The death of American filmmaker David Lynch, who was also a painter, musician, sound designer, actor, singer and photographer, brings to an end the career of a truly unique figure.
In a 2003 interview with The Los Angeles Times, Lynch summed up his career in a way perhaps only he could: “Absurdity is what I like most in life.”
Truer words have never been spoken, given the absurdity of Lynch’s back catalogue. In an increasingly risk-averse industry, Lynch’s legacy – which spanned numerous decades and various mediums – appears increasingly rare. Lynch made a career out of not just pushing boundaries but obliterating them, forcing audiences to consider an alternate worldview populated with characters that lingered long after the closing credits.
In honour of his peerless contribution, here are Lynch’s six essential works:
Eraserhead, 1977
David Lynch (middle) directs Jack Nance (right) as Henry Spencer in Eraserhead.Credit:
Lynch’s first official feature was made for just $US100,000 but would go on to define the dystopic tone and style that defined his career. Jack Nance played Henry, a loner who lives in a depressing apartment block and finds himself unexpectedly raising a baby after a fling with his sometimes girlfriend Mary X (Charlotte Stewart). In true Lynch fashion, things get weird when Henry’s son turns out to be a bizarre lizard creature with a penchant for non-stop wailing. Parental anxiety summed up neatly in 89 minutes, Eraserhead was Lynch announcing himself to the world.
The Elephant Man, 1980
David Lynch’s The Elephant Man was nominated for eight Academy Awards.Credit:
Societal outcasts have long fascinated Lynch, and The Elephant Man became his greatest commentary on those who exist on the fringes.
Based on the life of Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed man who lived in London in the late 19th century, The Elephant Man starred Anthony Hopkins as Dr Frederick Treves, a well-meaning surgeon who discovers Merrick working in a sideshow for human oddities. The relationship between the two flourishes while Merrick struggles to reconcile his own humanity with the world at large.
The Elephant Man was a critical and commercial success with eight Academy Award nominations, including best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay and best actor.
Blue Velvet, 1986
Laura Dern and Kyle MacLachlan in a scene from Blue Velvet.Credit: Alamy
After discovering a young Kyle MacLachlan and casting him in Dune (1984), Lynch teamed up with MacLachlan for the second time in Blue Velvet. MacLachlan plays college student Jeffrey Beaumont, who finds himself drawn into a seedy underworld after discovering a severed ear in a field. Teaming up with Sandy Williams (Laura Dern), the daughter of a local detective, Jeffrey attempts to solve the mystery while navigating an increasingly odd romance with Sandy.
Blue Velvet remains one of Lynch’s more polarising works, an absurdist musing on sexual depravity that features one of the director’s most infamous scenes. Kyle MacLachlan in a closet – nothing more needs to be said.
Wild at Heart, 1990
Nicolas Cage as Sailor Ripley in Wild at Heart.Credit:
The combination of Nicolas Cage and David Lynch is a match made in Hollywood heaven, and Wild at Heart did not disappoint. Wild at Heart was Lynch’s version of a silver-screen romance, with Cage playing Sailor Ripley, a recently released prisoner determined to reunite with his lover, Lula Fortune (Laura Dern). Far from being your typical romance film, Wild at Heart is chaotic, violent and tense, challenging for audiences and critics alike.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the film was regularly booed by audiences during early screenings despite winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Twin Peaks, 1990 (TV)
Coffee, anyone? The Double R Diner in Twin Peaks.Credit: CBS Studios
Arguably Lynch’s most famous work, Twin Peaks’ supernatural horrorcore paved the way for the likes of Stranger Things, Lost, Desperate Housewives and Westworld.
Ostensibly a murder-mystery set in a small town, the original series, as well as the 1992 feature film and 2017 TV series revival, represent the culmination of Lynch’s skill set.
As FBI agent Dale Cooper, Kyle MacLachlan investigates a murder that quickly descends into a paranormal crisis that envelops everyone and everything in the tiny town of Twin Peaks.
Setting it against the backdrop of a dying industrial town, Lynch used the series as a vehicle to explore the crumbling ideal of Americana. Despite being more than 30 years old, the question of who killed Laura Palmer remains one of pop culture’s most haunting mysteries.
Mulholland Drive, 2001
David Lynch’s love letter to Hollywood was never going to be straightforward, but even the most ardent Lynch acolyte might’ve been surprised by Mulholland Drive.
In her breakout role, Australian actress Naomi Watts played sweet-as-pie Betty Elms, another wide-eyed actress desperate to make it in Los Angeles. A chance meeting with Rita, a young lady suffering amnesia, kicks off an unlikely friendship that soon snowballs into something more (cue one of the most intense love scenes in cinema history). A genuinely baffling film where nothing is as it seems and everything means something, Mulholland Drive represents Lynch at his brilliant best.
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