The Cowboy and the Frenchman, which is included among the lot of the director's short films (some from his days before Eraserhead and some he's done since Mulholland Drive), is so Lynchian if you've only seen one of his films- particularly Wild at Heart or Lost Highway- you could tell who made it. Though it doesn't make it any less strange, it also happens to be his funniest film, with the long takes long enough to capture the awkwardness of the cowboys with their 'captive' Frenchman, and an assortment of strung-together stereotypes. Anything clichéd about French people, or cowboys for that matter, is exploited to a very funny effect. In a way it's funny at times like a Jim Jarmusch film is, in pointing to the differences and lack of communication as something very human and interesting. It's not as 'artsy' as Eraserhead (though with a little nod to that film there are singing faces in the sky), and it takes its time to lead up to ridiculously no point. But it's shot in a very cool black and white film (or maybe video, who knows), some neat shots, and the added plus of the great character actor Harry Dean Stanton among the cast of nobody's (save for Lynch regular Jack Nance). If you can find it, likely among other Lynch shorts or online, it's worth a view. It's an absurd shot of American versus European versus Native American pathos, containing the most morbid though not-too-dreamlike moments of Lynch's films.
Review of The Cowboy and the Frenchman
