The Amputee (1974)

Director:

David Lynch

Writer:

David Lynch (writer)

Genre:

Short | Drama

Plot:

In this plotless 5 minute short, Catherine Coulson plays a legless double-amputee who, throughout the film...

Plot Keywords:

Absurdism | Surrealism | Avant Garde | Amputee | Bandage

Cast

Catherine E. Coulson	...	Woman with amputation to the legs
David Lynch	...	Unable and scared nurse

Runtime:

5 min | 9 min (original version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Movie Connections:

Edited into The Short Films of David Lynch (2002) (V)

An experiment, rather than an experimental film

While at the American Film Institute, David Lynch tested two different types of videotape stock by shooting this strange little piece, featuring Catherine Coulson as an amputee writing a letter, & Lynch as a nurse attending her. Coulson's voiceover details various domestic issues, & she remains oblivious to the fact that she might be bleeding to death while the nurse rushes around frantically, eventually, it seems, abandoning her.

It has been suggested that Lynch deliberately shot both versions badly, so that the Institute wouldn't start replacing film with videotape.

Regardless of whether or not this is true, The Amputee is better viewed as an example of Lynch's warped sense of humour than his skill as a filmmaker, & of what sort of ideas he might come up with for something as simple as a stock test.