The Alphabet (1969)
9/10
perhaps the more daring of the short-short Lynch works in his formative years
4 June 2006
Not sure what attracted me to this film, which is really nothing more than, as David Lynch puts it on the DVD, an interpretation of someone else's dream through his own state of mind. But I really, really felt immersed in what Lynch was doing visually with the film. Obviously, it doesn't make a lick of sense if you're looking for it, but I loved the mixture of different elements within the medium. There's actual film shot of Lynch's wife Peggy going rather bonkers while in a bed. Then this is mixed around with animation treated on-TOP of the filmed footage. Then there is other mixed media, such as a filmed animated spot shook around with other pieces of color and light. There's even a quick shot of black falling down upon white, if that makes sense (which it doesn't). I was told by some others that this one was the weakest of the Lynch shorts, but that goes without saying that each one of his early works will divide viewers like in any good old art-school class. If one knows though the lengths to which the filmmaker is ready to portray his audio-visual interpretations on screen one might appreciate it a little more if they just happen to stumble upon it. On a personal level it's one of the best student works I've seen from the period of a promising talent.
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