One of the most influential filmmakers of his time, David Lynch, was a wizard of the image, who bewitched a cohort of admirers fascinated by the disturbing strangeness of his films. Director of ten feature films, released between 1977 and 2006, and a series, broadcast in 1990 and 2017, the filmmaker with a sober appearance was nominated for the Oscars for “Elephant Man” (1980), “Blue Velvet” ( 1986) and “Mulholland Drive” (2001). He received an honorary Oscar in 2019 for his entire filmography. He received the Palme d'Or at Cannes for “Sailor and Lula” (1990) as well as a César for best foreign film for “Mulholland Drive”.
In 1990, he created “Twin Peaks”, a legendary series that revolutionized the genre. A quarter of a century later, he reproduced the miracle with “Twin Peaks: The Return” (2017).
“A painting that moves”
Born on January 20, 1946 in Montana (northwest), he grew up in a Presbyterian (Protestant) family of five children. His father, a scientist at the Ministry of Agriculture, and his mother, an English teacher, moved regularly. David, bad at school, is a sociable child.
After uneven studies, he found his happiness at the Beaux Arts of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The city, in full industrial decline, will permeate his imagination. He reproduces in his paintings the “cut-throat” atmosphere of his miserable neighborhood, populated by lost characters. Dwarfs, clowns, a woman with a log: these films will all be punctuated by these crazy appearances.
“Cinema is a language. He can say great abstract things”
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With his first wife (he had four), he put himself to the camera, wanting to “make a painting that moves”. He directed two short films, “The Alphabet”, then “Grand-Mère”. In his autobiography “My True Story”, he writes: “Cinema is a language. He can say great abstract things. »
Worlds with disturbing contours
With “Eraserhead” (1977), his first feature film, he entered directly into the surrealist malaise. “Elephant Man” was released in 1980. This deformed creature from Victorian England touched the whole world and made Lynch the mascot of Hollywood. He was entrusted with the production of “Dune”, the famous science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. The result was a flop at $40 million.
In 1986, he directed “Blue Velvet”, one of his most beautiful films. Four years later, it was the consecration at Cannes with “Sailor and Lula” (1990) then “Twin Peaks”. With “Lost Highway” (1997) and “Mulholland Drive” (2001), he continued his trips into otherworlds with disturbing contours.
