American director David Lynch has died at the age of 78. An elusive director of labyrinthine films, he had shot “Mulholland Drive”, “Blue Velvet” and “Twin Peaks”.
David Lynch, legendary director of Mulholland Drive, Twin Peaks, Elephant Man, A True Story and Blue Velvet, has passed away at the age of 78. Those close to him announced the sad news in a press release relayed on the director’s Facebook page. “It is with great regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and artist David Lynch,” they said.
An elusive director from the start
There’s no director like David Lynch these days. His first feature film, Eraserhead, a surprising black and white nightmare, has become a horror classic. It was thanks to this film that Mel Brooks decided to entrust him with the direction of Elephant Man (1981). Also shot in black and white, John Merrick’s story won no less than 8 Oscar nominations and definitively launched Lynch’s career. He passed up the opportunity to direct Return of the Jedi, preferring to focus on Dune, another science fiction adventure which, of course, is far from experiencing the same enthusiasm as the third installment of the Star Wars saga. Comes Blue Velvet, whose excess of sex and violence shocks some, while others already cry genius. In 1990, Sailor and Lula won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. With Twin Peaks, a television series, Lynch became a true pop culture phenomenon. The transposition to the cinema is not long in coming.
Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival and zero Oscars
After five years of absence, he returned behind the camera for Lost Highway, before offering a film in line with the humanist spirit of Elephant Man, A True Story. In 2001, Mulholland Drive returned to the strange and rushed behind the scenes of a disturbing Hollywood. He also obtained his third nomination for the Oscar for Best Director, but the statuette still eluded him. For this film, Lynch won the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival, an award he shares with Joel Coen (The Barber: The Man Who Wasn’t There). After a few short and medium films including Rabbits made in 2002, he shot Inland Empire in 2006, and on this occasion reunited with his favorite actress Laura Dern. This will be his last feature film released in cinemas.
No more cinema, but TV and a notable role
In 2017, he shot 18 episodes of a new season of Twin Peaks with an atmosphere faithful to the original series, the first two episodes of which were presented at the Cannes Film Festival. Three years later, he received an honorary Oscar for his entire career. Never ceasing to film very short videos on very varied subjects, documentaries or moments of life, Lynch continues his desire to move away from the sets to devote himself in particular to painting. In 2022, however, he agreed to play a larger-than-life John Ford in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, which marks his last presence on a big screen, both in front of and behind the camera. One giant greeting another, entrusting him with the role of an essential figure of the 7th Art.
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