Comment by sk11001
2 days ago
I have never seen a single one of his movies but I love watching interviews with him, he had an amazing presence and so much energy.
2 days ago
I have never seen a single one of his movies but I love watching interviews with him, he had an amazing presence and so much energy.
I'm also ashamed to say I've also never seen any of his movies and TV series but this still hits hard because of his influence on some my most cherished fictional properties. These are Alan Wake/Control, Silent Hill 1&2, Returnal and Disco Elysium.
Actually, his influence on how surrealist fiction is presented throughout all media cannot be understated. I was surprised to read even the original Zelda has him as an influence. Majora's Mask does feel particularly Lynchian.
It would not surprise me if the Souls games and at least the later Berserks (late 90s/early 2000s forward) were either directly or 1-step indirectly influenced by Lynch.
I think it was less the original Zelda than it was Link's Awakening that had the Lynch influence, specifically influence by Twin Peaks
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/12/feature_how_david_...
There's no possibility Lynch inspired the original Zelda.
The original Zelda was released way before Lynch's Twin Peaks, which was a hit in Japan, was even in production. The look of the protagonist of Zelda was inspired by Disney's Peter Pan. The pig villain was inspired by a pig man in Journey to the West.
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An (un)obvious connection between Eraserhead and Bloodborne (spoiler!):
https://www.reddit.com/r/bloodborne/comments/xgu21c/eraserhe...
I'm gonna say start with Blue Velvet. It still has the backbone of a classical noir, but it is completely run through with the character of his work. Mulholland Drive reflects the apex of his vision and talents, but there's a learning curve to appreciating it.
Elephant Man is perhaps the most approachable. Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt are at the apex of their acting careers in this film.
After that Mullholland Drive is absolutely brilliant and has that unforgettable masterpiece diner scene: https://youtu.be/UozhOo0Dt4o?si=GedzAdMh0KIXoHz4
Okay. not knowing anything about this film, not ever hearing or seeing it, I just clicked on that diner scene and holy f*ck, that was terrifying. and thank you :)
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On the other end, save Inland Empire for after you've seen a lot of his filmography and are in the mood for a challenge.
I wouldn't call it his best work, but it is Lynch at his most singular and uncompromising.
I would put Twin Peaks: The Return up there too. Beneath the trademark surrealism and whimsy there’s an intense, bittersweet profoundness.
It was the last thing he made for TV/cinema and for me feels like the culmination of everything he did before it.
> Lynch at his most singular and uncompromising
More so than "Eraserhead"?
The Sekiro of Lynch movies. I was defeated by the first dance routine.
Other than the 1980's Dune movie he directed, I think it was either Lost Highway or Mulholland Drive that made me want to know more about David Lynch.
I had to watch Mulholland Drive at least 5 times to get a sense of what it's even about, and I think I must have been the audience for which he made that film, if it wasn't indeed just art to make himself happy (which is the BEST kind).
Anyway, it kind of endears another person to you when you connect with their work. So this one hit kind of hard.
I lost a fellow weirdo, and he'll be missed!
Wild at heart. Very approachable, but gory and brutal. The angst seep trough
Mulholland Drive was my first Lynch movie and led me to watch pretty much everything else he released. I'd still start with Mulholland Drive if I started over again I think.
The lipstick scene. There should be an emoji for that.
Nooooo, not Blue Velvet. That's on my "never watch again" list, because the people in it are so creepy I wanted to just go buy a million guns afterwards.
I feel the same. If Blue Velvet was the first Lynch movie I saw, I surely wouldn't have bothered with the rest, and I would have missed out on what I now consider one of my absolute favorites (Mulholland Drive). Same goes for Eraserhead and Wild at Heart.
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Literally just watched it today and it's definitely in my 10 least favorite movies I've ever watched. Wish I had seen your comment.
But it's also so beautiful; Laura Dern's character is so touching and Kyle McLachlan playing the naif in a world of evil is so moving.
And when they dance together at the end with "Mysteries of Love" playing - wow.
I'd personally say try Mulholland Drive first.
oh boy. I'd understand if you said to try Mullholland Drive first, second, and third and then go from there.
Yes this may be my favorite of his films, and I love pretty much everything he's done
I'd say twin peaks season 1 and first half of season 2 are Lynch's most accessible work
Yes. Definitely his best.
Start with "Eraserhead" and then go from there. Surreal is the word I associate with his movies and tv show (Twin Peaks) and I absolutely love watching such movies!
