Director Report Card: David Lynch (1990) Part Three

7. Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dreams of the Broken Hearted

Following the critical success of “Blue Velvet,” David Lynch was suddenly being offered all sorts of new opportunities. And not all of them where within the realm of film or television. The Brooklyn Academy of Music would commission Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti to create a musical stage play for their 1989 NEXT WAVE Festival. Lynch, Badalamenti, and singer Julee Cruise would conceive of “Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dreams of the Broken Hearted.” The play would be performed twice in November of that year. These performances were filmed and edited together into a film presentation, released on video in late 1990. Just in time to capitalize on “Twin Peaks”-mania, as it worked out.

“The Dreams of the Broken Hearted” is a piece of avart-garde theater, meaning there's not much in the way of a traditional plot. The film begins with a short video clip of a boy, played by Nic Cage, breaking up with a girl, played by Laura Dern. The following play, as the title indicates, is meant to represent her troubled and emotional dreams in the aftermath of this breakup. Julee Cruise sings, floats, and falls over a collection of rough industrial structures, burnt-out cars, and medical stretchers. Other dancers and figures, some familiar, some bizarre, appear to further express the young woman's emotional state.

“Industrial Symphony No. 1” will, perhaps, be most of interest to David Lynch fans for the way it intersects with some of his other works. By opening the film with Nic Cage and Laura Dern, as a dissolving young couple, “Wild at Heart” inevitably comes to mind. One can't help but imagine “Dreams of the Broken Hearted” as a downbeat, alternate ending for Sailor and Lula. (Both actors seem to be playing the same characters, furthering the connection.) Meanwhile, “Dreams of the Broken Hearted” also shares DNA with “Twin Peaks.” Julee Cruise appeared on the show. Two of the songs here played in “Peaks,” while Cruise's music informed that entire program. Michael J. Anderson also appears, while wearing a red suit. “Dreams of the Broken Hearted” obviously emerged out of everything Lynch was working on at the time.

Since “Industrial Symphony” has no traditional narrative, you can only approach it as a mood place. David Lynch, after all, has always primarily been about making his audience feel a specific sort of thing. As the title indicates, “Industrial Symphony No. 1” is filled with discordant noise. The film opens and closes with wind blowing, bringing shades of “Eraserhead” to mind. In one musical number, the primary instrument is Anderson sawing a log. Clanking mechanical noises, sawing sounds, and flying sparks are all present. Lynch's presentation is very cinematic. His camera swoops around the set, different light sources shining through the structure. The desolate atmosphere clearly makes the audience unsettled and sad.

In fact, there are some really creepy scenes in “Industrial Symphony No. 1.” Amid a cacophony of screeching noise, a group of masked men assemble something on a table. Soon, a twelve foot tall flayed deer monster stands up, balancing upon spindly legs. The creature awkwardly wobbles around, the noise continuing, before disappearing in a flash of light. Simply put: What the fuck? This is truly the stuff of nightmares. The entire scene, by the way, is proceeded by Julee falling suddenly out of the air, her body bouncing violently off a car. Even while on-stage, Lynch doesn't hold back on creating truly disturbing visuals.

As cinematic as his visions have always been, Lynch creating a stage play only seems natural. People standing upon stages, singing or performing, is a reoccurring image in his work. The set is certainly a memorable construct. A number of crisscrossing iron beams stretch overhead, like the discarded skeleton of a skyscraper, stopped in mid-construction. The blasted-out vintage car beneath it brings a junkyard to mind. When combined with the industrial score, “The Dreams of the Broken Hearted” undeniably feels like a continuation of “Eraserhead's” aesthetic. The same sense of hellish, urban isolation infects this film too.

Since music plays such an important role in Lynch's films, it's no surprise that he would eventually direct a musical of sorts. Most of the songs in “Industrial Symphony” are taken from Julee Cruise's first album, “Floating Into the Night.” (Which was, not coincidentally, produced by Lynch and Badalementi.) Julee's ethereal vocals provides the dream-like atmosphere of this “Symphony.” Show opener, "Up in Flames," combines a siren-like cry with a shifty, film noir instrumentation, combining with whispered lamentations. The second song she sings, “Into the Night,” was prominently featured in “Peaks.” A mysterious and low-key number, Cruise's vocals make it all the more haunting. She truly sounds like she's singing from deep in the darkness. She floats above the stage, in a white gown, looking like a spectral angel, during these songs.

My favorite songs in the film are the latter two. “Rockin' Back Inside My Heart” has a jangly, fifties pop sound, occasionally peppered with jazzy sax sounds. This contrasts nicely with Cruise's dreamy delivery of the melancholy lyrics. (When Cruise mournfully signs “She'll never go to Hollywood,” it's impossible not to think of Laura Palmer.) Cruise sings this number from the trunk of a car, like a murder victim in a classic film noir, her face distorted upon a vintage television screen. The film ends with another fantastic song. “The World Spins,” which sounds the most like a song from “Twin Peaks.” It has Cruise almost whispering a lament for a missing lover, for him to return... But he's never coming back, is he? She floats back off the stage during this song, leaving the industrial hellscape behind. Perhaps signaling that this heartbroken young woman will be able to leave this sadness eventually.

Cruise's songs are only part of the film's soundscape. Badalamenti's score is heavy on the discordant noise. Instrumental tracks like “The Black Sea” and “I'm Hurt Back” are almost entirely atonal storms of chaos. One number, “Pinky's Bubble Egg,” has Cruise and an unidentified male voice speaking some of Lynch's bizarre stream-of-consciousness dialogue. Through it all, Lynch cooks up memorably odd images to accompany the songs. Barbie dolls, hanging on ropes, dangle from the stage during “The Final Battle.” Michael J. Anderson repeats Nic Cage's opening lines, accompanied by a solemn flute solo. Dancers contort through the steel beams.

Running less than an hour long, “Industrial Symphony No. 1” is largely treated as an odd side project by Lynch fans. After its initial VHS release in 1990, it was out-of-print for many years. Lynch would self-distribute a DVD in 2008, as part of the Lime Green box set that included several major works and a few other minor oddities. This set is now also out-of-print, meaning “Dreams of the Broken-Hearted” is once again damned to that gray market limbo. Fans, however, should definitely seek it out. Not just a companion piece to “Twin Peaks” and “Wild at Heart,” it is a worthy addition to Lynch's collection of nightmares and dreamscapes. I like it enough that I wish there had been an “Industrial Symphony No. 2.” [Grade: B+]