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17 out of 17 people found the following review useful: Another Phobia Envisioned by David Lynch, 29 May 2002 Author: jodiac from Lexington, KY
David Lynch says this film was an attempt at visualizing the "fear of learning." In it, a young girl is tortured by the alphabet in a competely abstract nightmare. Lynch has always been fascinated by the darker side of dreams, the seemingly nonsensical black procession of symbols and fears, and this film simply adds another phobia to the canon.We are shown images of a head with information going in one side, and this eventually causes the head to erupt into a black mess. Lynch juxtaposes the most innocent of subjects (the alphabet), which usually marks the beginning of our schooling, with disconcerting images of blood and vomit. Disturbing? Yes. Lynch apparently formed the idea after hearing of a girl who was found reciting the alphabet during a nightmare.On a more profound level, the film examines a fear that perhaps appears for most later in life: the dread of knowledge. There's quite a bit of truth to the oft-repeated line "ignorance is bliss." Gradually, we realize that the more we learn, the less we understand, and therefore, the less control we have over our situations. It's a problem that has vexed people since the conception of "science." We ask questions out of curiosity, find there are no accessible answers, create a religious penumbra that satisfies a great deal with a few simple passages, and then science comes along and we are confronted once again with the inconsistencies of our faith. Thus, we fear that which turns the rock-solid black and whites of our existence to a confused mass of gray.Also, The Alphabet hints at what linguists and intellectuals and songwriters have known for centuries; words are wholly inadequate to describe even the simplest of human perceptions. And once one has etched that list of letters into one's mind, in a sense, there is no turning back. Life becomes shapes patterned on paper, and conceptions of reality will no longer be formed purely and internally; they are immediately attached to an imperfect language and remained tethered to that which will never truly suffice.
10 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Art as horror, 6 August 1999 Author: Stephen-12 from London, England
Lynch's first film is a bizarre, revolting and terrifying account of a bedridden young girl apparently being tortured by the alphabet. The letters appear as weird, threatening shapes which (as in his follow-up The Grandmother) seem to take on plant form. The girl herself eventually vomits blood.The film's meaning isn't clear, and is really of less important than the visuals, which are themselves like moving paintings. The innocence of the child's 'ABC' rhyming song is warped to give a frighteningly naive background to the horrific events.Lynch's trademark is the expression of fear, and this short foregrounds that motif in the most disturbing way imaginable. Fans of this director should try and catch his debut, as it casts its shadow over much of his later work.
6 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Frightening imagery, 26 September 2004 Author: dbborroughs from Glen Cove, New York
Based on an actual event, Lynch's niece had a nightmare where she recited the alphabet in her sleep, this film is basically the same thing, with a young woman reciting the alphabet in her sleep while we see nightmarish imagery.Its an interesting piece with truly frightening images. Unfortunately the animation isn't all that spectacular, consisting of animated drawings. Its a good piece that mostly works and shows the seeds of the later Eraserhead.If you come across one of the short film videos of Lynch's early work this film, and one or two others, makes it worth renting.
7 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Disturbing animated short shows Lynch had it from the beginning., 22 April 2004 Author: Ben_Cheshire from Oz
This was the first time David Lynch shot live-action footage. It isn't really a narrative film, like The Grandmother, but its more than a filmed moving painting like Six Men Getting Sick. It is mainly animation, truth be told, but it combines live action with it. This is what a child's nightmare looks like inside David Lynch's head - and let me tell you, its quite disturbing, on a par with Grandmother and Eraserhead.Some of its images, like the girl bleeding from the mouth and reciting the alphabet - i can't get out of my head. I don't know if that's a good thing... Lynch is a very strange man, indeed. And what we get in his films isn't half the story, as members of his website will tell you. There are images there that you wouldn't even know to be wary of, to not think about - images you don't even know to protect yourself from. But as Elephant Man showed us, he is also a master director, who can control himself and a major production to perfection. As Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks and Mulholland Dr showed us, Lynch's world can also be lots of fun. He's one of my favourite filmmakers because he gives me both fun AND haunting in the same frame - a feat not many can do.
