David Lynch: The Art Life

May 3, 2017

In Festival, Review, This Week by Dov KornitsLeave a Comment

David Lynch: The Art Life gives enough to the audience while still being filled with the mystery that keeps them intrigued.
Tim Byrnes
Year: 2016
Rating: NA
Director: Jon Nguyen, Olivia Neergaard-Holm, Rick Barnes
Cast:

David Lynch

Distributor: American Essentials Film Festival
Released: May 9 – 28, 2017
Running Time: 89 minutes
Worth: $18.00

FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth

David Lynch: The Art Life gives enough to the audience while still being filled with the mystery that keeps them intrigued.

David Lynch is an elusive man. The director’s films are celebrated, from his debut, surreal horror Eraserhead, to his most recent feature film, the 2006 mystery Inland Empire. With the revival of his cult television series Twin Peaks coming soon, now is the perfect time for a documentary on the strangest popular filmmaker of modern times. However, if you’re seeking answers about Lynch in David Lynch: The Art Life, you’ll be disappointed. That said, being in the iconic filmmaker’s presence is just as thrilling and strange as his filmography.

 David Lynch: The Art Life focuses less on his films and more on his early life as an artist before making Eraserhead. Beginning from his birth, Lynch narrates his life story over clips and images from his childhood. We learn of his youth moving from town-to-town, his family, and his lifelong love of art. Interspersed throughout is footage of an older Lynch painting in his studio, contrasting with his younger self stumbling his way around art.

The documentarians fill the picture with chilling visuals and industrial grind not too dissimilar from Lynch’s own films, with Lynch himself coming across like one of the odd townsfolk from them. Lynch’s voice croaks through anecdotes about his life and the odd people he met, including hilarious stories on his first time smoking dope, and a woman who pretended to be a chicken screaming, “My nipples are hurting”. One particularly revealing tale about seeing a naked woman wandering the street could be the inspiration behind Blue Velvet.

David Lynch: The Art Life isn’t the missing piece to solving the mysteries in this enigmatic filmmaker’s work; giving enough to the audience while still being filled with the mystery that keeps audiences intrigued.

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