Hotel Room.. discussion and interpretations
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 2:08 am
I couldn't find a thread on "Hotel Room" through a search on this forum so i hope i'm not overlooking an already existing one. I've just finished rewatching On The Air and then Hotel Room following a Twin Peaks marathon, and i must say that Hotel Room is a great piece of work by David and Barry Gifford. You can see a lot of elements that would crystalize in Lost Highway start to take shape in these two short films ("Tricks" and "Blackout"). i would go as far as calling them my favorites amongst Lynch short films as they are self-contained stories within themeselves depsite being part of a series. it's a shame i have only been able to see both of these works on a bad .AVI rip from a VHS cassette. luckily the visual side is not their most important feature - in fact, Hotel Room is most likely the least visual out of all of Lynch's works. i've probably seen them both three times by now, and i think the writing, directing and acting really creates a mysterious and abstract world which gives more with each rewatch. i love how the physical setting and interiors are so simple they are almost non-existant which brings all the focus on the characters and the story. it's pretty brave stuff to put this on as a TV-series as it requires a lot of thinking and is pretty hard to grab on a first viewing.
"Tricks"
Especially "Tricks" which like i said above is a pre-cursor to "Lost Highway". in my opinion Lou and Moe are the same person, two splits of the same identity.. Lou's psyche has created the agressive Moe to handle the dirty business he won't admit himself capable of or wanting. first time I saw it i wasn't at all sure about this, and couldn't quite grasp the purposefully vauge dialouge. however Lynch and Gifford clearly lets the viewers know that there's some mix-up of their identity at work here... Moe is talking about his wife Felicia, although later an agitated Lou screams out at Darlene that "FELICIA was MY WIFE!!" .. Later on we see a wallet with Moe's identity but Lou's photo on it. The most telling shot however is one where Lou and Darlene are sitting on the beds talking to Moe who is standing in front of a mirror. The shot shows Lou and Darlene through the mirror but there's no reflection of Moe, who is nowhere to be seen. Brilliantly it is shot in a way so that it could possibly be that Moe is standing right next to it, just out of view, but the fact that Lynch wants us to notice the mirror and the lack of a reflection is quite clear. i wonder if Moe was created as a split from Lou's psyche after he killed his wife or if their "relationship" goes back a long time. one great small segment is when Moe has his way with Darlene on one bed, while Lou is sitting alone on the other bed with his head down, totally zoned out and his thoughts seems to be replaced with the sound of a rushing train. it's like he doesn't even exist at that moment (as his mind is foucsed into one for that short time imo).
of course, Darlene is in there too and is actually having a conversation with both of the men which of course couldn't be physically possible if they are both the same. i read Michael Chion's take on this short and his take on it (if i remember right) is what we are seeing (up until the end) is something of a fever dream taking place after Darlene has left (if there ever was a real Darlene) and that his psyche conjures up Moe as a dream symbol of his negative self - something like that. i disagree with this view.. to me we are seeing an actual meeting in that Hotel Room between Lou and Darlene, she does not see Moe however. like in Lost Highway with Pete Drayton actually meeting people and the film turning in on itself, what we see is something of a representation of Lou's perspective on the scene - had we seen the scene from Darlene's point of view it would have looked and sounded very different.
i love how the classic Lynch theme of doubles is incorporated into "Tricks" - of course with Lou and Moe, but also with the double beds, with Felicia and Darlene, with the great actress Monique Mystique (or whatever her name was) and her role as The Great Vucuvara, with the hotelworkers who later will return in the other episodes. here you got a man who murdered his wife and in order to cope with the horrors his psyche is split into two, creating an entire new person - if Barry G and David L never had worked on this maybe that seed that grew into Lost Highway might never have been planted... and what a shame that would've been!
"Blackout"
This is the favorite segment amongst most Lynch fans, and that's very understandable as it's a fascinating and gripping short film which despite it's modest setting and visual style captures many of Lynch's hallmarks. the film has a mysterious and otherwordly quality to it that is simply arresting. there is also a tension that hangs in the air throughout, alternating between dread and beauty. as a viewer i tend to hang on every word the characters speak here, and with each line you gets a little closer to understanding the central mystery as it is only revealed in bits and pieces throughout its 45 minutes running time. taking place in 1936 during the big blackout in New York City, we learn that Danny and Diane had a son (Dan, whom they used to call Dan-Bug) that tragically died two years ago. the tragedy has left Diane in a deep mental unbalance; she is denying what happened with Dan-Bug to herself and she is losing her grip on reality. they are in NYC to meet up with a specialist in hopes of getting her help. it is often said, however, that the first step in getting better is to admit the problem and accept the reality of it. when we first meet Diane and Danny she certainly isn't doing that.. she has created a false reality for herself where the horrors of her past is blocked out/blacked out. her ignorance and unknowing-ness is physically represented by the blackout, and notice how she is shading her eyes from the lights of the lantern at the beginning - she does not want to be awakened to the horror of realization. however throughout the film, Danny and Diane's conversation gradually helps her both understanding and coping.. and right at the end when they are on the bed she has accepted what happened to Dan-Bug, and suddenly the lights are on.. everywhere! as they stare out the window she is completely illuminated by the light which represents her breaking free from the shackles of denial and can start the real healing process. absolutely beautiful!
