The David Lynch Collection (Eraserhead/Short Film Collection/Lynch One/Dynamic 01/Dumbland/Umbrella Entertainment/Region Zero/0/NTSC)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: A-     Films/Shorts/Animation:

 

Eraserhead B

Short Film Collection B

Lynch One B-

Dynamic 01 B-

Dumbland B-

 

 

I’m sure that most of have heard the various adjectives when people describe the work of David Lynch…bizarre, weird, strange, surreal, etc.  He is often misunderstood, yet is still recognized as one of the more influential and important filmmakers in modern cinema.  His mastery is often times doubted with commercial failures or limited by critical bashing, yet his work has endured and Umbrella Entertainment has assembled together a great 5-disc set that should have any serious film fanatic drooling.  The set does not include his typical body of work, but rather his debut film Eraserhead, which has been a difficult film to find for many years in good quality form, plus his short film collection which was made available just a few years ago exclusively on David Lynch’s website, plus a feature documentary, his animated Dumbland, and Dynamic 01, which is a more recent series of shorts that were also exclusive on his website until now.  Because this is the first time that all of this material has been assembled together it makes it highly valuable and a worthwhile set to own. 

 

I think that the biggest reason why Lynch is misunderstood more often than not has to do with his inconsistency.  Not that he is inconsistent with his quality of work, but rather the style of his work.  He is chameleonic in many respects as his body of work demonstrates that he can deliver films like The Elephant Man (1980), which is perhaps one of the most beautiful films ever photographed and is now a classic.  His bizarre, yet suspenseful Blue Velvet (1986) demonstrated that Lynch could combine his skills of a seemingly normal story with small twists of bizarre moments that when fused together create an unforgettable film.  Although some still doubted his ability to tell just a ‘normal’ story, so he answered back with the aptly titled 1999 feature film The Straight Story, which is based on the man who rode his John Deere tractor across country.  Lynch’s genius in many respects lies in his ability to find the weird or bizarre moments in real life and apply them to his films.  He can also weave together intricate storylines, which was made obvious in 2001’s Mulholland Drive, which bears more than one viewing to truly capture the complexity of that film and what Lynch was ultimately trying to do with that film.  Even when his films are not completely in sync, he still manages to capture us, challenge us, and give us something that is truly unique.  Experiencing a David Lynch film is without a doubt a new experience each time and this set delivers a full snapshot of his abilities and also into the personality of the man behind these films. 

 

The first feature in this set is Lynch’s debut film Eraserhead, which has been a relatively hard film to find over the last 30+ years since its release.  There have been dozens of bootlegs of the film made, most of which were incredibly poor quality, then Lynch restored the film himself several years ago and made the first official DVD release of the film.  Umbrella Entertainment’s transfer seems to from that restoration and looks very good.  Many of the short films are shot in a variety of formats and therefore the quality ranges, but overall seem to be well-restored for this release as well. 

 

Most of the material is presented here in anamorphic widescreen and U.S. audiences will be glad to know that this particular set is issued in NTSC formatting and is an all-region release, so it will play anywhere, despite player coding.  Eraserhead also features a full-length interview with Lynch on the making of this film, which is a rarity as he seldom talks about his films like this.  The audio tracks are in stereo and are adequate considering the variety of sources here. 

 

The David Lynch Short Film Collection features some of his earlier works as a student, as well as some of his later works from the 1980’s.  They include: Six Men Getting Sick, The Alphabet, The Grandmother, The Amputee, The Cowboy and the Frenchman, and Lumiere.  Lynch One is a compilation of two years of footage and is a full-length documentary that chronicles his thoughts, feelings, and brings fans to a deeper level of the filmmaker, it also enables us to see him preparing for his film Inland Empire.  Dynamic 01 is a recent series of shorts that were written, directed, edited, and scored all by Lynch and really demonstrate his abilities on all aspects of filmmaking, although the limitations here is that they are homogenous in their execution therefore we do not see the collaborative efforts of the artist, but yet Lynch at his most raw. 

 

Dumbland is an off-beat macabre animation series, which is perhaps Lynch at his most creative, bizarre, violent, and obscure. In many respects this seems like a creative outlet rather than just a full-blown coherent production that is polished and complete.  Here we get an artist unleashing his emotions in animated form, which compliment the rest of the material quite well and enable us to see a different side of the filmmaker. 

 

This entire set might not feel like a complete package, but it is a potent set that gives us material that was hard to come by until now.  Not only that, but to have all of this material available in one set is simply awesome and truly gives us a direct approach into the filmmaker’s range of work.  Since most of his other films, especially the more prominent ones, are available already, this set acts as a companion piece that no serious film buff can live without. 

 

A must.

 

 

As noted above, you can order this DVD import exclusively from Umbrella at:

 

http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/

 

 

-   Nate Goss