Boat

More David Lynch video art! Yeah?

There is no denying that some of Lynch's later short film projects are among his most divisive work yet, and it isn't very hard to see why this is. "Boat" is among many an avant garde short film in the Lynch cannon and it can be interpreted as either meaningful and beautifully enigmatic art or as pretentious drivel; personally, I rather enjoyed "Boat". I find this brief, self described "journey into the night" to be a haunting and poetic work with some very fascinating visuals in the mix. As the film rows onward (see what I did there?!), Lynch's boat moves faster and faster, splashing and speeding into darkness, and the visuals that ensue pertain a beautiful magic. Water sprints and dances in front of the camera so swiftly it no longer looks like water but rather like...I don't even know what...it's surreal, as expected from Lynch.

This little short film/experiment from Lynch is meant to be some kind of home movie-cum-fever dream where the basic act of going out onto a lake with a motor boat becomes like some sort of journey to some unknown destination. It's at it's best an immense jolt of visual splendor, shot on Lynch's hardy digital camera, where one of Lynch's expressed joys as a filmmaker- to be able to make the flow of water a truly cinematic feat- is put to a successful test. At first he just shows images of the boat, with a girl doing a voice-over meant to be very mysterious but somewhat cognitive of having an idea of what's around her (or it, as it might be). Then the boat goes off, Lynch himself (steering the boat) says to the camera "we're gonna try to go fast enough to go in to the night", and soon all there is to see is water rushing past, very fast, and then superimposed is night over day. The voice-over itself is probably the lesser part of the experiment; Lynch says on the DVD the short is on that he thought there was a story there, so he put on a voice-over track to go with the images. The narration, truth be told, makes it a tinge more poetic, but not necessarily for the better; I had flashbacks during some of the narrative bits to short films (and not the better short films) I used to see in film classes at school. Yet it's a good little effort that Lynch has strung together here at least by way of eye-catching digital video, where everything seems a little extra heightened (very bright by way of daytime, then nighttime is much darker, naturally) and the movement of water at such a fast clip, as one might take for granted, makes for some powerful viewing.

I watched BOAT in the small theatre at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, the gallery in Paris which is currently hosting Lynch's art retrospective, "The Air is on Fire." The film is also available on DYNAMIC #1: The short is narrated by a confused- sounding young woman, who pronounces statements along the lines of "I was so tired" and "There was a man there," while narrating what's happening on-screen.

Although very short, this film contains a great deal of wit and visual beauty. Shots of the boat's wake and the lake itself interact well with the young woman's dreamy voice-over. I found BOAT to be a singularly transcendent short, even sort of sexy in a way. "I think I slept," the woman says. "I wanted to tell you I dreamt of you."

Boat is a short film from David Lynch. I have to first say that I am a huge fan of Lynch's feature film work where I have found he has often displayed a touch of genius. However, I cannot unfortunately say the same thing with regard to his post Mulholland Drive (2001) output which mainly has consisted of short films. Boat is quite honestly a fairly typical example where there is nothing more than a specific tone and little beyond that. The content of this one has Lynch himself at the controls of a small boat while a female voice-over relates her connection with it. It really isn't very interesting at all with little to recommend it in any way. It also suffers visually from the digital video on which it was shot on. Lynch became entranced with this format as it allowed him to make films more easily himself with no need for much money or extra personnel. Which is all well and good, the unfortunate thing about this though is that the films are almost all universally uninteresting and lacking; and Boat is sadly another example.

I have watched both Boat and Darkened Room this evening. At first, I was losing hope in Lynch because of Darkened Room. I thought it was pointless and boring. Then I saw this one and was very impressed with everything about it. It was filmed and narrated in an almost uncomfortable way and that may be what I loved so much about it. David Lynch has a wonderful way of making a normal shot creepy in every sense. I get so inspired when I watch his films and I want to see every single one of them. This is a must see for Lynch fans if you love his atmosphere and tone. I saw it on Youtube and I know it's not the easiest film to find but if it's still up there, be sure to check it out!