History Creator / DavidLynch

** Heck, just take a look at his UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 commercial.

Obvious influences on his films are Creator/FedericoFellini, Creator/BillyWilder, Creator/EdWood, ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', FilmNoir, 1950s pop music (and [[TheFifties '50s]] culture in general), [[{{Film/Dracula 1931}} Tod]] [[Film/{{Freaks}} Browning]] and [[Film/UnChienAndalou Luis Buñuel]]. [[ProductionPosse Frequent collaborators]] include Creator/KyleMacLachlan, Creator/LauraDern, Creator/IsabellaRossellini, and the late Angelo Badalamenti, Creator/HarryDeanStanton, and Jack Nance.

* TheFifties: Aside from ''On the Air'' and a flashback in one episode of ''Twin Peaks''' third season, none of his works are actually entirely set in the fifties, but most of them are visually and thematically very clearly influenced by the era.

** Going along with the above: cheery, sunny, and upbeat environments, frequently urban, that [[StepfordSuburbia secretly]] [[CrapsaccharineWorld house]] various forms of both literal and moral rot and decay and metaphysical evil, often personified by a [[SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl single woman]]. About the only films of his that ''don't'' involve outward glamor disguising inner decay are ''Dune'', ''The Straight Story'', and (arguably) ''The Elephant Man''.

* SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl: [[AuthorAppeal A favorite character type]], most notably in the form of Laura Palmer.

* CityNoir: ''Film/{{Eraserhead}}'', ''Film/MulhollandDrive'', ''Film/InlandEmpire'', and large parts of ''Series/TwinPeaks: The Return''. The former arguably falls under DieselPunk, while the latter three also encompass SunshineNoir due to taking place in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

* ''Film/{{Dune|1984}}'' (1984) -- Based on the novel by Creator/FrankHerbert; famous for making the already dense source material nigh-incomprehensible, and for being [[OldShame publicly disowned by Lynch]] due to the amount of ExecutiveMeddling he faced.

-->-- '''David Lynch''' [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible on most of his movies]]

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: In his own words: "I don't know why people expect art to make sense. They accept the fact that life doesn't make sense."

If you want to appreciate Lynch's craft, traditional methods of interpretation or pop-psychoanalysis aren't going to cut it. Lynch resists any sort of attempts at rational analysis and is really concerned with being in gnostic control of his stories. Any interview question regarding the meaning of his works [[ShrugOfGod gets shut down instantly]]. A conclusion many have drawn from his works' utilization of dream logic, and something he has spoken to on numerous public occasions when pressed for definitive answers about his stories, is that the metaphorical, figurative, or thematic connection between things is ''always'' arbitrary and that this can never be taken too lightly.

* DaylightHorror: He sometimes likes to set scary moments during daylight hours, often in normal, suburban locations. See, for example, the Winkies scene in ''Mulholland Drive''.

Between May 11, 2020 and December 16, 2022, Lynch posted daily videos of himself reading the weather reports for UsefulNotes/LosAngeles and picking numbered balls from a jar on his [[https://www.youtube.com/c/DAVIDLYNCHTHEATER/videos YouTube channel]]. Yes, every single day. [[CrazyEnoughToWork And it grew a]] [[MundaneMadeAwesome dedicated fanbase.]] (He originally did them for a few weeks in 2009, but it didn't catch on. The UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic lockdowns greatly helped the second attempt.)

Since May 11, 2020, Lynch has been posting daily videos of himself reading the weather reports for Los Angeles and picking numbered balls from a jar on his [[https://www.youtube.com/c/DAVIDLYNCHTHEATER/videos YouTube channel]]. Yes, every single day. [[CrazyEnoughToWork And it has a]] [[MundaneMadeAwesome dedicated fanbase]]. (He originally did them for a few weeks in 2009, but it didn't catch on. The UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic lockdowns greatly helped the second attempt.)

* DoingItForTheArt: During the filming of [=S3=] of ''Twin Peaks'', there's a behind-the-scenes clip where they're trying to set up a shoot on location and working out the logistics, and Lynch just snaps after a couple of minutes. He says, "We can't just keep forcing the project to move forward. We have to be able to sit on set and play around and work out new solutions and creative ideas. This is not the way you're supposed to make movies." Which, from an artistic standpoint is perfectly valid. But to the people holding the purse strings, they consider that attitude a huge liability; they will work to minimize his artistic freedom, and ensure that they retain final cut so that they can deliver what market research says will offer a good ROI. Lynch can come across as short-tempered and obstinate, but the people who are ''least'' responsible for his scenes will often cut corners when their desired result doesn't fall in their lap.
** ''The Straight Story'' is something he did mostly because he wanted to translate the feeling he had when he first read the script to the big screen; it's also the one script he did NOT write (his editor and her childhood friend wrote it).

* TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised: ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me'', although it doesn't really resolve much.

You can now vote for your favourite Lynch film [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/Sandbox/BestFilmDavidLynch here!]]

* CircusOfFear: The Elephant Man tries to escape one.

* CreepyHighPitchedVoice: Some of his songs feature him singing in an eerie tone. ''Crazy Clown Time'' is a notable example. It doesn't help that he has a slightly high, nasally voice normally.
* CrypticConversation: All the time.

* DadaAd: He directed a couple of commercials. They are [[TheWalrusWasPaul just as]] [[MindScrew bizarre]] as you might expect from the man.

* FisherKing: In ''Dune''

* LighterAndSofter: ''The Straight Story''. No real explanation required considering that it is a Creator/{{Disney}} film.

* MindScrew: Mr. Lynch is a mental Lothario.
** A woman named Lotje Sodderland wrote him a letter about how she suffered brain damage during a stroke and found that his films bore an uncanny resemblance to the way her mind worked now. Lynch responded by producing a documentary about her, titled ''My Beautiful Broken Brain''.

* MustHaveCaffeine: Contrary to popular belief, Lynch never uses drugs, but he drinks an ungodly amount of coffee while on set. Coffee is also a recurring motif in his work itself, especially ''Twin Peaks''.
* MythArc: Averted trope
** ''WildMassGuessing'', however, is put on another scale of existence.

* NoIndoorVoice: Appears to have this in real life, which is played up by his character on ''Twin Peaks''.

* PrecisionFStrike: While in most interviews and public appearances, Lynch is known for his [[MinnesotaNice affable, all-American politeness]], he has been known to drop the occasional unexpected F-bomb when enraged about certain topics - perhaps most famously his views regarding [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKiIroiCvZ0 using smartphones to watch films]] and his views on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4wh_mc8hRE product placement]].

* SurrealHorror: One of the masters of it.
* SurrealHumor: Here and there.
* SurrealMusicVideo: [[RuleOfThree Ditto.]]
* SweetTooth: He's known for his love of chocolate milkshakes and coffee with lots of sugar, even citing both as a major part of his creative process.

* TomatoInTheMirror: Part of the plot of ''Mulholland Drive'', maybe.

David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946, in Missoula, Montana) is a filmmaker, artist, musician, writer, and occasional actor. He is widely deemed one of the most acclaimed and influential filmmakers of his time for his idiosyncratic audiovisual style, as well as arguably the most popular director regularly associated with {{surrealism}}.

If you want to appreciate Lynch's craft, traditional methods of interpretation aren't gonna cut it. Lynch resists any sort of attempts at rational analysis and is really concerned with being in gnostic control of his stories. Any interview question regarding the meaning of his works [[ShrugOfGod gets shut down instantly]]. If he wanted the audience to pop-psychoanalyze his creations, he would open the floor up for discussion, but he doesn't. The point of his utilization of dream logic is that the metaphorical, figurative, or thematic connection between things is ''always'' arbitrary and that this can never be taken too lightly.

Since May 11th, 2020, he's been posting daily videos of himself reading the weather reports for LA and picking numbered balls from a jar on his [[https://www.youtube.com/c/DAVIDLYNCHTHEATER/videos YouTube channel.]] Yes, every single day. [[CrazyEnoughToWork And it has a]] [[MundaneMadeAwesome dedicated fanbase]] (he originally did them for a few weeks in 2009, but it didn't catch on. The UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic lockdowns greatly helped the second attempt).

* FanDisservice: One of the hallmarks of David Lynch's projects is that they often prominently feature scenes that could or should be profoundly erotic, but which are instead horrifying or disturbing due to context or theme. ''Mulholland Drive'' is particularly notorious for it, but there's a famous sequence late in ''Lost Highway'' where Patricia Arquette is fully nude and it's somehow one of the most ominous shots in the film.

If you want to appreciate Lynch's craft, traditional methods of interpretation aren't gonna cut it. Lynch resists any sort of attempts at rational analysis and is really concerned with being in gnostic control of his stories. Any interview question about the meaning of his works [[ShrugOfGod gets shut down instantly]]. If he wanted the audience to pop-psychoanalyze his creations, he would open the floor up for discussion, but he doesn't. The point of his utilization of dream logic is that the metaphorical, figurative, or thematic connection between things is ''always'' arbitrary and that this can never be taken too lightly.

