Giant of American cinema and author of cinematic UFOs, David Lynch died at the age of 78, we learned this Thursday. A look back at 6 of his greatest achievements.
«Elephant Man» (1980)
After “Eraserhead”, David Lynch presents his second feature film, which takes place at the end of the 19th century. Filmed in black and white, this adaptation of the memoirs of Frederick Treves relates the meeting between a doctor played by Anthony Hopkins and the British Joseph Merrick, who suffers from deformities. The latter becomes a beast of a show. Actor John Hurt, who plays him on screen, received an Oscar nomination for a performance that will be remembered.
«Dune» (1984)
Long before Denis Villeneuve’s feature films with Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya which attracted millions of spectators in theaters, David Lynch had adapted Frank Herbert’s science fiction masterpiece, “Dune”, which was at the era a dismal failure at the box office. In the skin of the young hero Paul Atréides, we discover the actor Kyle MacLachlan, who was then unknown to the general public and would later become the director’s accomplice.
«Blue Velvet» (1986)
Between a horror film and a psychological thriller, this feature film in which we find Kyle MacLachlan accompanied by Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper and Laura Dern, tells the story of a student who discovers a severed ear in a field, then meets Dorothy Vallens, a mysterious nightclub singer. With this surrealist work, David Lynch won the Oscar for best director in 1987.
«Twin Peaks» (1990-1991)
The lifeless body of Laura Palmer recovered from a lake, the woman with the log, the dwarf dressed in red and a credits which opens on an imaginary town surrounded by pine trees, are all ingredients which made the success of the “Twin Peaks” series. Once again, Kyle MacLachlan is in the casting of this cult work in which he plays Agent Cooper, who never goes out without his dictaphone. Two seasons, thirty episodes and more than a decade later, David Lynch unveiled the feature film “Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me” in 1992, with David Bowie. Without forgetting in 2017, the third season of the series which multiplies the references to the director’s filmography, like “Lost Highways”.
«Sailor et Lula» (1990)
David Lynch calls on his muse, Laura Dern, to star in this film loosely inspired by the noir thriller written by Barry Gifford and which won the Palme d’Or in 1990. With Nicolas Cage, the actress forms the couple Sailor and Lula . The two lovers love each other passionately but must escape Lula’s mother’s henchman.
They flee to Texas and meet mysterious and threatening characters in unusual places.
«Mulholland Drive» (2001)
Best Director Award at Cannes and César for Best Foreign Film, “Mulholland Drive” features a blonde apprentice actress (Naomi Watts) and an amnesiac brunette (Laura Elena Harring). This totally Lynchian feature film takes the form of a thriller which mocks the pretenses of Hollywood and this industry managed by crooked producers.
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