The movie David Lynch regrets making: “I was foolishly optimistic”
For aspiring filmmakers, it is surely comforting to realise that even the most acclaimed directors in the industry have made their own cinematic missteps. It’s rare for an artist to make a flawless body of work, and even David Lynch, one of cinema’s most beloved filmmakers, isn’t immune to making mistakes that he regrets.
Lynch began experimenting with filmmaking in the late 1960s, making experimental short films at art school. It took several years for his first feature, Eraserhead, to be made, but once it was released in 1977, it became an underground classic. While the movie received mixed reviews from critics – some of whom simply did not understand Lynch’s surreal and dark world where babies look like aliens and women can emerge from radiators – it is now regarded as one of his best works.
It was followed by The Elephant Man, which was produced by Mel Brooks (although he hid his name from the credits so people wouldn’t think it was a comedy), which remains an emotional high point in Lynch’s filmography. Telling the tale of John Merrick, a man who was born with severe bodily disfigurements, Lynch points out the innate cruelty and selfishness that many people possess, with Merrick harnessing a genuine kindness and hope for humanity that others don’t seem to have. It’s a poignant watch, and its tragic end is guaranteed to leave the most cold-hearted of viewers with tears in their eyes.
So, with two successful movies under his belt, Lynch was offered the chance to direct Dune, an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel of the same name. He wasn’t the first director offered the role, however. Before Lynch, Dino De Laurentiis had employed Ridley Scott, director of Alien, to helm the project. In the end, he dropped out of the project because it was too large of an undertaking, and following the loss of his brother, Scott was more interested in working on something more immediate. He went on to direct Blade Runner – a film Lynch was actually wanting to make.
Lynch was then put in charge of directing Dune, casting Kyle MacLachlan, a relatively unknown actor, in the lead role of Paul Atredies. The film also starred Francesca Annis, José Ferrer, Freddie Jones, Linda Hunt, Jack Nance, and Patrick Stewart, but sadly, the strong cast couldn’t save this one.
The ambitious and complex nature of the massive novel proved to be too much content to sufficiently squeeze into one movie, and the whole thing was criticised for being too messy, visually unappealing, and pointless. Most major publications gave it a negative review; it seemed as though Lynch had truly missed the mark.
Taking to Bomb Magazine, Lynch revealed that he regretted his attempts to make Dune, explaining, “With Dune, I did not have final cut and in the end, I died the death. I knew when I was signing the contract that I was foolishly optimistic. And I did get burned. I have big regrets, because it is not the film I wanted to make. But I still like parts of it for sure, and I enjoyed a lot the making of it.”
Luckily, Lynch’s next movie, Blue Velvet, put any doubts about his talents to rest. It was a masterful psychosexual drama, with MacLachlan appearing in the lead role, where he fared much better.
