A Few Words on David Lynch (1946-2025)
Something important happened just two weeks ago. Something that changed cinema just that little bit more for the worst.
Director David Lynch died at the age of 78.
From the very beginning, Lynchās
output was something special and more than just a little unique ā and God knows
thatās something that we just canāt afford to lose in todayās cinema, clogged
up as it is with unwanted and unasked-for remakes and endless superhero
dreck.
I first became aware of Lynch in
1990 with the arrival of the first season of Twin Peaks, his
groundbreaking television series which was a ratings winner in many countries.
Indeed it was a source of much topic of conversation between myself and my
friends in that first year of college. So this was the first time I noticed
Lynch as a director.
Although, thatās not quite true.
No. If Iām truthful, the very
first time I was aware of Lynchās work was some time in the mid-80s, when Lynchās,
The Elephant Man, was shown on late night television. It was the
directorās second feature (although his first for a studio), and it is one of
those films I remember vivid when growing up because it always affected me
deeply. I remember it didnāt really affect my brother in the same way (heās 3
years old than me), as I recall he was fascinated with it, and always looked
forward to it when it was shown. The film upset me, though. It didnāt make me cry,
it just filled me with a deep melancholy, which I found difficult to shake for
a good many days. I own the film now in a beautiful 4K release, and it still
fills me with melancholy whenever I watch it, but Iām now able to appreciate the
beauty and construction of the piece too.
After the first season of Twin
Peaks had aired, one of my friends (also a film lover) went to a small
arthouse cinema in the city to watch a screening of Lynchās 1986 motion picture
Blue Velvet. For a while, my friend and I became a little obsessed with
it ā finding it both fascinatingly beautiful and shockingly brutal. It gave me
a greater appreciation of Lynchās cinema work, and introduced me to his films
beyond that of The Elephant Man.
No wait. Again, thatās not quite
the truth.
Some time in the late 1980s, before
Twin Peaks arrived on TV in the UK, I became a huge fan of his adaptation
of Frank Herbertās SF classic Dune.*1 I had the film recorded on a VHS tape for a few
years, and watched it often*2 Eventually
upgrading to the 2-disc DVD, then finally the beautiful 4K release from Arrow
Video.
I will confess, here and now, that
it took me a little while to fully appreciate the brilliance that is Eraserhead
(his first full length feature). The same friend I went to the
arthouse cinema with to see Blue Velvet had a copy of Eraserhead on
VHS, and we watched it some time in the early 1990s. He loved it, but I was
unconvinced. Itās not that I hated it, it just took a little time to grow on
me. OK, so flash forward 25 years, and my wife buys it for me on Criterion
Collection blu-ray as a birthday present. After 25 years and umpteen viewings, I
finally understand it beauty and brilliance, and it is now one of my favourite
of Lynchās movies.
I'm not the type of person who joins in with this practice of the current 2020s culture of using ridiculously overblown words, or being overly sentimental about something that is essentially trivial and unimportant. I hardly ever use the word 'Masterpiece'. Very few films are masterpieces*3, despite how many times that word is thrown about these days. I never, ever, refer to my friends as 'Legends'. For me a holiday is just a holiday not an 'Adventure'. And I meet up with friends and family for a chat, I'm not 'Making Memories'.
But I will say this...
As a director, Lynch is irreplaceable. Yes, his films are often too quirky and unfathomable to be considered true masterpieces, but a few of them came awfully close. Lynch only made 11 feature length films*4
throughout his 48 year career, but all
of them made an impact, one way or another. All of them were important and original and beautiful and brutal and honest and had something to say worth listening to. And who can say that about most of the films nowadays?
I urge you to go and have yourself
a David Lynch season as a tribute to this unique and irreplaceable master of
modern cinema. you owe it to yourself to watch something decent for a change. It doesnāt matter which one of his films you choose, each one is a vital
and important piece of cinema history. I'm just sorry we've now been robbed of the opportunity of having more.
NOTES:
1 ā Yep, you heard it correctly ā
Iām a huge fan of David Lynchās Dune. Remember hearing that there was
someone out there that loved that film? Well, itās me. Iāve always considered
it a flawed masterpiece.
2 ā Substitute āWatched it oftenā
for āPlayed it to deathā.
3 ā There are a few films I consider to be masterpieces. I'll write a blog entry about them very soon.
4 - If you count Northwest
Passage, the pilot episode of Twin Peaks. Which I do. That opening
94 minute television movie is as breathtaking and as important as anything he
produced for the cinema. If you donāt believe me, go back and watch that first
episode. Not the European Cinema cut, thatās not as good, Iām talking about the
original TV broadcast cut. It is no exaggeration to say that those 94 minutes are
greatly responsible for changing the face of television, both in the US and
worldwide, for good. Yes, he also directed the 90 minute-long Episode 1 of Season 2, but that's arguably just a double length TV episode and not in the same class as Northwest Passage.
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