The A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things festival will reveal to the audience the weird nightmare world of David Lynch and try to consider his vision and unique style in historical and cinematic perspective. His role as an innovator and director of surrealistic films will be highlighted, and there will be an effort to recreate the atmosphere and mood of his movies. During this Festival, six films will be screened: Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway, Inland Empire, and Wild At Heart. Moreover, the audience will be able to participate in various special events: an opening party, a piano and singing performance, a surrealist exhibition, a small cocktail party with David Lynch, a small alternative music concert, and a masked ball.
Let’s investigate the fine line between innocent lives and disturbing crime and violence in the world of David Lynch
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
01.
THE DIRECTOR David Lynch Biography Filmography Interviews
02.
THE FILMS Blue Velvet Twin Peaks : Fire Walk With Me Mulholland Drive Lost Highway Inland Empire Wild at Heart REFERENCES
03.
THE FESTIVAL Schedule Directions About the Venues Special Events
“I JUST LIKE GOING INTO STRANGE WORLDS.” — DAVID LYNCH
01.
THE DIRECTOR DAVID LYNCH BIOGRAPHY FILMOGRAPHY INTERVIEWS
D
The Director
BIOGRAPHY
DAVID LYNCH David Keith Lynch is an American director, screenwriter, visual artist, musician, actor and author. He is well known for the unique and surreal style of his films and has had an influential career.
Many of his works disturb, scare, or mystify the audience, and he makes an ambiguous boundary between the conscious and unconscious and dream and reality. When he was at the Pennsylvania Art Academy, he made his first short film, Alphabet (1968). After graduating from school, he made a 16mm short film called The Grandmother (1970). He
then was inspired to make a movie about a young couple who have a deformed child. This project took from 1971 to 1977 to finish and than was released as Eraserhead (1977). After Eraserhead, Lynch gained attention in the film industry with The Elephant Man (1980). Blue Velvet (1986) and the Twin Peaks series made him famous as the king of cult movies. Wild at Heart (1990) and Lost Highway (1997) are also two of his major films. Lynch was influenced by European film makers and then American directors and admires the spirit of “get down and thrill your soul” he sees in the European directors. Lynch has mentioned his admiration of Stanley Kubrick, Federico Fellini, Werner Herzog and Jaques Tati and has also cited Herk Harvey’s Carnival of Souls (1962) as an influence on his work. Regarding Lynch’s work, leading film critics Le Blanc and Odell state that “his films are so packed with motifs, recurrent characters, images, compositions and techniques that you could view his entire output as one large jigsaw puzzle of ideas.” One of his striking techniques is the usage of dreams and dream-like imagery and structures. His work also shows a surrealistic ethos, and most of the time the stories blur the lines between dream and reality, with some focus on crime, deviant behavior and dark humor. Lynch believed that his movies also have a ‘spiritual’ quality. 13
David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
FILMOGRAPHY 1967
Six Men Getting Sick Absurd Encounter with Fear Fictitious Anacin Commercial
1968
The Alphabet
1969
The Grandmother
1974
The Amputee
1977
Eraserhead
1980
The Elephant Man Heart Beat
1984
Dune
1986
Blue Velvet
1987
The Cowboy and The Frenchman
1988
Zelly and Me
1990
Pilot Wild at Heart Industrial Symphony No.1 Hollywood Mavericks For One Week Only
1991
The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez Dangerous teaser
1992
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
1993
The King of Ads
1994
Nadja Crumb
1995
Premonition Following an Evil Deed Lumiere Ads Company
1997
Lost Highway Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch
1999
The Straight Story
2001
Mulholland Dr. I Don’t Know Jack Eraserhead Stories Darkened Room The Short Films of David Lynch Rabbits
14
The Director
Oscars N
8
BAFTA W
Golden Globe
N
W
N
7
3
4
W
Cannes Film Festival N
W
Palme d’Or
Palme d’Or
1 1
1
2
1
1
Palme d’Or
1 1
2
1
2
Palme d’Or
4
Palme d’Or
Palme d’Or
David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
2002
DumbLand
2004
Epreuves d’ Artistes Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments
2005
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstrea
2006
Inland Empire Dynamic:01: The Best of DavidLynch.com
2007
To Each His Own Cinema Absurda Boat Bug Crawls Lamp Industrial Soundscape Intervalometer Experiments Lynch Donovan: The Donovan Concert Live in L.A. More Things That Happened Ballerina
2008
Surveillance Sunshine Superman: That Journey of Donovan
2009
Soul Detective Transcendendo Lynch My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? Great Directors
2010
Lady Blue Shanghai 2012: Time for Change
2011
The 3 Rs
2012
Meditation, Creativity, Peace I Touch a Red Button Man Side by Side
16
2013
Idem Paris
2014
Duran Duran: Unstaged
2016
My Beautiful Broken Brain
The Director
Lynch’s films include elements of horror, disturbing thrillers, nightmares, surrealism, the supernatural and characters with split personalities or even mental illness. These themes appear in a situation that might seem normal or like “daily life.” Lynch also sets most of his movies in innocent 1950’s-style America but with a frightening and violent background. People in the movies seem ordinary but at some point, the stories suddenly turn to their dreams, unconscious and uncertainty. The films chosen for this festival represent these themes and ideas, and they contain many of Lynch’s most famous characters and scenes.
