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Summary of David Lynch's works: The Natural born artist whose identity will never be understood

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2025.01.30Rui Takeshima

On January 16, 2025, the news of David Lynch's death at the age of 78 spread around the world. Steven Spielberg, who cast him as an actor in "The Fabelmans" (22), made the following tribute comment:

"I loved David's films... The world will be missed by such an original and unique man. His films have stood the test of time and will continue to do so."

He has been a creator who crosses all genres, not only as a filmmaker, but also as a painter who believes in surrealism, a photographer who creates a mysterious universe, and an industrial and noisy musician. For many years, critics around the world have tried to dissect his work, but his true identity has not yet been revealed. "The Natural Born Artist" David Lynch defies all speculation and interpretation.

For him, film is just one of the means of expression. Although he has also made many short films, such as "Alphabet" (1968), "Grandmother" (1970), and "What Did Jack Do?" (2017), we will focus on his feature-length works here.

Index

1. Eraserhead(1976) 89 minutes

A geeky girl hums a strange and bizarre song as she steps on sperm falling from the ceiling. A baby resembling a fetal lamb cries. The head of the protagonist, Henry, rolls down and becomes the raw material for erasers. The title "Eraser Head" is nonsensical, but the plot is even more nonsensical. David Lynch painstakingly created this bizarre work over the course of five years.

It is not just a surreal movie. Lynch's true feelings about her unwanted marriage and unwanted pregnancy are burned into this film. It is a personal novel that visualizes the obsession that has taken over her, and Lynch calls it "my Philadelphia Story."

2. The Elephant Man(1980) 124 min.

A moving film depicting the life of Joseph Merrick, the "The Elephant Man," who actually existed in 19th century England. Producer Mel Brooks was so impressed with David Lynch's talent after seeing "Eraserhead" that he selected him as director. The film was nominated for eight categories at the Academy Awards, including Best Picture, proving that his keen insight was correct.

Anthony Hopkins, who played Dr. Treves, had frequent conflicts with Lynch and appealed for his dismissal, saying that he should have hired a more experienced veteran director, but Mel Brooks staunchly defended Lynch. Actor Bradley Cooper has stated that this film inspired him to pursue acting (he played the role of John Merrick on Broadway).

3. Dune (1984) 137 minutes

This is a film adaptation of the monumental science fiction novel "Dune" by Frank Herbert. David Lynch turned down the offer to direct "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi" (1983) to take on this epic film, but he couldn't digest the vast original story in just over two hours, and it ended up being a rushed film like a digest version (Denis Villeneuve was clever in that respect, making it into a two-part film that totals over five hours). Lynch himself acknowledges that this is the biggest failure of his career. However, it is hard to miss the fact that Lynch's style is stamped here and there, including the scene where Baron Harkonnen flies happily through the air.

One of the actors, Patrick Stewart, had never heard of Sting, the musician who played Fayed Lautha, at the time, and when he heard that he was in a group called The Police, he thought he was in a police officer's band.

4. Blue Velvet(1986) 121 min.

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