Reverse Disease

Rating: Null/10 (3 January 2004)

Lynch's obsession, like Burton, is on the sick, but--since 'Dune'--he has changed focus from the visually sick to the psychologically sick. In that respect, 'Elephant Man' and 'Dune' are the epitome of mixing his two sickness. The social sickness, the physical sickness, and the mental illness.
I watched this movie with 'Death Becomes Her' because both films work in the against the (now common) makeup philosophy of Tim Burton. Burton uses makeup to turn actors into props--something to be seen and not understood--whether in the 'Batman' movies, 'Beetlejuice', or 'Planet of the Apes'. Only in 'Edward Scissorhands' and 'Ed Wood' did he work towards making the inhuman human--then again it might be because he had Depp.
With 'Elephant' and 'Death', the makeup is used to accentuate the humanity. One tries to be dramatic and the other tries to be funny, but that is irrelevant. That's only "scenery for the public" to comment on in quick notes.
Lynch is a genius because he has a distinct vision. This film is shot like a stage and, unlike empty buffoonery like 'the Last Picture Show', Lynch uses the B&W to his advantage. Thus, in its colorlessness, it is one of the richest experiences.
This is your only spoiler warning...
There is the machine imagery as an antagonist to the ideology of the plot. You can almost hear the protesters now: "people don't hurt people, machines hurt people!" Along those lines, it is interesting when Hurt asks the self-existent question: "Can I be cured?"
The last item of notice is the examination of the fake cathedral that Hurt builds. Here is the world-within-world of his existence and the ambition to duplicate what he sees outside, Hopkins would follow suit with his drawing of the Duomo in 'Silence of the Lambs'.
The conclusion is an obvious tie-in for 'Dune' to begin.
Final Analysis = = Learn from this...