Rabbits(film)

This article is about the 2002 series of short films. For the 1972 horror film, seeNight of the Lepus.For other uses, seeRabbit (disambiguation).

Rabbits
Screenshot illustrating the three rabbits in the single set.
Directed by	David Lynch
Written by	David Lynch
Starring	Scott Coffey Laura Harring Naomi Watts Rebekah Del Rio
Music by	Angelo Badalamenti
Release date	2002(2002)
Running time	50 minutes(web version) 43 minutes(DVD version)
Country	United States
Language	English

Rabbitsis a 2002 series of eightshorthorrorweb filmswritten and directed byDavid Lynch,although Lynch himself refers to it as asitcom.It depicts three humanoid rabbits played byScott Coffey,Laura Elena HarringandNaomi Wattsin a room.Their disjointed conversations are interrupted by alaugh track.Rabbitsis presented with the tagline "In a nameless city deluged by a continuous rain... three rabbits live with a fearful mystery".

Originally consisting of a series of eight short episodes shown exclusively on Lynch's website,Rabbitsis no longer available there. The films are now only available onDVDin the "Lime Green Set" collection of Lynch's films, in a re-edited four-episode version. The set also does not contain episode three. As of 2020, Lynch has been occasionally uploading the original episodes toYouTube.The setting and some footage of the rabbits were reused in Lynch'sInland Empire.

Description

Rabbitstakes place entirely within a singlebox setrepresenting theliving roomof a house. Within the set, threehumanoidrabbits enter, exit, and converse. One, Jack, is male and wears a smart suit. The other two, Suzie and Jane, are female, one of whom wears a dress, the other adressing gown.The audience watches from about the position of a television set. In each episode, the rabbits converse in apparentnon sequiturs.The lines evoke mystery, and include "Were you blonde?", "Something's wrong", "I wonder who I will be", "I only wish they would go somewhere", "It had something to do with the telling of time", and "no one must find out about this". The disordered but seemingly related lines the rabbits speak suggest that the dialogue could be pieced together into sensible conversations, but concrete interpretations are elusive.

Some of the rabbits' lines are punctuated by a seemingly random laugh track, as if being filmed before a live audience. In addition, whenever one of the rabbits enters the room, the unseen audience whoops and applauds at great length, much like in a sitcom. The rabbits themselves, however, remain serious throughout.

In some episodes, mysterious events take place, including the appearance of a burning hole in the wall and the intrusion of a strange, demonic voice coupled with sinister red lighting. Three episodes involve a solo performance by one rabbit, in which they recite strange poetry, as if performing a demonic ritual.

The rabbits receive a telephone call at one point, and later, at the climax of the series, a knock is heard at the door. When the door is opened, a loud scream is heard and the image is distorted. After the door closes, Jack says it was the man in the green coat. The last episode concludes with the rabbits huddled together on the couch and Jane saying "I wonder who I will be."

Production

Lynch filmedRabbitsin a set built in the garden of his house in theHollywood Hills.Filming took place at night in order to control the lighting. Lynch says that filming Watts, Harring and Coffey with the set lit up by enormous lights was "a beautiful thing". However, the process generated a lot of noise that echoed from the surrounding hills and annoyed Lynch's neighbors.The unique use of lighting to create shadows and set an uneasy atmosphere has been praised by critics.

As with most of Lynch's films, the score was composed byAngelo Badalamenti.

Reception

Rabbitsreceived positive reviews from viewers, who highly praised the sitcom for its lighting, sound design and scary atmosphere.

Possible influences

Dave Kehrnoted inThe New York Timesthat it wasAlain Resnaiswho first put giant rodent heads on his actors in his 1980 filmMon oncle d'Amérique,and the rabbits' dialogue is reminiscent of Resnais'Last Year at Marienbad.

The dialogue has been compared to the writing ofSamuel Beckett.

Use inInland Empire

Lynch used some of theRabbitsfootage as well as previously unseen footage featuring Rabbits characters in his filmInland Empire(2006). Lynch also used theRabbitsset to shoot several scenes involving human characters. In that film, excerpts fromRabbitsappear but the rabbits are associated with three mysterious Polish characters who live in a house in the woods.

DVD release

Most ofRabbitscan be found on the "Mystery DVD" in the 10-discThe Lime Green Setreleased by Absurda in 2008. This DVD features seven of the eight episodes, though several of the episodes have been edited together. "Episode 1" on the DVD contains "Episode 1", "Episode 2" and "Episode 4" from the website. "Episode 2" on the DVD contains "Episode 6" and "Episode 8" from the website. "Scott" and "Naomi" are the same as "Episode 5" and "Episode 7", respectively. "Episode 3" from the website does not appear on the disc. Presumably, this episode would have been retitled "Rebekah", as it features only one performer as with "Scott" and "Naomi". The DVD's running time is 43 minutes instead of 50 minutes like the original version. The other seven minutes consist of title and credit sequences for each individual episode that were edited out to allow it to flow as a film.

Use in psychological research

Rabbitswas used as a stimulus in a psychological experiment on the effects ofacetaminophenonexistential crisis.The research, in a paper entitled "The Common Pain of Surrealism and Death" suggested that acetaminophen acted to suppress the compensatory desire to affirm systems of meaning that viewingsurrealismhas been shown to produce.

External links

• RabbitsatIMDb
• David Lynch's Rabbits- random Rabbits episode generator in Flash