The Grandmother (US, 1970)

This is a very early David Lynch short that mixes animation, pixelation and live action to typically obscure effect. Lynch is one of those directors for whom the auteur theory does work and the ‘seeds’ of his later work are apparent here; particularly the disturbing soundscapes he produces. On the ‘The Shorts of David Lynch’ [...]

Still LIfe (Sanxia haoren, Hong Kong-China, 2006)

A fascinating film set in town about to be submerged by China’s Three Gorges damn. It mixes the naturalism, common in Chinese cinema, of following ordinary people’s ordinary lives with the utterly surreal landscape of a city being destroyed. Jia Zhangke has an astonishing eye for composition so a shot of men sledgehammering a building [...]

Inland Empire (France, Poland, US, 2006)

I love Lynch because he, as a true surrealist, eschews bourgeois representations of the world and, hence, the audience often doesn’t a clue about what’s going on. There’s a terrific synopsis on Wikipedia but it doesn’t necessarily explain what the film’s about. I like Danny Leigh’s ideas because he accepts that futility of actually trying [...]

Belle de Jour (France, 1967)

Bunuel was a great director and this is regarded as a classic but it doesn’t do it for me. Denueve’s beautiful but only her fantasies, shot as surreal episodes, lighten this rather boring movie about a bored housewife. Too pedestrian for me but Empire gave it 5 stars! (DVD, 2) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061395/

Entr’acte (France, 1924)

A surrealist-dadaist film viewed on an appalling print. Of historical interest only, I think, to see how the mix of technical devices (eg slomo) was used to defamiliarise reality. (DVD). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0014872/

Orpheus (France, 1950)

Classed as a masterpiece but I can’t get beyond detesting the central character’s self absorbed casual misogyny. Some visually impressive sequences but my second viewing (DVD) confirmed the first. At times it seems as though it’s meant to be comic (Orpheus defies death in order to fall in love with death) but the earnestness of [...]

Lost Highway (US, 1997)

Genius Lynch. Third time I’d seen it (home DVD) and I was struck by how the use of the videotape influenced both the ‘Ring’ films and ‘Hidden’. Also Lynch’s realities are Dickian in nature (as in SF writer PK Dick – Carrere’s biog is great). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116922/