies – by slowly peeking through the curtains of these homes, before the truth becomes revealed. And this is what I find inspiring, not only his use of idyllic towns, which are always wonderfully shot, but, more so, how he subverts them, for the twisted sexual relationship between Dorothy and Frank in Blue Velvet, to the opening frames of Twin Peaks which, after presenting a slow credit sequence to soft music, presents us with the body of a young girl and raises the famous question of who killed Laura Palmer.

This subversion doesn’t only have to be done in suburbia, he subverts and destroys Hollywood dreams in Mulholland Drive, and attacks fatherhood in Eraserhead. Perhaps the best thing about this kind of subversion is that in can be done in so many different locations, and with countless different themes.

After all, “it’s a strange world Sandy”.

Imagery

Along with legendary recluse Terrence Malick, Lynch is among my favourite directors in terms of his visual style, from the body horror of the Lady in the Radiator in Eraserhead, to the closeups used liberally throughout Inland Empire, to almost the entirety of Mulholland Drive. Take for instance the image above, used in the opening moments of the film. It is a signpost in the dark. That’s all. But in it’s isolation, there is something about it, something mysterious and enticing. Lynch does this a lot in Mulholland Drive to great effect, and it’s one of the things that struck me when I first watched the film a couple of years ago.

A lot of Lynch’s shots are simple, from the signpost above to the Club Silencio, which is wonderfully minimalist before it descends into the nightmarish. After all, “there is no band”.

The images throughout his body of work, and particularly (for me at least) in Mulholland Drive work excellently, they create a sense of mystique, there is something a little ‘off’ about them. Or, they can simply be images that provoke a reaction, most likely of fear or wonder.

Take the Lady in the Radiator from Eraserhead as an example, who stands alone on a stage (having seen Muholland Drive before rewatching it I can’t help but be reminded of Silencio) singing “In Heaven”. From her isolation, to the strange deformity around her face, she will immediately evoke a reaction. To say the least, when I first saw the film, I was taken aback, there was just something about it, although I can’t articulate it perfectly, that perhaps sums up how Lynch can use so much, from isolation, to that ‘off center’ feeling, to enhance his style of cinema.

There’s a lot more that Lynch did to influence me as a filmmaker, and I wish I could articulate the rest of it, but, in that true Lynchian fashion, it is simply there in the back of my mind, and I’m sure something will come of it eventually.