Alphabet Macabre
The Alphabet, a short film by David Lynch, examines the simple recitation of the alphabet, a common form of rote learning, the speaking of which has a certain expected cadence. But Lynch plays with our expectations, taking an innocent bit of common experience and transforming it into a spooky investigation of...what? His own mind? The images and sounds that horripilate? The ways in which animation and film can distort the world they supposedly represent?
An amazing amount of experimentation is stuffed into this short: spooky animation techniques, disturbing jump cuts, how the tone of a voice can turn the skin to gooseflesh, blood as polka dots. Although the aphabet appears on the screen, in full or nearly so, twice, and the letter A, the sturdy opener to our alphabet has special billing, this is not a videopoem but a textualized film where the letters popping up on the screen propel us through a story we already know as we learn a story only our bones knew beforehand.
Today is Nancy's and my wedding anniversary, which I celebrated by taking Nancy to the installation ceremony and banquet of the New York State County Clerks Association. I explained, to anyone who would listen, that we were celebrating our anniversary at this conference because the 24th anniversary is the county clerks anniversary. I think the 25th is silver. It is hard being such a romantic, but I make do.
ecr. l'inf.
3 comments:
Just to clarify "Below the Bar": Although you did beat it into the ground, I am the one who made the joke first!
Well Happy Anniversary to you and Mrs. Huth! A very respectable 24 years!
"Aloyisius" prefers his alphabet to come from Super Why, his new favorite show on PBS
Have you seen this lovely alphabet? http://poesygalore.blogspot.com/2008/02/do-look-up.html
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