[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DavidLynch1.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:David Lynch has a chicken. Your argument is invalid.]]

->"''It makes me uncomfortable to talk about meanings and things. It's better not to know so much about what things mean. Because the meaning, it's a very personal thing, and the meaning for me is different than the meaning for somebody else.''"
-->--'''David Lynch''' [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible on most of his movies]].

DavidLynch is a widely acclaimed and influential director of film and television. Like Creator/AlfredHitchcock and Creator/AkiraKurosawa, he was originally trained as a painter. He made a short film called ''[[{{Squick}} Six Men Getting Sick]]'', which won a cash prize. From this point forward, he would be a professional filmmaker.

Some of the obvious influences on his films are FedericoFellini, BillyWilder, ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', 1950s pop music (and [[TheFifties '50s]] culture in general), [[{{Film/Dracula}} Tod]] [[{{Freaks}} Browning]] and [[UnChienAndalou Luis Buñuel]]. Some of his frequent collaborators include Kyle [=MacLachlan=], Creator/LauraDern, Isabella Rossellini, Angelo Badalamenti, and the late Jack Nance.

If you watch one of his works, expect some type of severe head trauma to play a role. Also, pay close attention to use of white noise and ambient sounds.

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Mr. Lynch's filmography includes:
* Many short films, television commercials and music videos
* ''{{Film/Eraserhead}}''
* ''Film/TheElephantMan''
* ''{{Film/Dune}}''
* ''Film/BlueVelvet''
* ''Film/WildAtHeart''
* ''TwinPeaks''
* ''Film/LostHighway''
* ''Film/TheStraightStory'' -- Wait for it... '''''[[PlayingAgainstType a G-rated Disney movie]].''''' Has a coherent plot and everything!
* ''MulhollandDrive''
* ''InlandEmpire''
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!!Tropes in Mr. Lynch's movies and life include:
* AlanSmithee: For the long version of ''Dune''.
* AmnesiacDissonance
* ArcWords: There is not a single David Lynch film that doesn't depend on the use of repeated cryptic phrases to set a spooky or dreamlike mood.
* BigOlEyebrows: The Mentats in ''Dune''. And, indeed, Lynch himself.
* BodyMotifs: Injuries and/or deformities to the face and/or head
* CircusOfFear: The Elephant Man tries to escape one
* CrypticConversation: All the time
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Lynch is certainly one of these. Creator/MelBrooks once described him as "Jimmy Stewart from Mars." He also has a Twitter account. He posted twice about finding out whether he's connected to the moon and three times about buying an ax.
* DadaComics: His comic ''The Angriest Dog in the World'' inspired Webcomic/DinosaurComics
* DaylightHorror: He sometimes likes to set scary moments during daylight hours, often in normal, suburban locations. See, for example, the Winkies scene in ''MulhollandDrive''.
* [[PlayingAgainstType Directing Against Type]]: ''TheStraightStory'' is a sweet, gentle movie about an elderly man who travels on his riding lawnmower visit his estranged brother. It actually does bear a lot of the subtler trademarks of Lynch's direction, though.
* [[spoiler:DyingDream]]: ''Mulholland Drive''. Or is it?
* EmergingFromTheShadows: Often seen in his films.
* TheFifties: None of his works are actually set in the fifties, but most of them are visually and thematically very clearly influenced by the era.
* FisherKing: In ''Dune''
* GainaxEnding: Most of his films lack a comprehensible ending, including ''TwinPeaks'' but [[AvertedTrope excluding]] the aptly-named ''TheStraightStory''.
* GrotesqueGallery
* LighterAndSofter: ''TheStraightStory''. No explanation required.
* LouisCypher: Some of Lynch's creepiest characters, such as the Mystery Man, the magician in "Silencio" and (possibly) the Cowboy are heavily implied to be this.
* MagicalRealism: Most of his films fall into the genre in some way or another. Some are realistic but extremely bizarre (BlueVelvet, Straight Story) while others go into the realm of pure fantasy (TwinPeaks) and beyond ({{Eraserhead}}, good god, {{Eraserhead}}...). The rest are, well.... somewhere in between. [[MindScrew It's not like we can really be sure or anything.]]
* MetaTwist: ''BlueVelvet''
* MindScrew: Mr. Lynch is a mental Lothario.
* MythArc: Averted trope
** ''WildMassGuessing'', however, is put on another scale of existence.
* NightmareValley: Some of his commercials, and Michael J. Anderson's role in ''Mulholland Drive''.
* NonActorVehicle: Sting in ''Dune''
* NothingIsScarier
* OstentatiousSecret: ''MulhollandDrive'' has a mysterious blue box, which has a matching blue key. It is shown to open once or twice, though the MindScrew makes it hard to tell what if anything is going on.
* ProductionPosse and SpiritualSuccessor: Many of his films share themes, crew, actors and [[spoiler:occasionally even characters]]. WordOfGod is that ''LostHighway'' and ''TwinPeaks'' are in the same universe, which raises a few questions about the roles of Jack Nance and DavidBowie.
** Not really. Bowie's songs in the film are score and there being two completly diffrent characters looking the same makes sense because of Lyncg use of doppelgangers.
* PsychicNosebleed: When Paul takes the Water of Life in ''Dune''. Quite possibly Henry's nosebleed in ''Eraserhead''
* TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised: ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me'', although it doesn't really resolve much
* ScareChord: He is ''really'' good at these.
* SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl: [[AuthorAppeal A favorite character type]]
* ShrugOfGod: Lynch flatly refuses to explain his movies, and that goes times ten for how he made Eraserhead's baby.
** Typical response about the baby - an interviewer once asked point blank if it was a calf fetus, which is the popular opinion. Lynch's response was, "This is what a lot of people think it is." He did admit that the baby's sounds are not based on the sound of a real baby crying.
* SlidingScaleOfRealisticVersusFantastic: Fucked with. Brutally.
* {{Slipstream}}
* SurrealHorror
* SurrealHumor
* TomatoInTheMirror: Part of the plot of ''Mulholland Drive'', maybe.
* VillainProtagonist: About half of his films feature one, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation at least to some extent.]]
* WorldOfSymbolism: His movies have a reputation for falling into this category. Though some of them do have a comprehensible story, there's simply no way to take movies like ''{{Eraserhead}}'' and ''InlandEmpire'' on anything except a very symbolic, fever-dream level.
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