What I Learned From David Lynch's Movies?
What David Lynch Movies Taught Me?
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David Lynch |
Unlike other people who talk or write about films and shows, I'm not or never have been a movie buff per se. My attachment to films comes from the spectacle that a screen can be. I have very limited knowledge of films and the art and yet I dared innocently to take the chance and watch the whole filmography of David Lynch, the truest surrealist of our times.
I learned a few art & life lessons from his works which I found nowhere else in other shows or films and today I'm going to tell my readers how I came to appreciate this crazy guy.
I, by no means, am a Lynchian, I'm far away from it but these are just my thoughts and their objectivity is limited to me only.
How I Got Into Lynchian Stuff?
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From Mulholland Drive (2001) |
By 2015 I had finished watching most of the mainstream horror, mystery, and psychological horrors that we laymen generally know of. I was now getting into more of those niche and underrated classics stuff and Mulholland Drive kept coming on many lists so I gave it a try.
The movie started out as a neo-noir sort of film but as the movie moved forward it felt more and more bizarre. As the credits rolled I was left very confused and had lots of unanswered questions because I failed to grasp the meaning of the visual cues. Whatever I watched, it was something new, exciting, absurd, bizarre, and for that who cares if you understand it or not. The basic plot is easily understandable if you've watched enough psy-thrillers. Anyways, from then on, I've watched most of what David Lynch has produced except for simple movies like Dune. His stories are not horror stories but some of the most terror-inducing scenes I have watched are by David Lynch. Creepy stuff in a soap opera, damn!
1. The Impermanence of Physical Beauty
David Lynch's characters have a few quirks. They can be a genius, pure-hearted, goofy, or insanely evil characters. Most of them are plain simple beautiful, some of them are confused and beautiful while some are just creepy and beautiful. You see, his cast always has the most beautiful or sexiest people, may it be men or women.
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Kyle is LOVE! |
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These three, plus Laura, Annie, Lucy, Norma, everyone was a babe on Twin Peaks. |
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They all had their own charm. |
The Body is a vessel, it decays, what remains is the art that was crafted, performed, and presented to the audience by that vessel which carried the mind. Whatever was captured on the reel was, is, and will remain beautiful, perfect, and eternal. This was the lesson I learned when I saw the first episode of Twin Peaks Season 3.
When Season 3 came, out a very considerable amount of audience was not happy because the cast it loved in 1990 had become very old and 'unattractive' in 2017. Twin Peaks became hit in the 90s because it had the most beautiful people working in it and in 2017 people did not find watching the same beautiful but old people entertaining on-screen. But then Season 3 became the best season yet and while these actors are still attractive, it was their art that really struck the chord with its audience in the 90s and in the present time.
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Young Sherilyn Fenn's dance was sensational. In old age, the same dance became graceful. We all see the seductress first when we see a woman. |
When you look at the cast in their prime, at their peak you'll only notice their beauty. But when you look at those same people in their old age, you'll start to really appreciate their charm rather than their sexual appeal.
2. 'Damsel in Distress' Is Not Always Misogynistic
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From Twin Peaks |
There are a few (if not many) issues with the portrayal of women in Lynch's work from Eraserhead to Twin Peaks The Return. His stories mostly revolve around single/ multiple mean women robbing men, sort of femme fatale characters. The women are cheating their husbands, are ready to spread their legs, and are always portrayed as an object to have sex with. His works always have sex scenes where women go nude on camera. His actresses are always sexually exploited, are subjected to domestic abuse and violence on screen. His female characters are very shallow and are there just to please the male gaze. This is very true. And here's an article which excellently touches it critically.
But that is not what his stories are all about. David Lynch has said multiple times that he loves writing stories where 'women are in trouble'. Now you can either call him a maniac for that or really watch his stories and see how much heart is actually put into some female characters when needed.
He can write a hot seductress, he can write a funny and quirky wife, he can write a female who was subjected to incest since her childhood which made her a sex and drug addict and the same man can write a lady who talks with a log and her death made people cry. He is fascinated by women, their powers of beauty, and seduction maybe that's why he tries to show them in that particular light.
His stories will not be what they are now if it weren't for that ' Damsel in Distress' plot points. For gritty stories misogyny is essential. And that brings me to the next important thing
3. Sex Can Be Unsettling
I have always been uninterested in movie sex scenes or nudity. I have already written an article in the past where I have talked about when and why sex/nudity works or does not work in movies. Sex scenes are enjoyable if they have a reason or meaning behind their inclusion in the stories.
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Yes, they did it and I wasn't very comfortable while watching it. |
Now, David Lynch casts very attractive people in his works and lets his characters have sex. But none of his sex scenes ever felt enjoyable to me. They never felt like a fan service rather they were very scary and unsettling. Sometimes they even feel disgusting or straight up macabre. His females are most of the time are active partners in sex while the males are used as objects. His depiction of sex always feels like the rape of men and sometimes women. I may feel this disgust or fear due to being a man, don't know how females feel about these scenes.
