Industrial Symphony No. 1
Encyclopedia
Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted is a short, avant-garde musical play directed by David Lynch
, with music by Angelo Badalamenti
and Julee Cruise
.
The play was originally presented (twice) on stage at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
in New York City
as part of the New Music America Festival on November 10, 1989. It was released on VHS in 1990.
The show made its debut on DVD 18 November 2008 in the David Lynch: The Lime Green Set DVD collection.
. The rest of the play is a hallucinatory "dream" that the Heartbroken Woman has.
The show takes place on a stage, the main props being a tall metal girder-like structure, and an abandoned shell of a car, with flickering lights and cacophonous sounds used to disturbing, nightmarish effect. Much use is made of actors suspended from ropes, flying and falling, as well as dancers.
Julee Cruise sings on tracks 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10. These songs are all from her first album, Floating Into The Night (1989), apart from track 1, which is from her second album, Voice Of Love (1993). They are the normal, studio recordings - the songs are mimed. Her voice can also be heard in track 6, in which she gets pushed into the boot of the car. In track 8, the boot opens and she sings from it, her face superimposed on a TV-screen. One recording, "Rocking Back Inside My Heart", is also featured in Twin Peaks
(for which Cruise recorded a vocal version of the theme).
Michael J. Anderson (known for his role as the small, dancing Man From Another Place on Twin Peaks) is featured on track 3, patiently sawing a log of wood to Badalamenti's discordant music. He is also part of the stage ensemble on track 5 (instrumental), along with a tall, demonic reindeer-like figure. Finally, on track 6, he reiterates the opening dialogue between Cage and Dern, accompanied by a clarinet-player and a non-speaking actress playing Dern's part.
Track 9 is wholly instrumental, with a background of dolls being lowered from the roof on strings.
and Inland Empire
.
Laser Disc: Warner Reprise (38179-6) ; 1991
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
, with music by Angelo Badalamenti
Angelo Badalamenti
Angelo Badalamenti is an American composer, known for his movie soundtrack work for director David Lynch, notably Blue Velvet, the Twin Peaks saga and Mulholland Drive...
and Julee Cruise
Julee Cruise
Julee Cruise is an American singer, and actress.With a distinctive, airy voice, Cruise has recorded three albums, but is probably best known for the lead vocal on "Falling," the theme song for the cult U.S. television series Twin Peaks...
.
Overview
When David Lynch studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia (PAFA), he made a series of complex mosaics in geometric shapes which he called Industrial Symphonies.The play was originally presented (twice) on stage at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as part of the New Music America Festival on November 10, 1989. It was released on VHS in 1990.
The show made its debut on DVD 18 November 2008 in the David Lynch: The Lime Green Set DVD collection.
Cast
- Nicolas CageNicolas CageNicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
: Heartbreaker - Laura DernLaura DernLaura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...
: Heartbroken Woman - Julee CruiseJulee CruiseJulee Cruise is an American singer, and actress.With a distinctive, airy voice, Cruise has recorded three albums, but is probably best known for the lead vocal on "Falling," the theme song for the cult U.S. television series Twin Peaks...
: The Dreamself of the Heartbroken Woman - Michael J. AndersonMichael J. AndersonMichael J. Anderson is an American actor known for his roles as the Man from Another Place in David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks, the epilogue and prologue film of the series, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, and Samson Leonhart on the HBO series Carnivàle...
: Woodsman / Twin A
Tracklist
- Up In Flames
- I Float Alone
- The Black Sea
- Into the Night
- I'm Hurt Bad
- Pinky's Bubble Egg (The Twins Spoke)
- The Dream Conversation
- Rockin' Back Inside My Heart
- The Final Battle
- The World Spins
The show
The presentation opens with Cage and Dern engaging in a telephone conversation, the gist of which is that he is breaking up with her, to her great sorrow. Though they are never named as such, the two characters bear a striking resemblance to Sailor and Lula from Lynch's movie Wild at HeartWild at Heart (film)
Wild at Heart is a 1990 American film written and directed by David Lynch, and based on Barry Gifford's 1989 novel Wild at Heart: The Story of Sailor and Lula. Both the book and the film revolve around Sailor Ripley and Lula Pace Fortune , a young couple from Cape Fear, North Carolina who go on...
. The rest of the play is a hallucinatory "dream" that the Heartbroken Woman has.
The show takes place on a stage, the main props being a tall metal girder-like structure, and an abandoned shell of a car, with flickering lights and cacophonous sounds used to disturbing, nightmarish effect. Much use is made of actors suspended from ropes, flying and falling, as well as dancers.
Julee Cruise sings on tracks 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10. These songs are all from her first album, Floating Into The Night (1989), apart from track 1, which is from her second album, Voice Of Love (1993). They are the normal, studio recordings - the songs are mimed. Her voice can also be heard in track 6, in which she gets pushed into the boot of the car. In track 8, the boot opens and she sings from it, her face superimposed on a TV-screen. One recording, "Rocking Back Inside My Heart", is also featured in Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
(for which Cruise recorded a vocal version of the theme).
Michael J. Anderson (known for his role as the small, dancing Man From Another Place on Twin Peaks) is featured on track 3, patiently sawing a log of wood to Badalamenti's discordant music. He is also part of the stage ensemble on track 5 (instrumental), along with a tall, demonic reindeer-like figure. Finally, on track 6, he reiterates the opening dialogue between Cage and Dern, accompanied by a clarinet-player and a non-speaking actress playing Dern's part.
Track 9 is wholly instrumental, with a background of dolls being lowered from the roof on strings.
Allusions
Lynch frequently makes allusions to specific trademarks that recur throughout his films. This film features the "lumber trademark", when Anderson's character saws a log. This trademark is also prominent in Twin Peaks, where the title sequence features saws cutting wood, as well as the sawmill that is eventually burnt in the season 1 finale. Another trademark is the "blinking lights trademark", repeatedly used throughout the film. Blinking lights usually signify change, more specifically used in Lost Highway, Mulholland DriveMulholland Drive (film)
Mulholland Drive is a 2001 American neo-noir psychological thriller written and directed by David Lynch, starring Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, and Laura Harring. The surrealist film was highly acclaimed by many critics and earned Lynch the Prix de la mise en scène at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival...
and Inland Empire
Inland Empire (film)
Inland Empire, sometimes styled as INLAND EMPIRE, is a 2006 mystery film written and directed by David Lynch. It was his first feature-length film since 2001's Mulholland Drive, and shares many similarities with that film. It premiered in Italy at the Venice Film Festival on September 6, 2006...
.
Versions
VHS: Warner Music Vision (ASIN 6302374065) ; 1990Laser Disc: Warner Reprise (38179-6) ; 1991