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Cultural impact of David Lynch
American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor David Lynch (1946 – 2025) is regarded as a significant figure in the world of filmmaking. Lynch was often called a "visionary" and was acclaimed for films often distinguished by their surrealist qualities. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he received numerous accolades, including the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 2006 and an Honorary Academy Award in 2019. The adjective Lynchian came into use to describe works or situations reminiscent of his art,[1] with the Oxford English Dictionary noting his penchant for "juxtaposing surreal or sinister elements with mundane, everyday environments, and for using compelling visual images to emphasize a dreamlike quality of mystery or menace".[2] Cinematic influences and themesInfluences
—David Lynch[3]: 199
Lynch described his work as more similar to that of European filmmakers than American ones, and said that most films that "get down and thrill your soul" are by European directors.[3]: 62 He expressed his admiration for Federico Fellini,[3]: 62 Jean-Luc Godard, Ingmar Bergman, Werner Herzog, Alfred Hitchcock,[4] Roman Polanski, Jacques Tati,[3]: 62 Stanley Kubrick, and Billy Wilder. He said that Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950) was one of his favorite pictures,[3]: 71 as were Kubrick's Lolita (1962), Fellini's 8½ (1963), Tati's Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953), Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954), and Herzog's Stroszek (1977).[3]: 21 He also cited Herk Harvey's Carnival of Souls (1962) and Jerzy Skolimowski's Deep End (1970) as influences on his work.[5] He regularly returned to Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz; the references he made to it are explored in Alexandre O. Philippe's documentary Lynch/Oz (2022).[6] MotifsSeveral themes recur in Lynch's work. Le Blanc and Odell write, "his films are so packed with motifs, recurrent characters, images, compositions and techniques that you could view his entire output as one large jigsaw puzzle of ideas".[7]: 8 One of the key themes they note is the usage of dreams and dreamlike imagery and structure, something they relate to the "surrealist ethos" of relying "on the subconscious to provide visual drive". This can be seen in Merrick's dream of his mother in The Elephant Man, Cooper's dreams of the red room in Twin Peaks and the "dreamlike logic" of the narratives of Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, and Inland Empire.[7]: 8–9 Of his attitude to dreams, Lynch said: "Waking dreams are the ones that are important, the ones that come when I'm quietly sitting in a chair, letting my mind wander. When you sleep, you don't control your dream. I like to dive into a dream world that I've made or discovered; a world I choose ... [You can't really get others to experience it, but] right there is the power of cinema."[3]: 15 His films are known for their use of magic realism. The motif of dreams is closely linked to his recurring use of drones, real-world sounds and musical styles.[8] Another of Lynch's prominent themes is industry, with repeated imagery of "the clunk of machinery, the power of pistons, shadows of oil drills pumping, screaming woodmills and smoke billowing factories", as seen in the industrial wasteland in Eraserhead, the factories in The Elephant Man, the sawmill in Twin Peaks, and the lawnmower in The Straight Story.[7]: 9–11 Of his interest in such things, Lynch said: "It makes me feel good to see giant machinery, you know, working: dealing with molten metal. And I like fire and smoke. And the sounds are so powerful. It's just big stuff. It means that things are being made, and I really like that."[3]: 110 Another theme is the dark underbelly of violent criminal activity in a society, such as Frank Booth's gang in Blue Velvet and the cocaine smugglers in Twin Peaks. The idea of deformity is also found in several of Lynch's films, from The Elephant Man to the deformed baby in Eraserhead, as well as death from head wounds, found in most of his films. Other imagery common in Lynch's work includes flickering electricity or lights, fire, and stages upon which a singer performs, often surrounded by drapery.[7]: 9–11 Except The Elephant Man and Dune, which are set in Victorian London and a fictitious galaxy respectively, all of Lynch's films are set in the United States. Lynch said: "I like certain things about America and it gives me ideas. When I go around and I see things, it sparks little stories, or little characters pop out, so it just feels right to me to, you know, make American films."[3]: 18 Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, and Lost Highway are intentionally reminiscent of 1950s American culture despite being set in later decades. Lynch said, "It was a fantastic decade in a lot of ways ... there was something in the air that is not there any more at all. It was such a great feeling, and not just because I was a kid. It was a really hopeful time, and things were going up instead of going down. You got the feeling you could do anything. The future was bright. Little did we know we were laying the groundwork for a disastrous future."