Five scenes that prove David Lynch is a genius
When it comes to surrealist cinema, no one does it quite like David Lynch. After making a series of short films beginning in the 1960s, Lynch found underground success with Eraserhead in 1977, marking the start of a highly celebrated career.
Despite some movies earning considerably more praise than others (I’m looking at you, Dune), Lynch has always remained true to his visions, never compromising for the sake of studio demands. Thus, his movies are often hard to decipher at first, requiring multiple watches to dissect the strange sequence of events on screen.
Lynch isn’t afraid to revel in camp dialogue, allowing his characters to be truly bizarre and nonsensical. But this is what makes his work so fantastic. Despite the amount of stupidity weaved throughout Twin Peaks, for example, it still remains highly suspenseful, emotional and thrilling.
So, from the shocking plot twist in Mulholland Drive to the appearance of the mind-boggling Black Lodge in Twin Peaks, here are five scenes that prove Lynch’s genius.
Five iconic David Lynch scenes:
Dream becomes reality – Mulholland Drive
Lynch has so many fantastic works to his name that different people will give you different answers when it comes to picking his magnum opus. Yet, it is hard to argue against Mulholland Drive, released in 2001. Eliciting many bewildered yet impressed reactions, Mulholland Drive has confused viewers for over 20 years due to its non-linear plotline, seemingly random characters and events, and use of doppelgängers.
One of the most spectacular moments of the film occurs when Lynch reveals that the characters we are following – Betty and Rita – are actually figments of Betty’s imagination, who is actually a depressed, failing actor named Diane. After a bizarre performance at Club Silencio where a singer lip-syncs before collapsing, the movie transports us to the real world, where Diane has planned a hit on Rita – really a woman named Camilla.
Baby Wants Blue Velvet – Blue Velvet
Blue Velvet is a bizarre film that, like pretty much every Lynch movie, digs deep into the corrupted nature of the American dream. Lynch suggests that living an idyllic, suburban life in a house lined with white picket fences, undisturbed from danger, can only be a mere pipedream. He instantly contrasts images of red roses with a decaying severed ear swarming with insects, strapping us in for a wild and violent ride.
Dennis Hopper’s Frank is the film’s most terrifying yet compelling character, an abhorrent figure who makes Isabella Rossellini’s Dorothy act as his sex slave. Lynch turns up the strange factor to full volume, depicting Frank’s volatile nature by having him breathe in gas that makes him submissive, whining, “Mommy” and “Baby wants to fuck”. Then, he turns more aggressive, positing himself as “daddy”. The scene perfectly demonstrates Lynch’s ability to create something simultaneously disturbing, funny and tragic, leaving the viewer utterly perplexed.
Lady in the Radiator – Eraserhead
Lynch’s first feature, Eraserhead, was released in 1977 to mixed critical reception. Wholly surreal and bleak, the film didn’t land for many audiences, who couldn’t grasp the point of the abstract meditation on fatherhood and urban isolation. Framed in dark shadows that create a claustrophobic effect, the movie reveals Henry’s (Jack Nance) struggles to accept his alien-like baby.
A great scene from the film that highlights Lynch’s genius involves the Lady in The Radiator singing ‘In Heaven’, reassuring Henry that in the afterlife, “everything is fine”. Dressed as though she is from the 1950s, with white growths emerging from her cheeks, she lip-syncs enthusiastically before Henry appears, and she takes his hands. Then, she disappears, and Henry witnesses his own face rolling on the ground as the alien-like baby sprouts from his neck and replaces the head.
“I am not an animal!” – The Elephant Man
The Elephant Man was Lynch’s second feature, coming three years after his low-cost debut. With a larger budget, Lynch created one of his most beautiful and most moving films. The movie follows John Merrick, based on the real-life ‘Elephant Man’ Joseph Merrick, who was kept as an attraction at a Victorian freak show due to his severe bodily deformities.
Once Merrick is taken for examination by a prestigious doctor and finally given the chance to live like a real human being, he finds himself treated like even more of an attraction among members of high society. It’s a tragic story, but the most heartwrenching moment – a sign of Lynch’s genius ability to evoke true emotion in the viewer – occurs when he is hounded in the streets while wearing his hood. He takes it off, revealing his face, declaring to the shocked public, “I am not an animal! I am a human being!” In just one scene, Lynch exposes the lengths of human cruelty, and it is utterly devastating.
The first appearance of Black Lodge – Twin Peaks (Episode: ‘Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer’)
Not only has Lynch made some of the greatest films of all time, but he has also co-created (alongside Mark Frost) one of television’s most lauded shows, Twin Peaks. It features a quirky ensemble cast and a complex plotline revolving around the disappearance of Laura Palmer, a popular high school student hiding a bunch of secrets.
The whole show is fantastic, but Lynch establishes his skill early on by introducing the Black Lodge, an otherwordly place decorated with red curtains and black-and-white chevron flooring. Here, Special Agent Dale Cooper finds himself faced with Laura Palmer and several other characters, such as The Man from Another Place and Mike, who speak in reverse. The introduction of the Black Lodge in episode two adds another layer of complexity and intrigue to Twin Peaks, helping it become one of the most highly celebrated shows on television.