Eraserhead is borderline unwatchable. I love David Lynch, sort of, but without telling people that they're about to sit down and watch an hour-and-a-half of what is effectively an unwatchable piece of avant-garde cinema, then they're not going to be able to appreciate it.
There is nothing worse than getting excited to see a famous director's debut film, thinking you're going to have a good time, and then getting Eraserhead.
If someone is not into art films, to not start with Twin Peaks is absolutely insane to me.
First two seasons of Twin Peaks are his masterpiece IMO and his most watchable.
Those are some of the best characters of any film/tv show ever.
From there I would go to Lost Highway next for a stronger dose of the more out there stuff.
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Eraserhead is highly watchable, but the first time you see it, it's best to just experience it without trying to process it too much. The nuance comes through on repeat viewings.
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I rented Eraserhead and watched with some friends in college. I loved it, and so did the other Lynch fan. The other two, well, the first words spoken over the credits were “What the actual fuck was that?” Let’s just say it’s a divisive film.
> Surreal is the word I associate with his movies and tv show
And his style of surrealism has been so influential that it has its own term: Lynchian!
The "sausages" skit [1] by kids in the hall I'm pretty sure is massively inspired by eraserhead.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ChvxsVgT8c
Dune or Twin Peaks are probably going to be more accessible than anything else.
For Eraserhead, I understand the metaphor of how parenting can be larger-than-life and terrifying and I see how Eraserhead was trying to embody that but I very much didn't appreciate the highly pessimistic ending. It's an early movie that would have benefited immensely from an alternate ending on its DVD.
I think there's a lot more to Eraserhead than that! I also don't really see the ending as pessimistic personally.
Lynch: "Believe it or not, Eraserhead is my most spiritual film."
Lean: "Elaborate on that?"
Lynch: "No, I wont. No one sees it."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjoMEw2RYlA
The Straight Story is almost certainly his most accessible film, while also very focused on themes that he cares about.
It isn't the elusive puzzle that many cinephiles value in his work, but it is clearly a Lynch film, even if it's not a stereotypical one.
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His most mainstream work is The Elephant Man, commissioned by Mel Brooks.
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The beauty of Lynch films is that everyone can interpret it in their own way!
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Season 3 Twin Peaks is peak "I don't know what am I looking at".
When it first came out I was so desperate to see it I watched the first episode twice without realising.
I spent the whole time trying to work out what was different between the "two".
I mean, it’s exactly the sort of thing he would do and I still loved it.
Magic!
It's at least a third watching one of Kyle MacLachlan's characters walking around with brain damage.
I liked the season after a rewatch but the Dougie stuff is still tedious.
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Whether you've seen his movies or not, this 35 second video clip is David Lynch gold ("David Lynch on product placement"):
https://youtu.be/F4wh_mc8hRE?si=SJwtz31ZEWuW9rk7
(Has swearing off that matters for your use!) Rest in peace.
Can recommend the documentary "David Lynch, The Art Life". For now appears to be here:
https://youtu.be/a6slh83RhfA
(Sorry — it appears to be 360p, not very hi-res. Other higher res versions can be found but with subtitles or dubbed in... maybe Farsi?)
Definitely worth checking out his movies at some point, but his interviews alone leave a lasting impression indeed. He could captivate audiences just by being himself (in a way)
Surprised nobody has mentioned Lost Highway - to me it is the perfect film.
Gentle intro: Rabbits, on youtube.
Also on YouTube: "David Lynch Cooks Quinoa". It's a short film that is both nothing like his films/TV and everything like his films/TV. It's that "cooking podcast" or "recipe blog" that's a meandering journey through life and maybe has some bon mots about living, but also includes a recipe because it does. Like watching a beloved elderly relative do something normal in the kitchen, but also moody and in black and white.
I loved that short film. I showed it to my wife and she said "That's 20 minutes of my life I'm never getting back."
How does it compare to the salad preparation scene in Eraserhead?
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If you only watch one, I think Fire Walk With Me is the most representative. If you like it, there's a lot more to explore. If not, then maybe Lynch isn't your thing.
Look, I love FWWM, but that's a brutal way to start. Firstly, it works a lot better if you know TP. Secondly... it's a brutal film. I've seen it a bunch of times and still find some of it hard to watch.
I think that "fire walk with me" poem is so clunky I've refused to watch anything he's ever made.
Great movie, but I'm not sure I would've enjoyed it as much if I hadn't already watched Twin Peaks.