David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
INTERVIEW David Lynch, of course, is best known
almost neoclassical, wholesome
Night of the Soul. (In addition, he worked
as the vanguard director of dreamlike
archetypes that one might find in the
with Interpol via the Creators Project
and disturbingly allegorical films such
movies of the ’50s and ’60s by directors
on a short film shown at the Coachella
as Eraserhead (1977), The Elephant Man
like Nicholas Ray and Billy Wilder; yet
music festival last spring.) Lynch has also
(1980), Blue Velvet (1986), and
his films are also uncompromising
added interior designer to his wide-rang-
Mulholland Drive (2001)—movies that
explorations of the societal id and the
ing résumé, helping to conceive of and
are as idiosyncratic and independently
dark underside of American dreaming.
create the decor of the semiprivate club
spirited as movies come, yet consistently
And as much as he has created within
Silencio in Paris, which opened last year.
flirt with a kind of mainstream Americana.
the confines of popular culture, he has
Films like Wild at Heart (1990) and Lost
continued to be an outlier; he has been
In conversation, the 66-year-old Lynch
Highway (1997) teem with sex and
nominated for three Academy Awards for
proves to be a living, breathing analog to
violence that is anything but cartoonish,
directing—most recently in 2001 for
his art: a beguiling combination of the cos-
while Lynch’s heartland tale, The Straight
Mulholland Drive, for which he won the
mic and the mundane, the surreal and an
Story (1999), proved clean enough to
Palme d’Or at Cannes and which helped
abnormally normal-seeming normal. We
earn a G rating. He has consistently
launch the career of yet another of his
spoke in Los Angeles, where Lynch lives.
coaxed vivid, career-defining perfor-
leading ladies, Naomi Watts—then, just
mances out of his female leads, including
five years later, he opted to self-distribute
MATT DIEHL: I’ve noticed a thread
Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern, and
his next film, Inland Empire (2006).
throughout your recent activity. You’ve
Sherilyn Fenn. In 1990, well before shows
made a new album, you helped put
like The Sopranos or Mad Men transformed
Although Lynch hasn’t put out a feature
together a new nightclub, you have the
series television into a creative hotbed,
film in more than half a decade, he has
comprehensive Works on Paper book
Lynch revolutionized the medium with
hardly been idle. He began his creative
that brings together all the strands of
Twin Peaks, a stark, surreal serial about
life in Missoula, Montana, as a painter,
your visual art, you’ve taken film
the investigation into the death of
and recently compiled Works on Paper
distribution into your own hands. Adultery
a homecoming queen in a small town in
(Steidl), a career-spanning monograph
is something of a prominent theme in
Washington. He was also an early
of his wide-ranging output as a visual
your films, and you currently seem to
adopter of the Internet as a forum for
artist. Renowned for his meticulous
be in a moment of creative promiscuity,
creative work, producing a set of
sound design and the innovative use of
philandering between genres and mediums.
online shorts dubbed Dumbland, as well
music in his movies, Lynch also released
as a sitcom, Rabbits, about a family of
his critically acclaimed first solo album
DAVID LYNCH: [laughs] Right. You know,
humanoid bunnies.
as a musician and singer, Crazy Clown
I’ve always said cinema combines so
Time (Sunday Best), late last year,
many different art forms. As a kid, I was
Lynch’s career, though, has, in many
which followed his musical and visual
always building things. My father had a
ways, embodied the great dichotomies in
collaboration with Danger Mouse and
shop in the house, and we built things—
his work. As a director, his characters are
Sparklehorse on the 2010 album Dark
we were kind of a project family. I started
The Director
out as a painter, and then painting led to cinema, and in cinema, you get to build so many things, or help build them. Then cinema led to so many different areas—it led to still photography, music . . . Furniture is also a big love of mine. I started building these kind of sculptural lamps. Then I got into lithography at this printing place in Madison, Wisconsin, called Tandem Press. For the last four years, I’ve been working on lithography in Paris at a great, great printing studio called Idem. And I’ve always been painting along the way, as well as doing drawings
LYNCH: The name was inspired by it, but
off them, with pods that you can sit on.
