Director David Lynch died on Jan. 15 at the age of 78. Lynch, a smoker since the age of eight, died from complications of emphysema – a condition he was diagnosed with in 2020.
Lynch was best known for his surrealist style of filmmaking, seen most notably in movies such as “Eraserhead,” “Blue Velvet” and “The Elephant Man.” While he now has the label of an auteur — a filmmaker with a very distinctive style in each movie — Lynch didn’t always plan to be a director.
Originally, Lynch planned to be a painter and attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Though Lynch eventually moved to Los Angeles and switched his focus primarily to filmmaking, he never actually stopped painting and trying different forms of art.
According to Pace Gallery, Lynch experimented with different mediums such as photography, printmaking and sculptures. Much like his movies, Lynch’s art was usually abstract, often inspired by surrealism and art brut. In an interview with Border Crossings, Lynch said, “All I wanted was to be a painter… it led quite quickly to this thing of dedicating my life to painting and the art life, it was the most freeing thing.”
According to BBC, Lynch’s switch from painting to filmmaking occurred while he was in the middle of painting and a breeze of wind blew across his canvas. Essentially, he wanted to be able to make his artwork move and decided filmmaking was the right medium to express ideas that painting alone could not. “David Lynch is a genius with a style like no one else, like it or hate it,” Brookhaven film professor Darise Error said. “He’s very unique and has a penchant for weird and different storylines.”
Lynch released his first full feature film, “Eraserhead,” in 1977, which is often interpreted to be about the anxieties of fatherhood.
Initially, Lynch wanted to create a surrealist film called “Gardenback,” based off a painting of his. However, he received pushback from his advisers at the American Film Institute and couldn’t rewrite the script in a way he liked. Eventually, Lynch took a 21-page script he had of “Eraserhead” and decided he would simply turn that into a movie instead. The film took about five years to create, primarily due to struggles securing funding, which ended up performing poorly in the box office upon its release.
“Eraserhead” received plenty of negative reviews, with critics finding the surrealism of the film to be disturbing and odd overall. However, by finding the right following through midnight screenings, “Eraserhead” has since become one of the most popular cult classics. In an interview with filmmaker Chris Rodley, editor of the book “Lynch on Lynch,” Lynch mentioned that he had to rewatch the film a few years after it was finished, and after rewatching it, he described the film as “perfect.” “That’s the only time I’ve ever said that about anything I’ve done. I was just really happy with it on that one day.”
In addition to his legacy of surreal and sinister movies, David Lynch, along with Mark Frost, co-created mystery TV show “Twin Peaks,” in which FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) investigates the murder of teenager Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). The show, airing its first episode in 1990, stood out against others of its time due to Lynch’s signature bizarre and dreamlike style, eccentric characters and complex storylines. The show was an immediate hit in the ’90s and, according to The Guardian, had about 35 million viewers tuning in for the pilot episode alone. The use of the signature Lynchian movie style in a television series ultimately paved the way for more unique and “weird” shows to be picked up for air later on. The show’s cult following has remained strong throughout the years, even resulting in a 2017 reboot season called “Twin Peaks: The Return.”
Lynch’s reputation of making abstract films with unsettling imagery open to interpretation is what wound up earning him the title of an auteur. His impact on the film and television industry can be seen in other directors such as Quentin Tarantino, David Chase and Carlton Cuse. “I think he helped give us a tolerance for weird things,” Error said. “He took funky and made it cool and something you wanted to talk about, which allowed other filmmakers to begin to tell more complex and interesting kinds of stories too.”
While Lynch ultimately had to take a step back from filmmaking due to his emphysema, he also expressed frustration over the current state of Hollywood. Error said Lynch was upset that the industry seemed to be taking priority over using big special effects and reusing ideas to create prequels and sequels in substitution to actual plot.
In an Instagram post, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said that Lynch pitched a series to the company, but they decided to postpone production due to “health uncertainties.” Lynch’s final project ended up being an album titled “Cellophane Memories” released Aug. 2, 2024 with musician and “Twin Peaks: The Return” actress Chrystabell. “[David Lynch is a] huge loss,” Error said. “The fact that he kind of backed off of filmmaking for a while… makes me kind of sad, but I sure am glad that we have the body of work that we do – he grew the industry.”
