What’s Wrong With “The Elephant Man?”
Dear Gary: I just purchased The Elephant Man on DVD figuring it is probably the only David Lynch film that actually made some sort of sense. As I began to watch it, I was impressed by the 5.1 surround mix in the first 15 minutes. Then, an hour or more into the movie, I glanced at my player’s display...it was still on Chapter 1. I heard the relays on my Denon DVD-5000 click as though it was going through chapters. So at first I thought it was my player. I double-stopped the player and went to the menu. THERE IS NO CHAPTER SELECTION AT ALL! Did Paramount really do this for a reason? It’s total madness now in order to get back to where I was in the movie. I have to fast-forward in play mode like it was a VCR tape. This was released in 2001, wasn’t it? I could understand if it was an indie film or a DVD from 1997. I must not have heard Paramount Pictures had downsized and were working out of an abandoned 7-11. Just curious if they just rushed the DVD onto the market, or if it was something that had to be done because of the film itself?
Frank Kraus
Research Editor and Staff Writer Michael Coate comments:
From what I hear, Paramount Pictures is doing just fine; they still operate out of their lot on Melrose in Hollywood. The reason The Elephant Man has no chapter stops has nothing at all to do with the film itself, other than that the choice to exclude any chapter stops was made by the film’s director. According to Paramount, Mr. Lynch asked them to not include any chapter stops to help promote an uninterrupted, linear viewing experience. We mentioned this in the narrative portion of our review of the DVD and did not state the disc was chaptered in the disc details box portion of the review, and also did not tick the box in the chaptered column of the DVDiscography. The DVDs for Lynch’s The Straight Story (from Walt Disney) and Mulholland Drive (Universal) also have no chapter stops. The recently released Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me does have chapter stops, though you wouldn’t know it from the packaging or menu as there isn’t a Scene Selection section. Blue Velvet (MGM) does have chapters, including Scene Selection. Some filmmakers simply want you to watch their movies from beginning to end without interruption. What a novel concept.
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