and watercolors . . . There are just so many
not the actual club itself. What happened
It was important to me that everything
things out there for us to do.
was, they asked me if I wanted to help
feel very warm, so we created this wall
design this club in Paris. It was a strange
treatment out of wood blocks covered
place—it was way underground and the
in different types of gold, which catches
space was fairly small. But now the club
light in a really beautiful way. I’m real
seems very big—it seems a lot bigger
happy with that. I also designed this
than it did when I first saw it. I designed
sink for the restrooms—I’m really happy
the walls, floor, and ceilings. In this one
with that sink. These things, you just
particular room, the walls curve into
don’t know what’s going to come next.
the ceiling. My whole idea was to make
It’s great to be given the possibility of
a place that you felt good being in. I
designing a sink; ideas start coming that
DIEHL: As I understand it, when you orig-
designed many different things—the
you never thought about before. A person
inally got into film, it was to try to make
stage and the movie theater, which is
doesn’t really think too much about
your paintings move. Is that correct?
spectacular. You can go from hearing the
a sink, but when you do, ideas come that
loudest music into this very beautiful,
are really beautiful. So the club has
LYNCH: Yes.
comfortable theater to watch a film. I also
a great feeling now. It’s very beautiful to
I wanted to make a moving painting.
designed what they call a “yellow forest”:
be inside this club, Silencio.
“I’M NOT A MUSICIAN, BUT I PLAY MUSIC. SO IT’S A STRANGE THING.” — DAVID LYNCH
it’s a smoking room in the club, with DIEHL: It’s funny because I recently
these steel yellow trees that go from floor
watched The Alphabet [1968], one of the
to ceiling with these little lights coming
early shorts that you made in art school, and it reminded me exactly of that: it was as if a Francis Bacon painting had come to life. LYNCH: Ah, well, Francis Bacon is one of my giant inspirations. I just love him to pieces. DIEHL: Speaking of inspirations, the members-only nightclub you recently opened in Paris, Silencio, was inspired by the fictional nightclub in Mulholland Drive, wasn’t it? 19
DIEHL: From what I understand, the location
LYNCH: That came about with these
Dean and I started working, and out came
of Silencio is historical. The building, on
two guys I work with, Eric and Erik. I hate
the song “Good Day Today.” We played
the rue Montmartre, was designed by the
making coffee, but one of them started
it for Brian, who loved it, and he gave it
creators of the Eiffel Tower.
getting heavy into making signature
to Jason Bentley [music director of Los
designs on the foam of the cappuccinos,
Angeles radio station KCRW], and the
LYNCH: I don’t know the whole history
and then the other started telling me I
story goes that Jason thought the song
of it, but there’s metalwork in there that
should have my own brand of coffee. So
was by Underworld.
would make you think of the Eiffel Tower.
one thing led to another, and it happened.
DIEHL: Since it opened last October,
DIEHL: You make sinks, you make
He played “Good Day Today” on his
Silencio has hosted performances by the
coffee—is it possible that you might
radio show and introduced it as the new
likes of The Kills, Lykke Li, and parties for
someday have a kind of David Lynch
Underworld single.
Kanye West and Chanel, among other
version of IKEA, where everything
events. The New York Times wrote that
necessary for everyday life is created
LYNCH: Not only did he play it on the
“it has been compared to the Dadaists’
with your vision?
radio, but Jason took it to Ibiza and
DIEHL: I heard that as it was happening.
Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, Andy Warhol’s
played it for two guys named Ben Turner
Factory in New York, and the existen-
LYNCH: No, no—I’m not doing that!
and Rob da Bank. They liked it so much,
tialists’ Café Flore on the Left Bank.” It
I’d have to quit everything and just design
they said, “We want to put this out on our
seems intended to be a kind of hub for
away . . . But it would be kind of fun.
label, Sunday Best.” It’s a tiny company,
new bohemian culture. When I first heard about it, it reminded me of the golden age
DIEHL: You’ve been making music for
of New York City nightlife, where you had
years, starting with the soundtrack
places like the Mudd Club, where you had
to Eraserhead. But last year you released
all of these disparate people—artists,
your first proper solo album, Crazy
professionals, people with money, people
Clown Time.
with no money—meet and exist in the same space.
“I’M SEEING SOMETHING THAT WAS ALWAYS HIDDEN.”
