Of course I'm in the mood to watch David Lynch projects lately. But what to watch? I first read of his death early in the morning before I went to work on Friday. I had time to watch one of his short films on The Criterion Channel. The Grandmother had actually been on my mind for a couple weeks because some of the students I've worked with have similar relationships with a grandparent. I guess it's kind of inevitable here in Japan with its aging population and high divorce rate.
The Grandmother, from 1970, is one of Lynch's earliest films. It's not one of his best but it's certainly interesting. Using a combination of stop motion and live action, Lynch depicts a boy and his parents sprouting from the ground like plants. When the boy's parents turn out to be abusive, he plants a seed in the upstairs bedroom and grows a grandmother. The work already shows what was fundamental to Lynch's genius; his ability to show something that's simultaneously very strange and yet perfectly normal. Lynch is often imitated but his imitators almost always fail to effectively strike that balance. It's not that Lynch holds a distorted mirror up to the audience, it's as if he presents an undistorted mirror for the first time and we realise just how weird human beings are.
On Friday night I watched Wild at Heart, Lynch's 1990 feature film starring Nicholas Cage and Laura Dern. There's always something amiable about even the darkest road movie and this one's not particularly dark. It's always a pleasure taking a ride with Sailor and Lula.
On Saturday, I watched the first episode of the 2017 Twin Peaks revival. I'd just finished a rewatch of Twin Peaks last year and I'd intended to give it a break for a while. But I just couldn't resist. It is amazing how captivating that show is. I can't remember another situation in my life where my highest expectations for something were not only met but exceeded. Every scene in that episode is perfectly constructed to keep me absorbed. I love the cops trying to get into Ruth Davenport's apartment. I love the reunion with the brothers Horne. I love Sam and Tracey's tryst and the menacing glass box. I still can't believe we were blessed with eighteen episodes of this.
After Lynch's death, Ted Sarandos, a CEO at Netflix, has spoken about the secret project Lynch had been working on for the streaming service. I honestly thought it was dead but it seems it wasn't. Oh, what could have been!
X Sonnet #1913: David Lynch Edition
A shiny red, her lips seduced the phone.
Receivers hide a mask of clay and fur.
The jagged lines of night disperse the bone.
A diner dance became a drowsy blur.
Erasers sort the fear of life to dreams.
A pachyderm unjustly took the blame.
A vibrant dune enriched the desert teams.
But velvet earned the man his better name.
The logging town concealed its bloody heart.
A broken love in gold was buried wrong.
Eccentric lovers played a dizzy part.
The path of stone precedes the plaintive song.
The real and strangest worlds your soul will tease.
Enjoy your cherry pie with java please.
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