PATTERN RECOGNITION

Never Be Another

Thoughts of a Longtime David Lynch Fan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gary Flanagan

 

(Added 22nd January 2025)

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When I heard the news recently about the passing of David Lynch, it hit me hard. Very hard. To say I was a fan of his work would indeed be an understatement. There are a handful of artists we encounter throughout our lives who bring us some kind of airy amusement. But then there are the select few who occupy a very sacred niche. These are the ones who go beyond just entertaining us. They inspire, influence and leave a stamp on your being that somehow shapes you. For me, this was exactly the impact that Lynch had on me.

            I think the very first time I ever encountered Lynch was his film Blue Velvet. I was about fourteen years old when this film was released. I believe I rented it on VHS, mostly out of total curiosity. I was one of those outsider kids at my school who would much rather talk about art films and underground music than hockey or partying. Much of Blue Velvet went way over my head, and as was often the case with Lynch’s work, I was perplexed. But at the same time, I was absolutely fascinated. This was my first foray into a delightfully twisted, macabre and bizarre world. I was hooked.

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            Also around this time, a friend of mine in the United States sent me a VHS tape with four movies on it. It was recorded at SLP speed, so the quality was dreadful. There was a complete lack of detail, and the sound was very faint and hissy. One of the films on the tape was Eraserhead. Now, right off the bat, most would agree that this film is damn cold and alien. But the bootleg copy on my VHS tape was even more the stuff of nightmares. I soaked it up and completely adored it. Fortunately, years later I got to see a pristine copy on DVD; and I am glad I did, because I was finally able to enjoy and appreciate the dramatic black and white, and the immaculate use of lighting to enhance the overall creepy mood of the film.

            A few years later Twin Peaks came along. To be honest, at that time I didn’t really get into it. I think I was too occupied with the local theatre scene and spending much of my time rehearsing in a musty local theatre. But I did finally get to see it years later and was again very drawn in and entranced. I should also mention that I did go see his rendition of Dune in the theatres when it was first released. I think I went expecting it to be something like Star Wars, but it couldn’t have been further from that ilk. But again, yet another example of not being absolutely sure what was going on, but still being completely and totally enthralled. They say that the mark of any great artist is someone who polarizes people. Spectators are either obsessive or fully put off. I can’t think of any artist who accomplished this more thoroughly than Lynch.

            In many ways I would also say that one of his strongest offerings was Mulholland Drive. The reason I say this is that this film very successfully took the glimmer and glitz image of Hollywood that I had grown up with and completely turned it on its head. No longer did the Tinseltown that I saw on my family’s floor-model Zenith TV look as bright or alluring. This was a Hollywood that was deranged, threatening and quite literally one that had a monster around every corner. But again, Lynch was a master at making such worlds completely enthralling. I often felt with Lynch’s offerings that I was not watching a movie – I was witnessing someone’s dream.

            To be frank (and at the risk of sounding incredibly uncool) it was Lynch’s more linear and traditional films that interested me the most. My two favorite Lynch films are The Elephant Man and The Straight Story. I still love the claustrophobic intensity of The Elephant Man, and much like Eraserhead there is no way possible that I could imagine this film in colour. I still maintain that The Straight Story is one of the most honest and sincere films I have ever seen. There is truth in every frame, and ultra accurate insights about family and relationships in almost every scene. As I mentioned, as is often the case with Lynch, this film goes far beyond simply being entertainment. It feels like gospel to me.

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            I have heard many people comment that “There will never be another David Lynch”. Of course not. There’s no way. This was a man whose vision was so entirely unique and powerful, that no other filmmaker could even come close to drawing us into such terrifying and foreboding visual landscapes. Knowing that such a unique creative force has left us forever is, for me, probably the principle reason why I found the news of his passing so tough. The world now definitely seems like a slightly more lackluster and dull version of itself.

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Gary Flanagan is a Canadian singer-songwriter and electronic musician who has released over a dozen albums in a career spanning three decades. Between 1999 and 2005 he published Nightwaves, an electronic-music-focussed zine that carried on as a website until 2015. Based out of New Brunswick, he also has considerable experience in theatre and photography. His latest album, the outtakes collection From The Vaults / Volume 1 (2024), is available from Bandcamp.

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