Revisiting David Lynch's Legendary Film Career
A white picket fence swarming with ants. Diner counters and a damn fine cup of coffee. Think of modern American cinema, and undoubtedly those images from David Lynch's dreamlike filmmaking will come to mind. The acclaimed director of Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive examined the American dream through a critical and surrealist lens beginning in the 1970s.
Lynch died on January 16 at 78 years old. He had been suffering from emphysema, which he admitted was caused by his decades of cigarette smoking. The legacy of his art extends far beyond the success of his films. Lynch was also known to be a sensitive soul, who believed in the power of transcendental meditation and the empowering people to express their creativity.
Although Lynch enjoyed successful endeavors in painting and making music—notably his album, Crazy Clown Time, a fusion of jazz, electronic and discordant soundscapes—his films are his most powerful artistic accomplishments. Lynch dissected themes of corruption, struggles with the subconscious and conscious self, and violence as it plays out in modern society.
No matter the disturbing images that his films may have been known for, beneath them was always a flaming belief in love—and hope for humanity. "I told them to fix their hearts or die," Lynch once said in his widely beloved series, Twin Peaks: The Return, to anyone who ridiculed the trans character he was speaking to. As we look over his life and legacy, we can dive into the riddles he left behind for us in his deeply rich filmography.—Sirena He
10. Dune
Before Timothée Chalamet, Kyle MacLachlan first teamed up with Lynch in this adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic sci-fi novel—a complicated film that flopped at the box office and reportedly suffered from overbearing producers who attempted to rein in Lynch's artistic control.
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8. The Straight Story
Perhaps Lynch's most surprising film is a G-rated feature produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Richard Farnsworth earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Alvin Straight, a man who drives a lawnmower across Iowa and Wisconsin at five miles per hour in order to visit his estranged brother.
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7. Lost Highway
A musician lives a comfortable life with a loving wife—but their world is shaken when they receive a videotape on their front door depicting voyeuristic footage filmed inside their home. When he's wrongfully accused of murdering his wife, the man is sent to death row—where he morphs into a completely different man and encounters his dead wife's doppelgänger.
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6. Inland Empire
Laura Dern returns for her third collaboration with Lynch as an actress preparing for a major starring role. But her involvement in a supposedly cursed film takes a scary turn as her own life begins to mirror the doomed plot of the film she's shooting—and her own persona begins to intersect with the character she's playing.
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5. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Following the cancellation of Twin Peaks after two seasons, Lynch's misunderstood prequel film puts a focus on the woman at the center of the show's central mystery. This look at Laura Palmer's final days is a horrific and brutal film that gives insight into Laura's downward spiral—and offers a chance for her to finally express her own dreams and fears.
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4. The Elephant Man
Lynch earned his first two Oscar nominations (for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay) for this biopic of the legendary Joseph Merrick, whose severe deformities earned him billing on the freak show circuit in the 19th century. John Hurt played the titular role in the film, which is one of Lynch's rare straightforward, linear narratives.
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3. Eraserhead
For his debut feature, Lynch dives deep into a surrealist style that would become his calling card. Jack Nance plays a man living in a desolate industrial wasteland who is just like any other guy: he has a thing for his attractive neighbor, finds out her deformed baby is somehow his child, is haunted by a woman living in his radiator, and must maintain a semblance of sanity while living in a malevolent nightmare world.
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2. Blue Velvet
Blue Velvet marks Lynch's first foray into a theme that would pop up throughout his filmography (and his TV work): the dark underbelly hiding below the surface of old-fashioned American tradition. Kyle MacLachlan's handsome all-American boy realizes he's in too deep when his amateur sleuthing uncovers a violent underworld. It also features Isabella Rossellini at her most captivating—and Dennis Hopper at his most unsettling.
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1. Mulholland Dr.
Lynch's best film started out as a TV pilot, which was unsurprisingly rejected by network execs. Undeterred, he turned it into his masterpiece—a dizzyingly reflection of Hollywood, obsession, and phantasmagoria. And it turned audiences' attention to the relatively then-unknown Naomi Watts, who delivers a masterclass in acting as a woman split between dream and reality. It's one of the most confounding, terrifying, and thought-provoking films of all time.
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