Obvious influences on his films are Creator/FedericoFellini, Creator/BillyWilder, Creator/EdWood, ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', FilmNoir, 1950s pop music (and [[TheFifties '50s]] culture in general), [[{{Film/Dracula 1931}} Tod]] [[Film/{{Freaks}} Browning]] and [[Film/UnChienAndalou Luis Buñuel]]. [[ProductionPosse Frequent collaborators]] include Creator/KyleMacLachlan, Creator/LauraDern, Creator/IsabellaRossellini, Angelo Badalamenti, and the late Creator/HarryDeanStanton and Jack Nance.

David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946 in Missoula, Montana) is a filmmaker, artist, musician, writer and occasional actor. He is widely deemed one of the most acclaimed and influential filmmakers of his time for his idiosyncratic audiovisual style, as well as arguably the most popular director regularly associated with {{surrealism}}.

Like Creator/AlfredHitchcock, Creator/AkiraKurosawa and Creator/KathrynBigelow, Lynch was originally trained as a painter. Motivated by a desire to see his paintings in motion, he went into filmmaking in the late 1960s. His short "[[{{Squick}} Six Men Getting Sick]]" won a cash prize; from this point forward, he would be a professional filmmaker.

If you want to appreciate Lynch's craft, traditional methods of interpretation aren't gonna cut it. Lynch resists any sort of attempts at rational analysis and is really concerned with being in gnostic control of his stories. Any interview question about the meaning of his works [[ShrugOfGod gets shut down instantly]]. If he wanted the audience to pop-psychoanalyze his creations, he would open the floor up for discussion, but he doesn't. The point of his utilization of dream logic is that the metaphorical, figurative, or thematic connection between things is ''always'' arbitrary, and that this can never be taken too lightly.

Since May 11th, 2020, he's been posting daily videos of himself reading the weather reports for LA and picking numbered balls from a jar on his [[https://www.youtube.com/c/DAVIDLYNCHTHEATER/videos YouTube channel.]] Yes, every single day. [[CrazyEnoughToWork And it has a]] [[MundaneMadeAwesome dedicated fanbase]] (he'd originally did them for a few weeks in 2009, but it didn't catch on. The UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic lockdowns greatly helped the second attempt).

* ''Wisteria'' (upcoming) -- A Netflix series which began production in May of 2021. Not much is known about it at present.

He has also made many short films, television commercials and music videos.

** The Straight Story is something he did mostly because he wanted to translate the feeling he had when he first read the script to the big screen; its also the one script he did NOT write (his editor and her childhood friend wrote it).

* GrotesqueGallery: He's very fond of deformed or unusual looking characters, such as the baby and the Woman in the Radiator in ''Eraserhead'', Joseph Merrick in ''The Elephant Man'', the pustulent Baron Harkonnen in ''Dune'', and the various Lodge spirits in ''Twin Peaks''.

** A woman named Lotje Sodderland wrote him a letter about how she suffered brain damage during a stroke, and found that his films bore an uncanny resemblance to the way her mind worked now. Lynch responded by producing a documentary about her, titled ''My Beautiful Broken Brain''.
* MocksteryTale: He is quite fond of this; he's actually known as "the first popular surrealist" because his movies are MindScrew in trendy neo-noir wrappers featuring police, mafia and conspiracies... as well as supernatural creatures and mind-boggling surrealism.

Since May 11th, 2020, he's been posting daily videos of himself reading the weather reports for LA and picking numbered balls from a jar on his [[https://www.youtube.com/c/DAVIDLYNCHTHEATER/videos YouTube channel.]] Yes, every single day. [[CrazyEnoughToWork And it has a]] [[MundaneMadeAwesome dedicated fanbase.]] (He'd originally did them for a few weeks in 2009, but it didn't catch on.)

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DavidLynch1.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:David Lynch has a chicken.\\

Obvious influences on his films are Creator/FedericoFellini, Creator/BillyWilder, Creator/EdWood, ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', FilmNoir, 1950s pop music (and [[TheFifties '50s]] culture in general), [[{{Film/Dracula 1931}} Tod]] [[Film/{{Freaks}} Browning]] and [[Film/UnChienAndalou Luis Buñuel]]. [[ProductionPosse Frequent collaborators]] include Creator/KyleMacLachlan, Creator/LauraDern, Creator/HarryDeanStanton, Isabella Rossellini, Angelo Badalamenti, and the late Jack Nance.

* ''Film/LostHighway'' (1997) -- A return to the neo-noir style of ''Blue Velvet'' with an even more surreal plot.

* BezerkButton: According to Creator/LauraDern, bringing a water bottle onto the set.

David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946 in Missoula, Montana) is a filmmaker, artist, musician, writer and occasional actor. He is widely acclaimed and influential for his idiosyncratic audiovisual style, often consisting of "dream logic" or {{surrealism}}.