[3]: 3–5 Lynch also tended to feature his leading female actors in "split" roles, so that many of his female characters have multiple, fractured identities. This practice began when he cast Sheryl Lee as both Laura Palmer and her cousin Maddy Ferguson in Twin Peaks and continued in his later works. In Lost Highway, Patricia Arquette plays the dual role of Renee Madison/Alice Wakefield; in Mulholland Drive Naomi Watts plays Diane Selwyn/Betty Elms and Laura Harring plays Camilla Rhodes/Rita; in Inland Empire Laura Dern plays Nikki Grace/Susan Blue. The numerous alternate versions of lead characters and fragmented timelines may echo or reference the many worlds interpretation of quantum physics and perhaps Lynch's broader interest in quantum mechanics.[9] Some have suggested that Lynch's love for Hitchcock's Vertigo, which employs a split lead character (Judy Barton/Madeleine Elster, both portrayed by Kim Novak) may have influenced this aspect of his work.[10][11] Lynch's films often contain characters with supernatural or omnipotent qualities. They can be seen as physical manifestations of various concepts, such as hatred or fear. Examples include The Man Inside the Planet in Eraserhead, BOB in Twin Peaks, The Mystery Man in Lost Highway, The Bum in Mulholland Drive, and The Phantom in Inland Empire. Lynch approached his characters and plots in a way that steeps them in a dream state rather than reality.[12] Recurring collaboratorsLynch was noted for his collaborations with various production artists and composers on his films and other productions.[13] He frequently worked with composer Angelo Badalamenti, film editor Mary Sweeney, casting director Johanna Ray, and actors Harry Dean Stanton, Jack Nance, Kyle MacLachlan, Naomi Watts, Isabella Rossellini, Grace Zabriskie, and Laura Dern. Awards and nominationsOver his career Lynch won the Honorary Academy Award, two prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Lion as well as nominations for two BAFTA Awards, eight Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Lynch's oeuvre encompasses work in both cinema and television. He received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director for his work on the biographical drama The Elephant Man (1980), the neo-noir Blue Velvet (1986), and his surrealist thriller Mulholland Drive (2000). He won the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or for his romance film Wild at Heart (1990). He also directed the space opera Dune (1984), the drama The Straight Story (1999), the surrealist crime drama Lost Highway (1997), and the experimental thriller Inland Empire (2006). Lynch whilst his television debut, with the ABC mystery-horror series Twin Peaks (1990–1991) which earned five Primetime Emmy Award nominations for its first season. He was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Lynch made a prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) and revival series Twin Peaks: The Return (2017). Indeed, the surreal and in many cases violent elements to his films have earned them the reputation that they "disturb, offend or mystify" their audiences.[14] In the course of his career, Lynch has received multiple awards and nominations. Amongst these are three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. He received the Academy Honorary Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2019. Lynch has twice won France's César Award for Best Foreign Film, as well as the Palme d'Or and Best Director Prizes at the Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival. The French government has awarded him the Legion of Honour, the country's top civilian distinction, honoring him first as a Chevalier in 2002 and then as an Officier in 2009; Lynch was also awarded the key to the city of Bydgoszcz, Poland. In 2017, Lynch was awarded The Edward MacDowell Medal by The MacDowell Colony for outstanding contributions to American culture.[15] InfluenceLynch was often called a "visionary" over the course of his career.[16][17][18] In 2007, a panel of critics convened by The Guardian announced that "after all the discussion, no one could fault the conclusion that David Lynch is the most important film-maker of the current era",[19] and AllMovie called him "the Renaissance man of modern American filmmaking".[20] Film critic Pauline Kael called Lynch "the first populist surrealist".[21]: xi The moving image collection of David Lynch is held at the Academy Film Archive, which has preserved two of his student films.[22] The term "Lynchian" has been used to describe art or situations reminiscent of Lynch's style. The Oxford English Dictionary further defines Lynchian artwork as "juxtaposing surreal or sinister elements with mundane, everyday environments, and for using compelling visual images to emphasize a dreamlike quality of mystery or menace."[23] David Foster Wallace wrote, "An academic definition of Lynchian might be that the term 'refers to a particular kind of irony where the very macabre and the very mundane combine in such a way as to reveal the former's perpetual containment within the latter'" but that "it's ultimately definable only ostensively—i.e., we know it when we see it."[24] While the series Twin Peaks is not usually described as science fiction, it has been noted to have been influential on that genre.[25] In 2018, the mayors of Snoqualmie and North Bend, which were both used for filming the series, declared Twin Peaks Day to be held on February 24. That was in recognition of the date mentioned in the first episode of the series.