Darkened Room

Last updated
Darkened Room
Directed by David Lynch
Written byDavid Lynch
Produced byDavid Lynch
Starring Jordan Ladd
Etsuko Shikata
Cerina Vincent
CinematographyDavid Lynch
Release date
  • April 12, 2002 (2002-04-12)
Running time
8 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Darkened Room is an 8-minute film directed by David Lynch. It first appeared on Lynch's website, DavidLynch.com, in 2002. It has subsequently been released on the DVD anthology Dynamic:01.

Contents

Premise

In the first half of the film, a Japanese woman shows us her apartment in Tokyo and muses on the amount of bananas produced worldwide. The woman then tells us that her friend next door is sad. In the second half, a blonde woman (Jordan Ladd) sits on a sofa and cries. Then a brunette woman (Cerina Vincent) enters and says cruel things to her, before threatening to tell her the truth. The film ends with a fade to black.

Cast

Production

The film was shot on digital video. In an introduction that appears on the Dynamic:01 DVD, Lynch calls the film "an experiment based on some idea", and says the film "was always some kind of tie in to bananas, information concerning bananas, so we can all learn some things as we enjoy the shows". Lynch then laughs.

Analysis

The film has been compared to other Lynch productions for the prominence of the act of crying [2] and the presence of a lost girl. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lynch</span> American filmmaker, musical and visual artist, writer, and philanthropist

David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received acclaim for his independent films, which have been described as often involving elements of surrealism and film noir. He has received numerous accolades, including the Golden Lion in 2006 and an Honorary Academy Award in 2019.

<i>Mulholland Drive</i> (film) 2001 film by David Lynch

Mulholland Drive is a 2001 surrealist neo-noir mystery film written and directed by David Lynch and starring Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Mark Pellegrino, and Robert Forster. It tells the story of an aspiring actress named Betty Elms (Watts), newly arrived in Los Angeles, who meets and befriends an amnesiac woman (Harring) recovering from a car accident. The story follows several other vignettes and characters, including a Hollywood film director (Theroux).

<i>Twin Peaks</i> American drama television series

Twin Peaks is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 for a third season on Showtime.

<i>The Banana Splits</i> American variety television series

The Banana Splits is an American television variety show produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and featuring the Banana Splits, a fictional rock band composed of four costumed animal characters in red marching band hats with yellow plumes. The costumed hosts of the show are Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky.

<i>Alice Doesnt Live Here Anymore</i> 1974 film directed by Martin Scorsese

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is a 1974 American comedy drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Robert Getchell. It stars Ellen Burstyn as a widow who travels with her preteen son across the Southwestern United States in search of a better life. Kris Kristofferson, Billy "Green" Bush, Diane Ladd, Valerie Curtin, Lelia Goldoni, Vic Tayback, Jodie Foster, Alfred Lutter and Harvey Keitel appear in supporting roles.

<i>Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me</i> 1992 American psychological horror film

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is a 1992 American psychological horror film directed by David Lynch and written by Lynch and Robert Engels. It serves as a prequel to the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991), created by Mark Frost and Lynch, who were also executive producers. It revolves around the investigation into the murder of Teresa Banks and the last seven days in the life of Laura Palmer, a popular high school student in the fictional Washington town of Twin Peaks. Unlike the series, which was an uncanny blend of detective fiction, horror, the supernatural, offbeat humor, and soap opera tropes, the film has a much darker, less humorous tone.

<i>Wild at Heart</i> (film) 1990 film by David Lynch

Wild at Heart is a 1990 American romantic crime drama film written and directed by David Lynch, based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Barry Gifford. Starring Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, Crispin Glover, Diane Ladd, Isabella Rossellini, and Harry Dean Stanton, the film follows Sailor Ripley and Lula Fortune, a young couple who go on the run from Lula's domineering mother and the criminals she hires to kill Sailor.

<i>Cabin Fever</i> (2002 film) 2002 American film

Cabin Fever is a 2002 American horror comedy film co-written and directed by Eli Roth and starring Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, and Giuseppe Andrews. The story follows a group of college graduates who rent a cabin in the woods and begin to fall victim to a flesh-eating virus. The inspiration for the film's story came from a real-life experience during a trip to Iceland when Roth developed a skin infection.

Wishbone is an American half-hour live-action children's television show produced from 1995 to 1997 about a dog who relives famous literature. It was originally broadcast on PBS and later rebroadcast on PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go!. The show won four Daytime Emmys, a Peabody Award, and honors from the Television Critics Association. Wishbone's exterior shots were filmed on the backlot of Lyrick Studios's teen division Big Feats! Entertainment in Allen, Texas, and its interior shots were filmed on a sound stage in a 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) warehouse in Plano, Texas. Additional scenes were filmed in Grapevine, Texas.

<i>Lolita</i> (1962 film) 1962 film by Stanley Kubrick

Lolita is a 1962 psychological comedy-drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the 1955 novel of the same title by Vladimir Nabokov, who is also credited with writing the screenplay. The film follows Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged literature lecturer who becomes sexually infatuated with Dolores Haze, a young adolescent girl. It stars James Mason, Shelley Winters, Peter Sellers and, as the titular character, Sue Lyon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerina Vincent</span> American actress (born 1979)

Cerina Vincent is an American actress. She had her breakthrough role starring as Maya in the television series Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, followed by a part in the comedy film Not Another Teen Movie, before going on to star in the horror film Cabin Fever, which established her as a "scream queen" and led to further roles in horror movies. More recently, she appeared as Suzy Diaz in the Disney Channel series Stuck in the Middle. She has also written three books with Jodi Lipper, wrote a regular column for The Huffington Post, and co-hosts the podcast Raising Amazing with Dr. Joel Gator.

