David Lynch is a Terrible Director
Critical darling and arthouse director David Lynch has been given control for far too long. It’s time someone take a stand.
His first film, ‘Eraserhead’ tells us everything we need to know about the man. He loves to experiment with techniques that no one else would even think of, but the end result is always a disaster. The man is completely undisciplined. He’ll shoot a scene one way, then another, then another, and it isn’t remotely cohesive.
Filmic technique and rules exist for a reason, and Lynch completely disregards them. It’s no wonder that his films are so often incomprehensible. They’re a mess, both visually and narratively. His worst offender is probably ‘Inland Empire’, a film that is so muddled and incoherent that it’s impossible to follow. And yet, despite all of this, Lynch has managed to find an audience.
There are those who actually enjoy his films, who find them enigmatic and mysterious. But I can’t help but think that they’re just deluding themselves, trying to find something in Lynch’s films that isn’t there.
The Nightmare of ‘Twin Peaks’ Season 3
David Lynch’s return to television with the third season of “Twin Peaks” was a complete and utter disaster. Our first episode opens with a scene that makes absolutely no sense, and things only get worse from there. Former heartthrob and series protagonist Kyle MacLachlan is now a incoherent, babbling mess of a man, and the rest of the cast isn’t far behind.
The plot, such as it is, meanders all over the place, never going anywhere or accomplishing anything. And the show’s attempts at humor fall completely flat. For example, in one scene, a character babbles on and on about chocolate bunnies, and it’s supposed to be funny. But it’s not. It’s just annoying.
The show’s once- intriguing mystery has been completely abandoned, and we’re left with a convoluted mess that makes no sense. The biggest offender is the bafflingly incomprehensible mess that is Episode 8. Halfway through the episode, we drop our mundane, seemingly never-ending plotline, and suddenly transition to the explosion of an atomic bomb. What follows is a series of non-sequiturs and dreamlike sequences that have no connection to anything that came before or anything that comes after.
It’s as if Lynch just gave up and said, “Screw it, I’ll just do whatever I want.” This isn’t the first time Lynch has done this. In fact, it’s something of a pattern with him. He’ll start out with a promising concept, but eventually lose interest and just start doing whatever he feels like.
When Twin Peaks first started, it was a tight, well-crafted mystery with interesting characters. But by the time the show ended, it had devolved into a nonsensical mess. The same thing happened with Lynch’s film ‘Mulholland Drive’. It starts out as a promising mystery, but then descends into a series of bizarre, surreal sequences that don’t make any sense. It’s as if Lynch is incapable of sticking with a concept for more than a few episodes or minutes.
He’s a director who is all style and no substance. His films are like puzzles with no solutions, and his TV show is a meandering mess. I used to be a fan of David Lynch. I used to think he was a brilliant director. But now, I realize that he’s just a fraud. A charlatan who promises more than he can deliver.
What Could Have Been.
After the release of The Empire Strikes Back, David Lynch was offered the opportunity to direct Return of the Jedi. If he had taken the job, who knows what might have been? Perhaps this may have been what he needed to focus his energies and actually produce a good film. Maybe he could have given us the satisfying conclusion to the trilogy that we all wanted. More likely, though, is that he would have just made another incomprehensible mess.
Picture in your mind, Return of the Jedi directed by David Lynch. A scene where Luke is trying to figure out what to do, and he looks over at Yoda who’s just sitting there, eating a live frog. Or a scene where Jabba the Hutt is belching and farting and we’re just supposed to find it funny. Maybe Princess Leia would be randomly topless in one scene for no reason (One of Lynches favorite hallmarks). I like to imagine that no-nonsense Harrison Ford would have had enough of Lynch’s bullshit and just walked off the set.
It’s a good thing that Lynch didn’t get his hands on Star Wars. We would have been left with a mess of a film, and the franchise would have been irreparably damaged. As it is, we can just imagine what might have been, and be thankful that it didn’t happen.
What Next?
What’s next for David Lynch? Rumour has it that he is on board for the fifth and final season of Netflix original, Stanger Things. I have to say that I’m not looking forward to it. The Duffer Brothers, who created the show, have said that they are heavily influenced by Lynch. That’s not surprising, considering that they have borrowed liberally from his work in the past. But I hope they have the sense to not let Lynch actually direct any of the episodes.
Another “What If” for you. Imagine the finale of Stranger Things. Hopper and Eleven are in the Upside Down, facing off against the Mind Flayer. The camera pulls back to reveal that they’re actually in David Lynch’s living room, and the Mind Flayer is just a man in a cheap monster costume. Lynch then appears, wearing a bathrobe and slippers, and says, “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist. The ending was getting a little too sappy for me.” If I could wrench control of the DVR away from Lynch at that moment, I would. Then I would bash it over his head until he was unconscious.
I’m not sure what the future holds for David Lynch, but I hope it doesn’t involve any more films or TV shows. The world would be a better place without his “art”.
