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Some fairy godmother at the Siskel must be granting wishes lately. Not only did they bring Helvetica to town and decide to mount an Antonioni series (including the radically awesome, hard-to-see Zabriskie Point) but now we've learned that next week they're launching "Lost Highways & Wild Hearts: The Films of David Lynch." Wild at heart and weird on top; or, as Gordon Cole might exclaim, "This is like some sort of miracle. A ...a phenomenon."
Few contemporary filmmakers are as challenging, as hard to predict, or as deeply strange as David Lynch. There is no such thing as a dull Lynch movie; even the mess that is Dune couldn't be described that way. In his work there is beauty, terror, humor, and enlightenment. Have you ever just gone to see a movie that you knew nothing about beforehand? Lynch is a filmmaker that we trust in that way.
The Siskel's retrospective regrettably omits the early short films as well as his stunning debut Eraserhead. But Lynch himself restored these pieces recently for DVD (joking that Eraserhead is now "the cleanest film in the world") so that will have to do. Instead we begin with The Elephant Man. Executive producer Mel Brooks hand-picked Lynch to helm this dark, genuinely touching story about a Victorian-era circus freak who finds compassion for the first time in his life. The movie possesses some of the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous black & white cinematography in the history of film (courtesy of Freddie Francis), which should be stunning on the Siskel's big screen. And if you aren't in tears by the last reel, check your pulse.
Naturally this triumph was followed by a disaster: Dune. In one of the great cinema what-ifs, we wonder how things might have turned out if Lynch had said yes to George Lucas instead. Sigh. But then (and this is what we mean when we talk about Lynch's unpredictability) he came back with what has been called "one of the seminal films of the 80's": Blue Velvet. Even after a dozen viewings it's fascinating, often frightening and then hilarious from moment to moment. But it's a template that Lynch has only continued to stretch with works like last year's INLAND EMPIRE and (our favorite Lynch movie) Lost Highway.
We don't have enough room here to blather on about all of Lynch's movies (not to mention "Twin Peaks") but trust us when we tell you that seeing them on a big screen in a darkened theater is one of the keenest pleasures you can imagine. Whether you already know them by heart or have never seen them (how we envy you), make a beeline over to the Siskel starting July 7 through August 1.
portrait via David Lynch Foundation
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"There is no such thing as a dull Lynch movie"
false: The Straight Story.
david lynch is brilliant not because he makes brilliant movies, but because he is playing a huge joke on EVERYONE. his movies don't mean anything. if you find meaning in them, it was an accident. the film center is, wisely, not showing the documentary about lynch, "pretty as a picture," probably because after you watch it you HATE david lynch.
Evelyn: I'm afraid that I couldn't disagree with you more. I think the problem people have is they try to understand his stuff intellectually, but the only way you can really "understand" a Lynch movie is by using intuitions and emotion. Same as with surrealism. It's like trying to "understand" what a slice of apple pie "means." I dunno, it just tastes good.
i will buy the "pie" analogy, but david lynch is making mincemeat-cicada pie. he's not making it because he likes it, he's not making it because other people like it. maybe some people will happen to like mincemeat-cicada pie. to them david lynch would say "that's cool. i was just making it because i head a dream about mincemeat-cicada pie so i decided to make it."*
i'm not trying to talk people out of liking david lynch films. there's no point. you support me here: if you like it, you like it. if you don't, well, there's no reason to, because he's not saying anything.
*which is exactly why and how he made his short film, "the alphabet."
Who said movies have to be about meaning?! I have argued before that a traditional film lulls us with stories, gives us characters and situations that unfold for our psychological benefit and entertainment. However, a film doesn't have to do that. When it doesn't, it causes a lot of discomfort because then the viewer has to try to organize its images, sounds, and word to ocme back into psychological equilibrium. Lynch's works take people places at times, but often makes them finish the voyage on their own. The Straight Story semmed to be his attempt to see if he could make a traditional narrative. He could. Time to move on to the next thing.
Lynch's work operates in ways closer to visual art than to traditional narrative cinema. His movies most certainly have a meaning, but their meaning and power come from his ability to transmit his personal vision and his unparalleled mastery of creating moods through imagery and sound. Don't be distracted by the resonances with other narrative films which show up in his work, story is quasi-archetypal for Lynch. I agree with Rob: appreciating Lynch is not about 'getting' it; rather, it is about something deeper, simpler, and I enjoy that particular ride.