this is an amazing film, and Crispin Glover and Alicia Witt does a great job of translating these two characters to the screen. it's all about them, no real visual flairs or flashbacks, just a dark room, a great story and two great actors doing it justice. as Lynch (and many other directors) have done in the past, he uses the physical enviroment to represent the innter lives of the characters inhabiting that world. in some ways the film reminds me of "Inland Empire"; a woman in trouble with a dark past (an unpaid bill to be paid) that will eventually face that dark past and come out of it reborn, healthy and happy. truly beautiul! the dark interiors lit with only dim light and close-ups of the actors reminds me stylistically of some scenes in IE as well. again, this needs a proper DVD release (along with the less great "On the Air")
"Tricks"
Especially "Tricks" which like i said above is a pre-cursor to "Lost Highway". in my opinion Lou and Moe are the same person, two splits of the same identity.. Lou's psyche has created the agressive Moe to handle the dirty business he won't admit himself capable of or wanting. first time I saw it i wasn't at all sure about this, and couldn't quite grasp the purposefully vauge dialouge. however Lynch and Gifford clearly lets the viewers know that there's some mix-up of their identity at work here... Moe is talking about his wife Felicia, although later an agitated Lou screams out at Darlene that "FELICIA was MY WIFE!!" .. Later on we see a wallet with Moe's identity but Lou's photo on it. The most telling shot however is one where Lou and Darlene are sitting on the beds talking to Moe who is standing in front of a mirror. The shot shows Lou and Darlene through the mirror but there's no reflection of Moe, who is nowhere to be seen. Brilliantly it is shot in a way so that it could possibly be that Moe is standing right next to it, just out of view, but the fact that Lynch wants us to notice the mirror and the lack of a reflection is quite clear. i wonder if Moe was created as a split from Lou's psyche after he killed his wife or if their "relationship" goes back a long time. one great small segment is when Moe has his way with Darlene on one bed, while Lou is sitting alone on the other bed with his head down, totally zoned out and his thoughts seems to be replaced with the sound of a rushing train. it's like he doesn't even exist at that moment (as his mind is foucsed into one for that short time imo).
of course, Darlene is in there too and is actually having a conversation with both of the men which of course couldn't be physically possible if they are both the same. i read Michael Chion's take on this short and his take on it (if i remember right) is what we are seeing (up until the end) is something of a fever dream taking place after Darlene has left (if there ever was a real Darlene) and that his psyche conjures up Moe as a dream symbol of his negative self - something like that. i disagree with this view.. to me we are seeing an actual meeting in that Hotel Room between Lou and Darlene, she does not see Moe however. like in Lost Highway with Pete Drayton actually meeting people and the film turning in on itself, what we see is something of a representation of Lou's perspective on the scene - had we seen the scene from Darlene's point of view it would have looked and sounded very different.
i love how the classic Lynch theme of doubles is incorporated into "Tricks" - of course with Lou and Moe, but also with the double beds, with Felicia and Darlene, with the great actress Monique Mystique (or whatever her name was) and her role as The Great Vucuvara, with the hotelworkers who later will return in the other episodes. here you got a man who murdered his wife and in order to cope with the horrors his psyche is split into two, creating an entire new person - if Barry G and David L never had worked on this maybe that seed that grew into Lost Highway might never have been planted... and what a shame that would've been!
"Blackout"
This is the favorite segment amongst most Lynch fans, and that's very understandable as it's a fascinating and gripping short film which despite it's modest setting and visual style captures many of Lynch's hallmarks. the film has a mysterious and otherwordly quality to it that is simply arresting. there is also a tension that hangs in the air throughout, alternating between dread and beauty. as a viewer i tend to hang on every word the characters speak here, and with each line you gets a little closer to understanding the central mystery as it is only revealed in bits and pieces throughout its 45 minutes running time. taking place in 1936 during the big blackout in New York City, we learn that Danny and Diane had a son (Dan, whom they used to call Dan-Bug) that tragically died two years ago. the tragedy has left Diane in a deep mental unbalance; she is denying what happened with Dan-Bug to herself and she is losing her grip on reality. they are in NYC to meet up with a specialist in hopes of getting her help. it is often said, however, that the first step in getting better is to admit the problem and accept the reality of it. when we first meet Diane and Danny she certainly isn't doing that.. she has created a false reality for herself where the horrors of her past is blocked out/blacked out. her ignorance and unknowing-ness is physically represented by the blackout, and notice how she is shading her eyes from the lights of the lantern at the beginning - she does not want to be awakened to the horror of realization. however throughout the film, Danny and Diane's conversation gradually helps her both understanding and coping.. and right at the end when they are on the bed she has accepted what happened to Dan-Bug, and suddenly the lights are on.. everywhere! as they stare out the window she is completely illuminated by the light which represents her breaking free from the shackles of denial and can start the real healing process. absolutely beautiful!
this is an amazing film, and Crispin Glover and Alicia Witt does a great job of translating these two characters to the screen. it's all about them, no real visual flairs or flashbacks, just a dark room, a great story and two great actors doing it justice. as Lynch (and many other directors) have done in the past, he uses the physical enviroment to represent the innter lives of the characters inhabiting that world. in some ways the film reminds me of "Inland Empire"; a woman in trouble with a dark past (an unpaid bill to be paid) that will eventually face that dark past and come out of it reborn, healthy and happy. truly beautiul! the dark interiors lit with only dim light and close-ups of the actors reminds me stylistically of some scenes in IE as well. again, this needs a proper DVD release (along with the less great "On the Air")