To mark the release of his latest opus INLAND EMPIRE on DVD this week (watch out for the review soon!), I thought it was high time I gave a few words about my appreciation of this visionary director.
Possibly best known for the acclaimed TV series Twin Peaks, this long standing director first found critical acclaim with the classic The Elephant Man … still one of the most difficult to watch films I have ever seen. Yet Lynch’s work is often difficult … not because its unpleasant or horrific (even though many a time he can touch on both) but because he has the ability to tap into that part of our psyche that we all wish we could avoid – nightmares and the strangeness of those dreams that don’t make any sense – or at worst freak you out.
Very much an artist of the medium, Lynch is also a painter and furniture designer and has been heralded by critics as a modern day genius. How else do you explain his body of work, which can feature some of the most haunting and powerful imagery & sound your senses have ever been (mis)treated to. At his best, he can wrap a conventional drama around dream-like imagery and atmosphere, bring out career defining performances from the likes of Laura Dern, Dennis Hopper, Nicholas Cage and Naomi Watts, whilst also probably presenting us with a side to the actors we have never seen before. His films don’t easily fit any particular genre though, and are sometimes mixtures of thriller, comedy, drama and horror…and I find his brand of nightmarish wierdness some of the scariest stuff I’ve ever been witness to. He’d be the best horror director on the planet, if Lynch could be labelled so simply. He uses unsettling sound effects, music that really shouldn’t fit the scene in question (but to startling effect), and moments of style and creative editing that leave their mark – long after the credits have rolled.
So to watch a David Lynch film is to have an ‘experience’ completely unlike anything in cinema today. He stands alone as one of the boldest, strangest but most fascinating directors around. Just don’t try to figure out what it all means, for fear of a splitting headache.
Recommended viewing:
Twin Peaks (series 1 & 2)
Blue Velvet
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Lost Highway
Mulholland Drive
Further reading:
Craig's Movie Report 