Tuesday 6 November 2012

The Dream Sequence


"So I was looking out the window and I saw a younger version of myself in the garden. Except the garden was overgrown with tall twisted vines. Then an elephant smashed through the fence and came charging at me so I began climbing up one of the vines. I kept climbing and climbing, I was almost at the top of the vine when it melted like ice cream in the sun. I was falling and just as I was about to hit the ground I woke up."

Its boring hearing over peoples dreams isn’t it.
Even more boring is long dream sequences in film or TV.
Earlier this year I revisited The Sopranos. From first episode to last. Of course its brilliant TV, though for me the weakest episode by far is the one in the fifth series called The Test Dream. The clue is in the name, and features a very long dream sequence.
Just when you think its stopped and we can get back on with the story it turns out that Tony waking up was part of the dream and it goes on for another ten minutes or so.

It’s the sort of episode that wins awards because it apparently shows so much imagination. Whatever, I’m not interested in these surreal moments in Tony’s dreams that may or may not represent some hidden meaning. I’m more interested in the plot and the characters. Not some David Lynch style over substance surrealism.
I've just never managed to make it all the way through a David Lynch film.
No I was never a student with a Blue Velvet poster on the wall.

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