I think it was Francis Bacon who said that the camera cannot compete with the paintbrush so long as the camera cannot be used to capture images of heaven and hell.
I think if Francis Bacon had been aware of the work of David Lynch, he may have revised this opinion. Perhaps only Kubrick's "The Shining" succeeds in depicting nightmares on film to an extent that Lynch's oeuvre is rivaled.
"The Alphabet" is the second of Lynch's short films I've watched, after "Six Men Being Sick", and I liked it more than that one. With "Six Men", you could see Lynchian touches coming through already, mostly in the movie's experimental nature. With "The Alphabet", we start to see the director doing what he does best, ie. Confronting us with visions our brains thankfully keep at bay. He'd continue doing that for most of the rest of his career.
"The Alphabet" is also experimental in that it features live action as well as animation. The animation looks like what Terry Gilliam may have made if he were suffering a psychotic episode. The live-action is chilling and bizarre.
I think if Francis Bacon had been aware of the work of David Lynch, he may have revised this opinion. Perhaps only Kubrick's "The Shining" succeeds in depicting nightmares on film to an extent that Lynch's oeuvre is rivaled.
"The Alphabet" is the second of Lynch's short films I've watched, after "Six Men Being Sick", and I liked it more than that one. With "Six Men", you could see Lynchian touches coming through already, mostly in the movie's experimental nature. With "The Alphabet", we start to see the director doing what he does best, ie. Confronting us with visions our brains thankfully keep at bay. He'd continue doing that for most of the rest of his career.
"The Alphabet" is also experimental in that it features live action as well as animation. The animation looks like what Terry Gilliam may have made if he were suffering a psychotic episode. The live-action is chilling and bizarre.