[26][27] Television industryWriting for The Atlantic in 2016, Mike Mariani wrote that "It would be tough to look at the roster of television shows any given season without finding several that owe a creative debt to Twin Peaks," stating that "Lynch's manipulation of the uncanny, his surreal non-sequiturs, his black humor, and his trademark ominous tracking shots can be felt in a variety of contemporary hit shows."[28] The X-Files notably takes major inspiration from Twin Peaks especially in execution of atmosphere and attempts to blend comedic moments and horror. David Duchovny appeared as Denise Bryson in Twin Peaks, prior to his role as Fox Mulder on The X-Files.[29] In an interview celebrating the third season, David Chase, the creator of The Sopranos, stated that "Anybody making one-hour drama[s] today who says he wasn't influenced by David Lynch is lying."[30] In 2010, the television series Psych paid tribute to the series by reuniting some of the cast in the fifth-season episode "Dual Spires".[31][32] Carlton Cuse, the co-creator of Bates Motel, cited Twin Peaks as a key inspiration for his series, stating, "We pretty much ripped off Twin Peaks." Cuse and Damon Lindelof, who both co-produced Lost, cited both Twin Peaks and David Lynch as a major influence on their work. Lindelof stated "There is no show in television history that had more impact on me than Twin Peaks."[33] Noah Hawley, creator of Fargo and Legion, cited Twin Peaks as a major inspiration on his work, particularly Fargo.[34] Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the creator of Riverdale, remarked that "all roads on Riverdale lead back to Twin Peaks" given its thematic similarities.[35][36] The TV series Atlanta has been cited by its creator, Donald Glover, as being inspired by the show, labeling it as "Twin Peaks with rappers."[37] Additionally, the animated series Gravity Falls repeatedly referenced the Black Lodge along with other elements of Twin Peaks throughout its run.[38] Critics have also noted similarities and borrowed elements from Lynch's Fire Walk with Me and Twin Peaks in Veena Sud's American adaptation of The Killing.[39][40] MusicThe score of Twin Peaks, helmed by Angelo Badalamenti, Julee Cruise, and David Lynch, was a notable influence for many genres of music, specifically dream pop. Cruise's compositions inspired the likes of Lana Del Rey and the score of the show was a direct inspiration for dream pop duo Beach House, who have a history of paying homage to the show.[41][42] The show's legacy of honoring dream pop and indie rock compositions is observed in the third season, with its inclusion of performances from contemporaries such as Sharon Van Etten, Nine Inch Nails, and The Veils.[43] Bands like Bastille have penned songs in honor of the show like "Laura Palmer", which was influenced by the "slightly weird, eerie" atmosphere of the show.[44] Xiu Xiu completed and released a 2017 tribute album titled "Plays the Music of Twin Peaks", where they performed several tracks from the show's main soundtrack and leaned into a more experimental sound.[45] Video gamesTwin Peaks has also influenced a number of survival horror and psychological thriller video games, most notably games produced by Sam Lake at Remedy Entertainment, such as the "Remedy Connected Universe" of games,[46] which includes the Alan Wake series, and the game Control.[47] For Alan Wake II, the developers took heavy inspiration specifically from the third season of Twin Peaks.[48] The Remedy-produced Max Payne series also takes inspiration.[49] Other games of the genre that take heavy inspiration include Deadly Premonition,[50] and the Silent Hill series.[51] Twin Peaks also served as an inspiration for the 1993 video game The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, with director Takashi Tezuka citing the series as the main factor for the creation of the "suspicious" characters that populate the game, as well as the mystery elements of the story.[52] The 1998 open world adventure video game Mizzurna Falls was highly reminiscent and an homage to Twin Peaks.[53] The Velvet Room featured in the Persona video game series is inspired by the Black Lodge, and is also a reference to a previous Lynch film, Blue Velvet.[54] Other games and video game series influenced by Twin Peaks include the Life Is Strange series,[55] and the indie games Disco Elysium,[56] Virginia,[57] Kentucky Route Zero,[58] Thimbleweed Park,[59] and Puzzle Agent.[60] TributesSteven Spielberg, who cast Lynch as John Ford in The Fabelmans, wrote upon his death, "Here was one of my heroes—David Lynch playing one of my heroes ... The world is going to miss such an original and unique voice. His films have already stood the test of time and they always will".[61] Martin Scorsese wrote a statement that read in part, "He put images on the screen unlike anything that I or anybody else had ever seen—he made everything strange, uncanny, revelatory and new".[62] Lynch collaborators such as Kyle MacLachlan, Naomi Watts, and Nicolas Cage also wrote statements honoring Lynch.[63][64] Others who paid tribute to Lynch include Mel Brooks, Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Ben Stiller, James Gunn, Judd Apatow, Pedro Pascal, Questlove, and Patton Oswalt.[65][66] Critic Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian eulogized Lynch as "the great American surrealist".[67] References
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