Blink: The Material Real in Cache, Mulholland Dr. And Doctor Who (Critical Essay‪)‬

At least since the phenomenal success of Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense (Buena Vista, 1999), "trick" films have enjoyed an unusual popularity and visibility. (1) And although the techniques vary, the key to such films lies in a final revelation that "changes everything"--the rational psychologist who helps a little boy overcome his fear of ghosts turns out to be a ghost himself, for example. What unites these films is a generic allegiance to anamorphosis, a sudden shift in perspective casts the film in a totally new and unexpected light. The standard example of anamorphosis in painting, Hans Holbein's 1533 "The Ambassadors," depicts two richly dressed gentlemen surrounded by a variety of objects that indicate their wealth, intellect and prestige. But at the bottom center of the painting there appears a white and grey smear, something that seems strangely nonrepresentational. If, however, the viewer stands in the right place looking at the proper angle, the smear reveals itself as a skull, faithfully and accurately rendered--but only from this unexpected vantage point. It is a form of visual irony, the gap between what you believed you were seeing and what you are actually seeing, and it carries an obvious lesson about the vanity of worldly accomplishments and luxuries.