The Gist:
David Lynch discusses his body of work from his early beginnings to present day.
The Review:
In the same vein as 2016s DePalma, Art Life explores the work and life of the legend that is David Lynch through his own words. Thankfully we don’t have peers and influencers yammering on about how great he is, instead, we have the man himself opening up for the better half of an hour twenty, do we find out what drives the man and his work? sort of.
As it’s become commonplace, there’s a lot of imagery and although a lot of words are being used, not much is being said, not that it’s a bad thing. Sometimes things are best left to the imagination despite how dark or surreal. Despite the sessions in the recording booths, we get glimpses into his home life/workshop with his cute little daughter clearly taking cues from dad, hopefully, she won’t take up smoking. Even at the ripe old age of seventy Lynch is seen still in his workshop creating bizarre but beautiful sculptures, does he explain what any of them mean? Well, he gives us hints to their inspirations but other than that it’s left up to us.
On one occasion while in his early twenties, his own father Donald proclaimed, “Son, don’t have children,” mainly because he kept a good amount of dead animals in his basement, studying and capturing their various states of decay. Lynch then recalls a childhood memory of a naked woman, beaten (I presume) and delirious. There’s many such strange and happy memories that go into his work, nothing that stands out as to how and why his work is the way it is.
Director Jon Nguyen makes excellent use of some old stock 16mm footage taken from Lynch’s early days in college and of his own personal collection as well as footage of his latest painting/sculpture thing. All in all, coinciding with the new Twin Peaks Art Life is just what you need to get you into the surreal mindset of Lynch.
The Verdict:
An informative look into the mind of a cinematic genius. Some things, no matter how weird have or don’t even need an explanation. Always weird, always surreal never compromising, that’s what makes him one of the most important artists of his generation.
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