David Lynch Films...

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WuvNmyEarl

New member
Alright, I've watched one David Lynch film so far; Blue Velvet which I enjoyed in a strange kind of way. I'm wondering what is a good second David Lynch film to watch?

I've had a look on Amazon and if I remember there are these titles:

Twin Peaks
Mulholland Drive
Lost Highway( I think)

Any recommendations?
 
If you want to be disconcerted you could always try his Eraserhead. Mulholland Drive will leave you scratching you head, or, if you want a complete change of pace, there's his aptly named Straight Story. Wild At Heart's worth a watch too.

RegarRAB

Mark
 
I gather people here don't like Dune. I do like it (along with Lynch's other work). It's basically a straight science fiction story, with spaceships and suchlike. The special effects are a bit lacking, and the story simplified compared to the book, but the characters are depicted brilliantly and the visuals are often beautiful. If you like classic science fiction then you need to see, eg, Lynch's rendition of a 3rd stage navigator; in that sense it's an "important" film.

Lynch himself says it died the "death of a thousand cuts" - good work ruined by the studio.
 
Mulholland Drive is just about my favourite film of all time....so not surprisingly that would be my recommendation.

You might want to read Lynch's clues for understanding it though. ;)

The Elephant Man is one of his most accessible films IMO.
 
there are undountedly lots of interpretations of various details, but without giving too much away, there's a very definite twist that when you figure it out, the jist of the film pretty much falls into place.

it's up to you whether you read up first - but i'd suggest watching it at least once cold, then maybe read up, then rewatch...

Iain
 
Don't watch Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me unless you've seen at least some of the tv series first, it would make no sense what so ever otherwise.

As for recommending a lynch film, hell I'd watch em all (except dune). They're all great.
 
I saw the first season of Twin Peaks last year when I bought the DVD - I was blown away. Amazing piece of television. I desperately want to see the second now. Haven't got a multi-region DVD player though and the second season still hasn't been released in the UK, despite being released almost everywhere else.

I saw Blue Velvet on Sky Movies a few months ago on the back of watching Twin Peaks and I thought it was an excellent film on so many levels. I'd love to see more of his work.
 
David Lynch is a genius - in a kind of strange way ;) I would suggest that order in your list is the way you ought to get into Lynch (although having seen Blue Velvet it might not matter).

Twin Peaks (the whole series) is very strange and disturbing (just like all DL's movies) but it is a soft intro to DL.

Mulholland Drive is a good 'mystery movie' (in the DL vein ;))...

And lastly the Lost Highway is very disturbing (and full of sex which I only noticed the 2nd time around!) I rate this movie above all of DL's stuff (even Eraserhead)...

My recommended order would be:

1. Twin Peaks
2. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
3. Mulholland Drive
4. Blue Velvet
5. Lost Highway

Other softer Lynch would be:
1. The Straight Story
2. Dune
3. Wild at Heart
4. Elephant Man

Eraserhead stanRAB by itself!
 
The film goes alot deeper than the illusive obvious twist.

There's a lot of surrealism in the film and things which are not explaned by the twist.

My opinion is that some of it has meaning and some of it is deliberate to give the film an air of mysticism. Regardless it is a masterpiece.
 
Yes or a fantasy of role reversal based on jealousy and regret. Some have claimed it's all a NDE that goes through her mind as she's commiting suicide.
 
Yes, that's my interpretation.

Lynch's 6th clue establishes the time order for the last part of the film - the "awake" part. It's mixture of present moment intercut with flashbacks to before the killing and the dream. What is present moment and what is flashback is established by the images of "the robe, the ashtray, the coffee cup" (David Lynch's 6th clue). When Diane wakes she puts on a white bathrobe & lets in DeRosa who has come to collect some of her stuff. Diane indicates a cardboard box on the floor, which DeRosa takes, but DeRosa also declares that the ashtray on the coffee table is hers and Diane tells her to take it. Therefore the appearance of the ashtray on the table at a time when Diane is not wearing the bathrobe establishes that a scene is set before the killing of Camilla and before Diane's dream. The absence of the ashtray, and the appearance of the robe that Diane wears and the coffee she is drinking establish a scene as present moment.

Because this "awake" part contains scenes that take place after the dream (in my interpretation), I reckon the first part of the film is a dream and not a near-death experience taking place during her suicide.

But it's the symbolism in the dream that reveals Diane's past life that's interesting.

(I think there's going to be a lot of greyed-out text in this thread! :D)
 
David Lynch is one of my favourite directors.

Mulholland Drive is a modern masterpiece, definitely my favourite Lynch film.

Twin Peaks the TV series is awesome.

The Lost Highway, Elephant Man, Wild At Heart, The Straight Story, Eraserhead - all great films. Each one is very different though. Elephant Man and The Straight Story are less like his other films as they're more accessible. Lynch normally likes to mess with your head as much as possible.....:D
 
Watched Mullholland Drive last night

And I'm totally confused. Like seriously, confused!
Had no idea it would be so confusing as I basically read the synopsis and tried not to read to much in this thread incase it gave anything away.

Think I'll give it a couple of weeks and watch it again. But seriously, no idea what happened. The DVD I got (2 Disc edition in possibly the best box ever, totally see through thick plastic sleeve) had a book in it, with the questions (Updated from those that were given earlier. Still didn't help.

REally confused, gonna read up on it a bit before I watch again.

Is Twin Peaks less confusing?
I've heard its great, had no idea it was the same Director though, have almost bought it many times but never have, think I'll give it a go.
 
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