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Downright horrifying, 15 September 2006 Author: Wayne Malin (wwaayynnee51@hotmail.com) from United States
VERY weird short by David Lynch. It's in black and white and shows a girl who looks like she's going completely mad while the letters of the alphabet go flying around her. She also sings that alphabet song.I should have expected something weird from Lynch but this is even stranger than I thought it could be. In 4 short minutes he gives you a morbid and disturbing little story about the alphabet and terror. It doesn't make a bit of sense but the imagery is so strange and the sound so odd that you're pulled right in. Basically a short little horror film. You can see where "Eraserhead" came from. Worth seeing but only for those who don't scare easily. An 8.
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Your a weird one Mr. Lynch! (and that's a complement), 12 August 2005 Author: NateManD from Bloomsburg PA
"The Alphabet" is a really bizarre experimental film short from David Lynch. It contains images that nightmares are made of. Many strange and abstract objects give birth to the letters of the alphabet. There is many creepy sound effects that give this little short film's imagery a strange hallucinatory and hypnotic feel. I could definitely see a Salvadore Dali influence during the film's animated scenes. David Lynch's former wife Peggy than sings the alphabet song against a black background. Wow, the alphabet song has never sounded more horrifying! It's like a preschooler's worst fears caught on film. If you can find a copy of David Lynch's short films, you won't be disappointed. There's no doubt about it, David Lynch is an artist who comes up with some of the most amazing nightmarish imagery.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: haunting, 23 December 2002 Author: Erich M (enmussak@yahoo.com) from Madison, WI USA
This avant garde piece miraculously comes off without being cliché or dismissible (as is so common with artsy avant garde film). Peggy Lynch (I'm assuming is his daughter) goes through a sequence of harrowing events that had some connection with the alphabet. I particularly liked the bed-wetting and the dirt. The person I watched this with said the dirt looked very "inviting." I strangely agreed. Only Lynch could make dirt inviting. Very interesting work. 8/10
Fittingly creepy and strange...but what is this all about?, 12 December 2008 Author: Tommy Nelson from Long Beach, California
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Many films, or books, or any form of media will challenge the mind and make you think in order to draw your own conclusions. What this short film feels like, is something that wasn't written with too much depth. The direction was what the time was spent on making this, not any kind of deep writing, and because of that, this short film suffers from a lack of any kind of coherent anything.A girl lays in bed and begins having nightmares about the alphabet. The beginning is live action, and the middle moves into animated territory where the letters are given birth to and nightmarishly appearing. The film ends with a weird upside down face, and the girl from the opening reciting the alphabet, only to then throw up blood. It's quite original, but at the same time, quite impossible to comprehend.The acting...well, there's one actress and she is fine. The direction is very atmospheric and creepy. The background is almost always black, and the constant chanting of the ABC's is both strange and eerie. The writing is what I question. Director David Lynch must have had something in mind for what this meant...no I don't think so. It really doesn't seem to mean anything. It's just a creepy short about an alphabetic nightmare that can really only be taken at face value. The deeper you dive into what this means, the less sense it makes. Let's just call it an experiment with animation and direction and leave it at that.This short is effectively scary, but missing the substance necessary to make a short that has some sort of meaning. Yet these disturbing images are still tattooed on my brain(?)...My rating: ** 1/2 out of ****. 4 mins.
The Alphabet is another weird early Lynch short that showcases his uniqueness, 30 August 2008 Author: tavm from Baton Rouge, La.
Just saw this, another weird short directed by David Lynch early in his career, on YouTube. In it, you hear kids saying loudly in unison, "A-B-C! A-B-C!" Then there are some animation that turns bizarre like when a tube gives birth to a couple of A's as you hear a baby crying. Then there's this woman (played by Peggy Lynch, David's first wife) who recites the alphabet singing who suddenly bleeds through her nose after she's done. Oh, and it's dark and she's in her bed the whole time. The end. There are some other bizarre things here but I'll just leave you to search this on YouTube. After all that, I'll say this for David Lynch: He's certainly like no one else on film!
An Inspiring and Terrifying Short, 11 August 2008 Author: Scars_Remain from United States
I'm making my way through all of Lynch's films so I figured I'd start with his early short films and I am very pleased with them. I really liked Six Men Getting Sick and this one was great too. I will be commenting on the rest of them as well. The Alphabet is very ambiguous and let's you come up with your explanation of what's going on and I think that is great. David Lynch is a genius in so many ways. I think it's wonderful seeing where my favorite filmmaker started out and very inspiring. I am still trying to figure how he pulled some of the stuff in this film off and wondering how I could do something like this myself. I will continue to enjoy Lynch and be amazed by his work. I hope you can as well!
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