Quick takes on 5 David Lynch films

I can’t call myself a cinephile without spending time with David Lynch. I’m one of the few that liked his Dune, and I’m a huge fan of the immensely rewatchable Twin Peaks (especially The Return), but my only other experience with him was his first film, Eraserhead, which is a joy (maybe not the right word…). Up today are five more films, starting with his second film, The Elephant Man, from 1980. It stars Anthony Hopkins as Dr Treves and an unrecognizable John Hurt as John Merrick, the so-called Elephant Man. Very loosely based on the real Merrick’s life, the movie begins when Merrick is already a circus draw, in their “freaks” section. Merrick has gross deformities all over his body, but most notably an abnormally large head, full of tumors and growths. Treves stumbles upon him and wants to rescue him from the ill treatment he receives at the circus, and installs him in the solitary room of a local hospital. At first, the viewer thinks that Merrick may finally prosper under Treves’s care, but Treves unfortunately becomes no better than Merrick’s former handlers. Merrick becomes the talk of the town, first in medical circles, and then among London society, with a parade of guests visiting him at the hospital, all to just “say that they did” among their circles. While a handful do seem to genuinely care for Merrick, most are no more than voyeurs, and Treves basks in the esteem his “find” brings him. Only by the end does Treves realize what he is doing is wrong, but it may be too late for Merrick. Lynch, who is often a bit out there (to put it mildly), offers a fairly straight forward film in this one. Nothing so esoteric or outlandish, so it is probably very accessible for your average moviegoer. That is, if you don’t mind black-and-white, which is how the film is presented. Very moving film about the spirit and strength of a man who will never give up in the face of all odds. ★★★★

After the commercial stinker that was Dune, Lynch followed up with Blue Velvet in 1986. There’s a little bit of setup in the first 20-30 minutes, but then the movie gets going quickly, and to say much of anything about the plot would give away some of the (fantastic) surprises. But the premise is this: college student Jeffrey (Kyle MacLachlan) is visiting home because his dad has had a stroke, and while walking through a field one day, finds a dismembered human ear. The police are unhelpful, but a detective’s daughter, Sandy (Laura Dern), thinks it could involve a local lounge singer named Dorothy (Isabella Rossellini). Jeffrey and Sandy start stalking Dorothy. When Dorothy finds Jeffrey in her apartment one day, they two begin their own strange sexual relationship. Tracking her also leads Jeffrey to a couple mysterious men, one of whom, Frank (Dennis Hopper), seems to run a criminal organization. It may sound straight forward, but believe me, it gets wild and crazy very quickly into this movie. I’m rating it a bit lower because I think The Elephant Man is a better overall movie, but there are a lot of aspects of Blue Velvet that I like more: the sinister feel; the dark, brooding atmosphere; the mysterious what-is-going-on vibe; and Lynch’s trademark weirdness, on full display. ★★★½

1997’s Lost Highway is even stranger, which means less people are going to enjoy it, but I found it fascinating. For one, it’s downright scary, almost from the get-go. First, Fred (Bill Pullman) has nightmares that his wife’s (Rene, played by Patricia Arquette) face has become a scary-looking man (Robert Blake, does it get any spookier?!). Then the couple starts getting video cassettes left at their home. The first shows the front of the house. The second has the intruder inside their house, coming up to their bed while they sleep. The third, which Fred watches alone, shows the videographer walking through the house, and coming up on Fred kneeling over Rene’s mutilated body. Fred can’t believe that he would have killed Rene, but the next scene shows him in jail, sentenced to death. And that’s all in the first 40 or so minutes of this over 2-hour long film. It is a wild ride! In jail, Fred begins to be wracked with headaches, as his hallucinations ramp up. These continue, until one morning during a prisoner check, Fred’s not in his room (or is he?!). Pete is just some young kid with a big bruise on his forehead and no idea how he ended up in Fred’s cell. Neither do the cops. They let him out, but follow him to see if it will go to any leads, and the movie takes a turn to become almost an entirely different flick. And then Patricia Arquette shows up, but as a different character. What is going on here?! The second half of the film has a much different feel that the first, changing from a quasi-horror movie to a gangster/suspense kind of thing, but it all comes full circle by the end, when Lynch turns it back in on itself in spectacular fashion. I’ll admit I was lost at first, but I thought about the movie all night after finishing it, and it really resonated with me. Fans of Twin Peaks will find plenty to like here, just don’t expect to have all of the answers spoon fed to you. ★★★★½

In Mulholland Drive, Lynch builds on everything he’s done before and delivers perfection. A movie that screams to be rewatched (as soon as possible!), it follows a woman named Rita who is involved in a car crash on the eponymous road. She has amnesia but is taken in by a kind woman named Betty, a young woman new to Hollywood and looking to be an actress. She tries to help Rita investigate who exactly she is, even while there are evil mobster-like men patrolling the area looking for her. While all this is going on, a film director named Adam is casting for what is being called one of the best film projects at the time. All of the current women stars want a crack at the lead role, but a mob boss pressures Adam to pick a particular woman, Camilla, “or else.” There’s another subplot about a bumbling hit man hired to kill a man, and the mess he makes of that botched job. And if you think all of that is a lot to keep track of, be prepared for the final 30 minutes, when Lynch turns it all upside down, throwing everything in a blender and coming out with an entirely different result. Not quite as esoteric as Lost Highway, there’s still tons to explore in this film, and the ending makes you want to go back and start from the beginning, looking for clues along the way. Wonderful film with a high rewatchability aspect. ★★★★★

Inland Empire, released in 2006 and Lynch’s final film (so far), is what happens when David Lynch lets his mind (and creativity) go with no inhibitions, no film studios telling him what he can (or can’t) do, and no expectations for what an audience may enjoy. It is by far the most “out there” movie of those reviewed here today. After an introduction of a couple actors starting a new movie, in which the lead (Nikki Grace, played by Laura Dern) begins an affair with her costar (Devon, Justin Theroux), the movie seems to settle in towards a fairly straight forward drama. Could’t be further from the truth! As Nikki’s life starts to blur with the character she is portraying, the movie runs off the rails, even more than Lynch’s earlier films. At the end of those movies, I had at least a general idea of what I just saw, and a feeling that if I were to rewatch, I’d be able to nail down the main bullet points; at the end of this one, I had no idea what I just saw. Fully half of the 3-hour-long film is a series of dream-like scenes, with no overarching plot to hold it all together. There are Lynch-ian clues here and there, but I’d need to sit down and concoct a road map to keep track of everything. I mean, there’s a recurring scene about a family of giant rabbits sitting around talking about a secret the dad is keeping. What the hell?! But I do know this: it is criminal that Laura Dern won an Oscar for Marriage Story and wasn’t even nominated for Inland Empire. This is by far her best work; the movie is pretty much a showcase of her for the entirety of the 3 hours. I’m giving it 2-and-a-half, but fully admit that it could be anywhere from one to five depending on how the film moves you. ★★½

• TV series recently watched: The Chosen (season 2), Star Wars Visions (volume 2), Lucky Hank (season 1), Schmigadoon (season 2)
• Book currently reading: Les Misérables by Victor Hugo