* ''Series/TwinPeaks'' -- TV series that aired from 1990-91 on Creator/{{ABC}} and returned in 2017 on Creator/{{Showtime}}, often considered a landmark in TV drama.

* ''On the Air'' (1992) -- A short-lived SitCom that aired on Creator/{{ABC}}.

* ''Film/TheGrandmother'' (1970)(short film)
* ''{{Film/Eraserhead}}'' (1977) (His debut feature film, made over the course of 6 years, became one of the first films in the 'Midnight Movie' circuit.)
* ''Film/TheElephantMan'' (1980) (Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick and unlike the later mentioned ''The Straight Story'', Lynch co-wrote the script here.)
* ''Film/{{Dune|1984}}'' (1984) (Based on the novel by Creator/FrankHerbert, Lynch's only OldShame due to the fact he didn't have final cut and Creator/{{Universal}} going behind his back to make a Made for TV Cut)
* ''Film/BlueVelvet'' (1986) (Made after the failure of Dune, deliberately on a smaller scale. Unlike Dune, won critical acclaim and is often considered one of the best films of the 80s)
* ''Film/WildAtHeart'' (1990) (Based on the novel by Barry Gifford.)
* ''Series/TwinPeaks'' (TV series that aired from 1990-91 on Creator/{{ABC}}, returned in 2017 on Creator/{{Showtime}}, one of the most influential shows on TV)
* ''Film/TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe'' (1992, a theatrical film {{prequel}} to the TV series)
* ''On the Air'' (1992, a short-lived SitCom that aired on Creator/{{ABC}})
* ''Film/LostHighway'' (1997) (Working with Creator/BarryGifford again, this time he co-wrote the script with Lynch)
* ''Film/TheStraightStory'' (1999). Wait for it... ''[[CreatorsOddball a G-rated Disney movie with a conventional plot]].'' (Also the only film of his he didn't write, which probably explains a lot. Based on a real event from 1994.)
* ''Film/MulhollandDrive'' (2001) (Originally a Pilot for Creator/{{ABC}}, was rejected until Creator/StudioCanal and Creator/{{Universal}} picked it up as a film)
* ''WebAnimation/{{Dumbland}}'' (2002) (Animated web series that aired exclusively on his website)
* ''Film/InlandEmpire'' (2006) (originally an experimental project to test his digital camera, was later expanded thanks to funding from Studio Canal)
* ''Film/WhatDidJackDo'' (2020) (17-minute short film released on Netflix, originally made for an art exhibit in 2016)
* ''Wisteria'' (upcoming) (A Netflix series, which began production in May of 2021. Not much is known about it at present)

Like Creator/AlfredHitchcock, Creator/AkiraKurosawa and Creator/KathrynBigelow, he was originally trained as a painter. Motivated by a desire to see his paintings in motion, he went into filmmaking in the late 1960s. His short "[[{{Squick}} Six Men Getting Sick]]" won a cash prize. From this point forward, he would be a professional filmmaker.

Obvious influences on his films are Creator/FedericoFellini, Creator/BillyWilder, Creator/EdWood, ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', FilmNoir, 1950s pop music (and [[TheFifties '50s]] culture in general), [[{{Film/Dracula 1931}} Tod]] [[Film/{{Freaks}} Browning]] and [[Film/UnChienAndalou Luis Buñuel]]. Frequent collaborators include Creator/KyleMacLachlan, Creator/LauraDern, Creator/HarryDeanStanton, Isabella Rossellini, Angelo Badalamenti, and the late Jack Nance.

Since May 11th, 2020, he's been posting daily videos of himself reading the weather reports for LA and picking numbered balls from a jar on his [[https://www.youtube.com/c/DAVIDLYNCHTHEATER/videos YouTube channel.]] Yes, every single day. [[CrazyEnoughToWork And it has a dedicated fanbase.]] (He'd originally did them for a few weeks in 2009 but it didn't catch on.)

* ''{{Film/Eraserhead}}'' (1977)
* ''Film/TheElephantMan'' (1980)
* ''Film/{{Dune|1984}}'' (1984)
* ''Film/BlueVelvet'' (1986)
* ''Film/WildAtHeart'' (1990) (Based on the novel by Barry Gifford)
* ''Series/TwinPeaks'' (TV series 1990-91 on Creator/{{ABC}}, returned in 2017 on Creator/{{Showtime}})

* ''Film/MulhollandDrive'' (2001) (Originally a Pilot for Creator/{{ABC}}, was rejected until Studio Canal and Creator/{{Universal}} picked it up as a film)