Why See This...The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari [1920]

With a month of horror movies ahead, I decided to start the month off right with a classic, one that is often considered the first horror movie ever made.

Think back to any of the mesmerizing and lucid worlds crafted by David Lynch or a psychological thriller from David Fincher, and it is certain that these two great directors watched, or more likely, scrutinized The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari before making any one of their own.  For Lynch, the obvious influence comes from the bizarre setting and backdrop of this early German expressionistic film.  Taking place in the fictional quaint mountain village of Holstenwall Germany, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is not set in some far off, distant land or even the future, as it may appear.  Though the director has placed the film into a seemingly normal German town, the subjectivity of its “realness” is certainly called into question.  Tilted walls, slanted rooftops appear as if a strong wind just came through the town and almost, just almost blew everything over.  The townspeople are real people inhabitating a real town, yet there is something just not right with how it all looks.  Holstenwall is surreal in every sense of the word.  With one glance, any avid David Lynch fan can recognize the obvious influence this movie has on the surreal and decrepit world of Eraserhead or even Inland Empire.  These movies deal with real people, yet the existence seems to take place somewhere far off from our thinking of reality. 

Inside the realm of a David Fincher thriller like Se7en or Fight Club, the characters of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari are hardly molded caricatures.  This is really something considering the fact that we are dealing with a somnambulist and a mad scientist.  Short in stature, hunched back and always wearing a lab coat, Dr. Caligari looks like nothing else.  His counterpart, the stiff Frankenstein-like looking somnambulist named Cesare has been sleeping in a coffin for twenty three years and can tell the future.  At the arrival of the town fair, Caligari decides to display Ceasre as an exhibit.  Along with herds of people fascinated by the premise of the somnambulist, two friends arrive, Francis and Allen.  Upon learning his powers, Allen quickly shouts out to Ceasre asking how long he has to live.  The response: until dawn tomorrow.  Early the next morning Allen is dead, murdered in his own room.  Francis instantly puts the blame on Caligari and Ceasre.  But after an entire night perched outside their window, Francis finds nothing, expect that his has been abducted, all while the pair were sleeping.

Useless Clatter...[Hear This...]David Lynch Remixes Zola Jesus' "In Your Nature"

This is a post I wrote for my music blog TUNEclatter, and aside from it being a song, I fgured it carried some film relevance worth reposting.

       To give comparison, Zola Jesus sounds sort of like Adele.  They both have generally deep voices and have the ability to belt it out in their songs, screaming with the perfect pitch.  Adele maybe arguably the most popular female vocalist out right now, but Zola Jesus might not be too far behind.  Her song “In Your Nature” sounds like an avant Florence + the Machine track, only sung by Adele, not to say that Zola is just a copy of these two because she’s not. 

      More importantly, a remixed version has recently been created by legendary auteur David Lynch.  One of my favorite filmmakers, David Lynch is a true artist and one of the best of our time.  Mostly recognized as the creator of such cult favorites like Erasherhead, Blue Velvet and the hit show Twin Peaks, David Lynch has also established himself as a painter, musician and even furniture designer.

      His remix of Zola Jesus’ song “In Your Nature” is really something.  I’m almost never a fan of remixes, but in this case I find myself preferring the remix over the original.  It was a close call but I got to hand it to David Lynch for creating this.  It’s not the kind of remix that is sped up and with a faster bass pedal where the chorus is just repeated 10 times or something.  This remix is nothing of that sort; Lynch actually slows the song down.  What really works for this song and gives it its success is the minimalist approach Lynch took while working with the song.  Combined with those Florence and Adele elements, Lynch’s small touch gives the song a mystical sort of dreamy feel to it.  I could see it as a perfect ending to one of his surrealist films from back in the 80s.  Like if Blue Velvet had some sort of warm, reassuring ending

Reel News...Pearl Jam Twenty Premiere

Combing two greats- movies and music, be sure to tune into PBS this Friday, October 21 for the world-wide premiere of Pearl Jam Twenty.  Celebrating and glorifying one of the most prolific bands of rock 'n roll, director Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Fast Times At Ridgemont High), follows the band from the beginning through various interviews, concert footage and much more.  Lots of what's seen in the film are rare or previously unseen footage compiled together making it a truly unique and new experience for even the most die-hard Pearl Jam fans.  Check out the trailer below, beginning with a snippet from an interview between frontman Eddie Vedder and film director David Lynch (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks).