DAVID LYNCH
G'day folks,
Director
and screenwriter David Lynch is known for dark, offbeat films that include
'Eraserhead' and 'Blue Velvet,' and for creating the television series 'Twin
Peaks.'
“Absurdity is what I like most in life, and
there's humor in struggling in ignorance. If you saw a man repeatedly running
into a wall until he was a bloody pulp, after a while it would make you laugh
because it becomes absurd.”
—David Lynch
Born in
Montana in 1946, famed filmmaker David Lynch studied art before experimenting
with film in the late '60s. In 1977, his first feature, Eraserhead, made
its debut, going on to become a cult classic. He next directed The Elephant
Man, for which he received two Academy Award nominations among a host of
others for the film. Lynch has also directed Blue Velvet and created the
acclaimed television series Twin Peaks. A vocal proponent of
transcendental meditation, Lynch has added to his film ouevre with works like Lost
Highway and Mulholland Drive.
Early Years
David
Keith Lynch was born in Missoula, Montana on January 20, 1946. Lynch moved
frequently as a child due to his father's work as a research scientist. While
still a student at a high school in Virginia, he began taking art classes at
the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. After high school, Lynch made
his way through Boston, Europe and Philadelphia to study art further.
In the
1960s, David Lynch began making short films, beginning with the animated Six
Men Getting Sick (1966) and The Alphabet (1967), a combination of
animation and live action. The Grandmother (1970) was Lynch's first
completely live-action short film.
In the
early 1970s, Lynch started work on his first feature film, Eraserhead,
which premiered in 1977. The bizarre movie had a dark worldview, disturbing
subject matter and a surreal tone, but it garnered enough attention to land
Lynch the job of directing The Elephant Man (1980), starring John Hurt. That film received eight
Academy Award nominations, including two for Lynch in the categories of
directing and adapted screenplay.
Lynch's
next directing gig wouldn't go quite as well, as he was picked to helm the
science fiction film Dune (1984), an adaptation of a well-loved book
starring Kyle MacLachlan and Sting, among
many others. The movie was plagued with production problems and received
scathing reviews upon its release.
Chilling 'Blue
Velvet'
In
typical Lynchian fashion, the director recovered by turning back to his own
vision, coming out with Blue Velvet in 1986. The film, which starred
MacLachlan, Laura Dern and Isabella Rossellini, took a
chilling look at small-town life. Though its darker moments led to some
outraged reactions, Lynch received critical accolades and a second Academy
Award nomination for directing. Lynch would continue in a similar vein
with the violent Wild at Heart (1990). This controversial film won the
Palme d'Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.
Clancy's comment: Mm ... Another creative spirit.
I'm ...
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