Lynch had the ability to see the real darkness beneath the thin veneer of normality presented by small town American life. I still mow the lawn and try not to see the ear laying in the grass.
DL was one hell of a talent. I was a big fan as early as Eraserhead. He helped influence and inspire me on my early years in the industry. Twin Peaks was a must-watch - nothing else compared to it at the time and for quite a while after! A unique talent. Your piece does him proud. M
Much resonated with me in this, although I don't know the (television series?) called Twin Peaks (I have heard of it somewhere). The forest's dwellers by day are its squirrels, its voles, and its birds. By night, those creatures return to their nests and, at dusk, what emerges from who knows where, are the hobgoblins. To watch the blanket of darkness unfurled over the crown of a forest is a magical moment, and one for which it is advisable to bring a torch.
Last year, without going into detail, I ended up in my car outside the main gate to the farmstead where my brother lives in France. It was late and I was reluctant to wake them. It had been a hot summer's day, so I decided to bed down in my open-top Jeep. To say my brother lives remote is understatement. You can hear a pin for a mile, and the stars are a cascade of dots. The darkness that descends can be pierced quite easily in the absence of any ambient light bar those stars. Every brush from an animal in the grass sounds like someone rustling right past your ear. Once you stop moving in the countryside, the countryside comes to you, envelops you, as you are incorporated as a part of it.
When we stay up late in our homes and watch television or hold parties, we scoff at hobgoblins and spirits of the night. We talk them away, as if they would be warded off by something as mundane as an electric light. We fool ourselves.
I started with Eraserhead, back in the day. I still haven't finished watching Twin Peaks... I'm going to start season one over again and watch it all. Blue Velvet was my real entry, and I still think it's a masterpiece that amplifies a potboiler small town noir tale to a volume where every nuance of the banality of evil and the simple honesty of goodness can be heard.
I really love his work. Which is weird because I am a naive optimist at heart but we are always both light and dark, yin and yang etc. So there also is a side that gets his work so deeply. Beautiful post, John. RIP David Lynch
Lynch was definitely a distinctive director on the order of Hitchcock and operating outside the herd. He took risks and when it came together it was incisive.... The Elephant Man is one of my favorites--heartbreaking and so very human, peeling back the veil to see things from a new angle. Blue Velvet is Lynch moving to new territories. I have the 45 in my garage, which ties me to this film.
So cool to hear you lived in that area, Ken. I’m from a very similar area, but on the opposite side of the country. I think your take on his work was spot-on. I think part of what makes him a bit of a divisive director is that you need to watch his films with a different set of eyes. His are not worlds of factual narratives, symbolic ciphers, formulaic heroes’ journeys or plot structure pyramids. They’re more dream than drama. They remind me a lot of old mythological tales, where out-of-place details reveal their importance later and you never exactly return to the same place or circumstances twice.
It’s a particularly heavy loss because he not only gave us permission to look at things in this way, but he also showed us how. There aren’t too many of his type out there anymore in my opinion.
It took me a while to fall for David Lynch’s work. But I fell and I’m glad.
Lynch had the ability to see the real darkness beneath the thin veneer of normality presented by small town American life. I still mow the lawn and try not to see the ear laying in the grass.
DL was one hell of a talent. I was a big fan as early as Eraserhead. He helped influence and inspire me on my early years in the industry. Twin Peaks was a must-watch - nothing else compared to it at the time and for quite a while after! A unique talent. Your piece does him proud. M
Beautifully written appreciation...
Time to rewatch some twin peaks!! Funny I watched blue velvet just the other night with my kid.
Eraserhead was the strangest and most disturbing movie I've ever seen.
Philadelphia has that effect.
Much resonated with me in this, although I don't know the (television series?) called Twin Peaks (I have heard of it somewhere). The forest's dwellers by day are its squirrels, its voles, and its birds. By night, those creatures return to their nests and, at dusk, what emerges from who knows where, are the hobgoblins. To watch the blanket of darkness unfurled over the crown of a forest is a magical moment, and one for which it is advisable to bring a torch.
Last year, without going into detail, I ended up in my car outside the main gate to the farmstead where my brother lives in France. It was late and I was reluctant to wake them. It had been a hot summer's day, so I decided to bed down in my open-top Jeep. To say my brother lives remote is understatement. You can hear a pin for a mile, and the stars are a cascade of dots. The darkness that descends can be pierced quite easily in the absence of any ambient light bar those stars. Every brush from an animal in the grass sounds like someone rustling right past your ear. Once you stop moving in the countryside, the countryside comes to you, envelops you, as you are incorporated as a part of it.
When we stay up late in our homes and watch television or hold parties, we scoff at hobgoblins and spirits of the night. We talk them away, as if they would be warded off by something as mundane as an electric light. We fool ourselves.
I started with Eraserhead, back in the day. I still haven't finished watching Twin Peaks... I'm going to start season one over again and watch it all. Blue Velvet was my real entry, and I still think it's a masterpiece that amplifies a potboiler small town noir tale to a volume where every nuance of the banality of evil and the simple honesty of goodness can be heard.
One of a kind, Kent.
I really love his work. Which is weird because I am a naive optimist at heart but we are always both light and dark, yin and yang etc. So there also is a side that gets his work so deeply. Beautiful post, John. RIP David Lynch
Beautifully written. Thank you for writing.
Before all these Netflix thrillers was classic Twin Peaks. ♥️ You are so lucky to “live in Twin Peaks.” Sounds divine.
Just curious, how does a cherry pie look and taste like?
Very nice.
Lynch was definitely a distinctive director on the order of Hitchcock and operating outside the herd. He took risks and when it came together it was incisive.... The Elephant Man is one of my favorites--heartbreaking and so very human, peeling back the veil to see things from a new angle. Blue Velvet is Lynch moving to new territories. I have the 45 in my garage, which ties me to this film.
So cool to hear you lived in that area, Ken. I’m from a very similar area, but on the opposite side of the country. I think your take on his work was spot-on. I think part of what makes him a bit of a divisive director is that you need to watch his films with a different set of eyes. His are not worlds of factual narratives, symbolic ciphers, formulaic heroes’ journeys or plot structure pyramids. They’re more dream than drama. They remind me a lot of old mythological tales, where out-of-place details reveal their importance later and you never exactly return to the same place or circumstances twice.
It’s a particularly heavy loss because he not only gave us permission to look at things in this way, but he also showed us how. There aren’t too many of his type out there anymore in my opinion.
I enjoyed his "stuff". It did give me a different look on things. I often wondered if he was just trying to figure out how to get away with something.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Velvet_(film)?wprov=sfti1#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Velvet_(song)?wprov=sfti1#
Remember listening to this song repeatedly after breakup of high school romance.