I am really surprised that there are not many reviews for this movie; I would have thought that this film would have provoked more reaction / discussion. One reviewer's comments are a TAD harsh... The substance of which I guess I would agree with, but I think it could've been put a little better.
First off, Definitely an 'A' for visuals and for the DP! Absolutely! And, except for the EXTREMELY annoying and COMPLETELY distracting audio during the first half of the film (MAN, the microphones sounded like they were implanted in the actors' larynx's for God's sake! You could hear EVERY bloody smack of their lips and tongues. HORRIBLY distracting! Also EVERY bloody sound, footstep, box scraping across a surface, key in a lock, DAMN! WAAAAAAAAY to loud in the mix, unfortunately I feel a terrible detraction from the film...) the actual soundtrack and background ambient sound was GREAT! VERY Lynchian.
BUT! And it is a BIG BUT like Mariah Carey's...
Sadly, those of us who totally LOVE films like this or ones that look and sound like these, do indeed expect a bit more substance. In other words Lynch's stuff no matter how way out, always seems to have at least SOME kind of internal harmony or outworking logic of the subconscious, that gives it some kind of visceral 'weight'. However, sort of along the lines of the other reviewer here, the net effect I feel in my lowly and wretched opinion, is just sort of an 'aimlessness'
If I may speak directly to the director... You really did NAIL it quite well in many places; I mean, most film makers can't even come close to doing as well as you did. My most humble suggestion is that if you are going mainly for the complete 'ARTY' look and feel, in other words a COMPLETELY abstract or surreal film, then I believe you need to dress it up a bit more with stronger mood enhancers, a la a tiny bit more visual manipulation / style.
I think what I'm trying to say is, if you're gonna keep it all subtle and low key with long drawn out passages like Lynch does for example, then you need to give the mood and atmosphere a bit more punch. If you want to emphasize the narrative a bit more then, as the first reviewer was putting across in his sledgehammer way, I would say, try to come up with a bit more substance to punch it up a bit. That's about the only way I can put it, for what that's worth..
But, you absolutely held our attention for the most part with the look and feel of the film. The sound and mood were most captivating.
I do feel that there IS indeed genius here, lurking about in that creative mind of yours. Just a couple of very small things, if I may... One, I personally would not have had the clock that he finally fixed come crashing down onto the floor. Very jarring to the overall mood of the film and I honestly did not feel it contributed anything, instead it detracted from the mood that you had worked so hard to construct. Secondly, him throwing that extended fit at the end, I also felt took away from the smooth ambiance that you had created throughout the film. Those are the only 'glaring' things I would personally have taken out. Also, I really need to re-mention the INFINITELY annoying exaggerated sound of the peoples voices and other mundane sounds during the first half of the film. I think your sound editor must've been doing some SERIOUS crack or something during the first half, is all I can figure : ) Unfortunately, that distracted so much from the film that I rated it a '5', sorry about that. Those detracting elements took away from what easily could have been a 10 I think!
But, all in all, an excellent effort and LOTS of good creative imagery; I absolutely LOVED the ambient background sound, sort of the low key 'industrial' sound you usually hear in Lynch's films. Keep up the good work mate! If you wish to write and comment personally, please do so; I THINK my e'mail address is listed here...
