Remembering the Talent - David Lynch
By Michal Gawlik, Arts and Literature Editor
With great sadness, the beginning of the new year marks the death of a great artist, painter, director, father and husband David Lynch. It would be an understatement to call him a visionary, as his work in the film industry has revolutionised the idea of experimentalism with films such as Eraserhead (1977) or The Grandmother (1970). I would like for you and me to take a short trip down memory lane in honour of David Lynch by revisiting his achievements and most notable creations that make him stand out from other Hollywood creators.
Firstly, Eraserhead debuted as a midnight showing in 1977 and has since been considered a must-see. Due to its historical and cultural significance, it has also been added to the United States National Film Registry for preservation. One could call it a National Treasure ;) (before you ask, yes, it is an attempt at a Nicolas Cage joke).
Following a series of incredibly renowned experimental short films that Lynch has been making since the early 1960s and the success of Eraserhead, he began a proper career as a director, bringing his somewhat twisted visions to life.
In 1984, he released an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune (my personal favourite). This space opera attracted new audiences and fans of the futuristic science fiction genre. This movie served as an inspiration and a blueprint for Dune (2021), and despite the newer movie’s success, Dune (1984) will forever remain the original, irreplaceable Dune adaptation.
Finally, in 1990, David Lynch and Mark Frost created the mystery-horror drama TV show Twin Peaks. It revolves around an FBI investigation of a murder in the small town of Twin Peaks. With its supernatural elements, one can’t help but recall the first season of the beloved show Riverdale (2017). As we can see, the show has become an inspiration for artists throughout the years, and despite its cancellation after its second season, it was brought back for season three in 2017, almost thirty years on.
As many of you have probably noticed, it is rather upsetting to see and hear some people getting to know and talk about Lynch’s talent only after his death. Why not celebrate the great directors, writers, and artists when they still dwell among us? On the other hand, as otherworldly as this may sound, it is an artist’s legacy to be appreciated and remembered after their death, just as has happened repeatedly over the age of humanity with various artists, such as Vincent van Gogh, Edgar Allan Poe or even Bruce Lee. I believe what we have to focus on now is that David Lynch was recognised during his lifetime and will remain a significant part of film history forever.
Artists have always sought inspiration from various aspects of life, different places in the world and people they admired. I can confidently say that David Lynch has been and will remain one of my greatest inspirations. His work has encouraged me to keep on creating art deemed weird and crazy by people around me. With this short note, I would like to thank David Lynch for being the first to cross the path of experimentalism and for doing it so gracefully, so that the rest of us can continue sharing his marvellous art with the future generations.
SOURCES
“Dune.” IMDb, 14 Dec. 1984, www.imdb.com/title/tt0087182/.
“Eraserhead.” www.imdb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0074486/.
“Riverdale.” www.imdb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt5420376/.
“Twin Peaks.” IMDb, 8 Apr. 1990, www.imdb.com/title/tt0098936/.
Wikipedia Contributors. “David Lynch.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lynch.