<i>Inland Empire</i> (film) 2006 film

Inland Empire is a 2006 American experimental psychological horror film written, directed and co-produced by David Lynch. As of 2023, it is the last film Lynch has directed, marking his longest hiatus between film projects. The film's cinematography, editing, score and sound design were also by Lynch, with pieces by a variety of other musicians also featured. Lynch's longtime collaborator and then-wife Mary Sweeney co-produced the film. The cast includes such Lynch regulars as Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, and Grace Zabriskie, as well as Jeremy Irons, Karolina Gruszka, Peter J. Lucas, Krzysztof Majchrzak, and Julia Ormond. There are also brief appearances by a host of additional actors, including Nastassja Kinski, Laura Harring, Terry Crews, Mary Steenburgen, and William H. Macy. The voices of Harring, Naomi Watts, and Scott Coffey are included in excerpts from Lynch's 2002 Rabbits online project. The title borrows its name from a metropolitan area in Southern California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordan Ladd</span> American actress (born 1975)

Jordan Ladd is an American actress. The daughter of actress Cheryl Ladd and producer David Ladd, she initially worked with her mother in several made-for-television films, before making her big screen debut at 19, in the vampire film Embrace of the Vampire (1994). She subsequently appeared in the drama Nowhere (1997) and the comedy Never Been Kissed (1999). Ladd became known as a scream queen, having appeared in several successful horror films, including Cabin Fever (2002), Club Dread (2004), Death Proof (2007), and Grace (2009). Ladd is also known for work with director David Lynch appearing in his films Darkened Room (2002) and Inland Empire (2006).

<i>Intermedio</i> (film) 2005 film by Andrew Lauer

Intermedio is a 2005 American horror film directed by Andrew Lauer.

<i>The Great Gatsby</i> (1949 film) 1950 film directed by Elliott Nugent

The Great Gatsby is a 1949 American drama film directed by Elliott Nugent, and produced by Richard Maibaum, from a screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume. It is based on the 1925 novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The music score was by Robert Emmett Dolan, and the cinematography by John F. Seitz. The production was designed by Roland Anderson and Hans Dreier, and the costumes by Edith Head.

<i>It Waits</i> 2005 American film

It Waits is a 2005 American horror film directed by Steven R. Monroe and starring Cerina Vincent, Dominic Zamprogna, and Greg Kean. Written by Richard Christian Matheson, Thomas E. Szollosi, and Stephen J. Cannell, the film is about a forest ranger who encounters a terrible creature who has been killing people in the remote national forest where she works. When the creature attacks her isolated ranger station and kills her forest ranger boyfriend, she goes after the creature. Filmed on location in British Columbia, Canada, It Waits was a direct-to-DVD release in the United States and worldwide.

<i>My Sassy Girl</i> (2008 film) 2008 American film

My Sassy Girl is a 2008 American romantic comedy film and the remake of the 2001 South Korean film of the same name. It stars Elisha Cuthbert and Jesse Bradford and was directed by Yann Samuell. Both films are based on a true story told in a series of blog posts written by Kim Ho-sik, who later adapted them into a novel. The film is set in New York City's Central Park and Upper East Side. Samuell, describes the film as "a fable about destiny, " while Bradford described it as "a romantic comedy about how they pull each other to a more healthy place by virtue of their relationship."

<i>Beyond the Clouds</i> (1995 film) 1995 Italian-French-German romance film

Beyond the Clouds is a 1995 Italian-French-German romance film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, with contributions by Wim Wenders, and starring John Malkovich, Sophie Marceau, Vincent Perez, Irène Jacob, and Jean Reno. The film consists of four stories of romantic love and illusion told from the perspective of a wandering film director. In the first story, two beautiful young lovers are unable to consummate their passion because the young man desires impossible perfection. In the second story, the director makes love to a young woman who reveals that she murdered her father. In the third story, a man makes an effort to appease both his wife and his mistress. In the fourth story, a young man is infatuated with a girl who is about to enter a convent. This was the final feature-length film by Antonioni before his death in 2007.

<i>Chained</i> (2012 film) 2012 Canadian film

Chained is a 2012 Canadian psychological horror film directed by Jennifer Lynch and based on a screenplay by Damian O'Donnell. Starring Vincent D'Onofrio as a serial killer and Eamon Farren as a young prisoner of the killer, it explores their relationship as the killer seeks to turn his captive into his protégé. Gina Philips, Conor Leslie, Jake Weber, and Julia Ormond appear in supporting roles.

<i>Brentwood Strangler</i> 2015 film

Brentwood Strangler is a 2015 holiday-themed horror short film. It was written and directed by John Fitzpatrick following the success of his first short Skypemare, and stars 'scream queen' Jordan Ladd and Australian actor Adam J. Yeend in the title role. The film premiered December 2015 at the A Night of Horror Film Festival in Sydney, Australia, and had its U.S. premiere in early 2016 at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival in Los Angeles where it won the jury award for Best Genre Short. The film has received critical acclaim from the independent horror community with multiple online reviews citing Fitzpatrick's writing, and the chemistry between the two leads. The film has screened at multiple festivals and horror conventions around the world including Shriekfest, Horrible Imaginings Film Festival, FilmQuest, and at Phoenix Comicon where it won the audience award for 'Best Horror'. The producing team went on to make the popular online series Scary Endings which is currently in its second season.

References

  1. Odell, Colin (2010-10-21). David Lynch. Kamera Books. ISBN   978-1-84243-382-9.
  2. Mactaggart, Allister (2014-05-14). The Film Paintings of David Lynch: Challenging Film Theory. Intellect Books. ISBN   978-1-84150-387-5.
  3. Jerslev, Anne (2021-11-03). David Lynch: Blurred Boundaries. Springer Nature. ISBN   978-3-030-73924-9.