Just imagine Laura Dern and Kyle MacLachlan, Naomi Watts- Laura Harring or Patricia Arquette having a sexy time on screen, elegantly getting naked and showing their heavenly made bodies. Who won't enjoy it, right? Actually, I won't if it is directed by Lynch.
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It felt like Satan was raping Kyle. |
There is this unexplainable shadow of gloom, of bizarre that is present in all his sex scenes. The sound he throws in with these scenes makes them more bizarre, unsettling, and at times scary. It is not limited to one or two instances but in all of his works. It always means something plot-wise whenever his characters are going for it.
He always sees sex as an opportunity to convey his own abstract ideas in the form of bodies and I really never understood what he's trying to say through that.
4. Surrealism In Modern Filmmaking
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You say this image is weird? Wait till you watch his movies. |
I had no idea what surrealism in movies was and I wouldn't have known if it weren't for Lynch. Surrealism was an artistic movement that originated in France as a rebellious form of art which later turned into art for the sake of art. Surrealism is a juxtaposition of objects, mostly biological and non-biological which we don't see in real life. Surrealism in simple words is an art through which artists can illustrate the absurd, the dreams on papers or on screens.
When Eraserhead, David Lynch's first movie, came out in 1977, it was a box office disaster and failed to impress film critics as well as the audience. Later, it became one of the best surrealist movies of all time and in the 2000s gained a massive following for its brilliance.
Most of David Lynch's works are surrealist projects and he has twisted the whole idea of surrealism into his own style where he keeps the storytelling structure simple but introduces bonkers stuff into the mundane things. This cinematographic style is known as 'Lynchian' worldwide. All the movies that are produced with a surrealist vision are inspired by at least one of his works.
In his works, everything seems weird, out of place, unfathomable yet very real. He actually turns your weirdest dream into a movie and you feel very connected to all the insanity in his films. The characters in his stories don't feel indifferent to the surreal, and so do you. I don't want to spoil anything and you have to experience his craft as it is so don't even watch the trailers.
If you haven't watched Eraserhead, please go and watch it asap.
Movies never should be boring or generic. They should always subvert our expectations, they should always do the unthinkable that's what entertainment is, making dreams possible, and producing a surrealist cinema is the peak of it.
5. Absurd Is Spectacle
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No, he's not a saxophone player in the movie. |
I don't know why or how people fail to understand Nolan's films when every little logic and detail is spoonfed to the viewer in the first halves of his films. Many 'confusing' movies are plain simple if they follow their rules and we, the viewers pay attention to them. If you don't understand a film then you never paid attention to it. At least that's what I believed in until I watched Lost Highway.
In David Lynch's or any surrealist film's case this rule doesn't work. In a surrealist film, a simple basic plot is still there which is then layered with the absurd. In my early viewings of Lynchian films, I felt very very very stupid for not understanding anything beyond this basic plot. I kept thinking relentlessly over all the details that were placed within the craft but they never made any sense logically. Over the years I have finally learned that all those things were first and foremost a spectacle. That's what surrealism is all about.
This idea became more and more deeprooted in my mind as I watched Twin Peaks. I loved watching the show, it had everything entertaining but it also was bizarre, goofy, and dramatic equally. On odd days I took the show seriously, on even just a spectacle. There was this one episode in Twin Peaks which showed this sort of explosion, molecules traveling, bonding, something giving birth to something. All of this made very little sense but I thoroughly enjoyed this 40-minute spectacle. It was one of the best things I watched that year.
This appreciation of absurd or the acceptance of lack of meaning came to me by watching David Lynch's films. Because of this, I was able to enjoy 'The Lighthouse' or 'Annihilation' more than I could.
I still don't understand many of surreal films, Annihilation felt very pretentious plotwise. Surrealism does not mean showing weird or meaningless stuff just for the sake of it. The plot which they are layered upon is still an important aspect and David Lynch is the master of this craft.
From Which Film Can You Begin Watching David Lynch?
I think Eraserhead is the most accessible film for someone who is in his 20s. It conveys the emotional turmoil and the burden of responsibility of a young man terrifically. You may or may not understand the film but you will appreciate the aesthetics of it. He made it with a very limited budget and there is some spoilery stuff which was way ahead of its time. Then watch The Elephant Man, it has Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt. The budget was good and Lynch actually got enough resources to convey his ideas more effectively.
The next movie you can watch is Mulholland Drive. It's about a young woman who wants to try her luck in Hollywood, finds a beautiful woman in her apartment, gets infatuated with her and spoiler spoiler spoiler.
After that go for either Blue Velvet or Lost Highway. Both are pretty intense films.
Or you can use the pandemic and watch the Twin Peaks show instead of any of his films. That will tell you everything about his Lynchian art.
So go enjoy his films, be in awe or feel stupid for not understanding anything and Have fun!
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