LYNCH: Right. I worked on that with my
— DAVID LYNCH
friend and engineer “Big” Dean Hurley. LYNCH: Well, I don’t know about
We pretty much did everything together
bohemian . . . It’s a club that people have
except for the track “Pinky’s Dream,”
a good time in. I’m not sure who the
which we did with Karen O.
clients are all the time, although they
but they got that music out in a big, big way. Then they came to me and said,
seem to be a good bunch. But Arnaud
DIEHL: Many tracks on Crazy Clown Time
“We’d love to do an album. Do you have
[Frisch], the owner—that’s what his
have a surprising dance-music influence.
more songs?” And we had a bunch, and
whole wish was, that Silencio would be
A lot of them would weirdly work in a DJ
that’s what became Crazy Clown Time.
a meeting place for all different types
set at a club.
of people. That’s the feeling it has. Paris
DIEHL: Where did the title come from?
is now the second-best city in the world
LYNCH: My music agent, Brian Loucks,
for me. The French have been my great
always brings people up for a coffee, then
LYNCH: The title came from the song
friends, and they believe in a director
we talk, and then sometimes it forms
“Crazy Clown Time.” The lyrics tell
having final cut. They don’t understand
into a collaboration. Brian has brought
a story of the time . . . It’s a traditional
any other way. They protect the artist.
up some great people over the years. So
backyard story that involves girls and
I had been working on music, and one
guys and beer.
DIEHL: You’ve always been considered an
of the first people Brian was going to
auteur as a filmmaker, but it seems like
bring up to meet about it was into dance
DIEHL: In addition to the club grooves,
you’ve become an auteur of many things.
music. After that, I started thinking about
many of the songs are deeply rooted in
I heard that you now even have your own
dance music, and all of a sudden some
the blues tradition. What do the blues
brand of coffee beans.
lyrics and a little tune came. The next day,
mean to you?
The Director
21
David Lynch Film Festival
LYNCH: Well, I love the dirty, rough-running power of the blues-based electric guitar. I like the idea of a gasoline-powered guitar, where you’ve got an accelerator, and you can push down on it and it just revs up. The great blues music is very simple, but sophisticatedly so. It’s so beautiful, this world that the great blues men and women conjured up. It’s got such a mood and a way of moving, and that was a big inspiration. DIEHL: I was also intrigued by Karen O’s DIEHL: I know you were initially drawn to
appearance on the record. That’s the only
art by expressionist painters like Oskar
outside collaboration on the album, and
Kokoschka and Francis Bacon, who in
the only song that you don’t sing. How did
a weird way were doing a kind of European,
that come about?
visual expression of blues emotion. LYNCH: Several years ago, Brian LYNCH: That’s exactly right. There are
introduced me to Karen O. On that trip,
so many similarities between the blues
nothing happened, but then last year,
and a lot of painting.
Karen O appeared again. She came in, and I gave her the lyrics, then she listened to the track over and over. She kind of sat there, you know, thinking, going over things in her mind. It was quite a comfortable situation. Then, at a certain point, Karen went into the booth and knocked the song out of the park. DIEHL: Had you known about Karen O’s work with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and her other music?
22
The Director
LYNCH: Sure, but I felt like this was kind of its own thing. The way Karen O says the word pinky, it brings Pinky, as a character, alive. Pinky was in my mind, but not as good as that. Karen made Pinky a character that you kind of know and really care for. DIEHL: You have a sort of magic with female characters. I found it kind of genius that you included that feminine energy in there. Karen O serves as a kind of presence in your music the way,
I also work on music with this other girl,
It’s really beautiful and interesting when
say, Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive or
Chrysta Bell, and she’s a real leading
the two meet. When a certain girl and
Laura Dern in Wild at Heart exist as the
lady. She’s gonna be big, I hope, one day
a certain guy get together, certain things
heroines and femme fatales of your films.
soon. But I love women. I can kind of sit
are going to happen. It’s always these
and go into a world where the women . . .
combos and different characters coming
Talk to me.
together in a story that make certain
LYNCH: Yes, you’re onto something. [laughs] Well, there are different types
things happen. These things are what
of music, and sometimes Dean and I will
DIEHL: Jean-Luc Godard once said,
kind of makes it, and the women play
do a track and we know right away it’s
“All you need to make a movie is a girl
a huge role.
not for us–that it’s gonna go to some girl
and a gun.”
because it’s just that kind of thing.
DIEHL: It’s interesting because there LYNCH: Nope, you don’t need much more
are frequent connections between the
than that.
way some of the women look in your films—that sort of ’50s- or ’60s-inspired,
DIEHL: The tagline to your last film,
all-American aesthetic—and what’s
Inland Empire, was “A woman in trouble,”
going on in contemporary fashion. I
which I also thought could be the tagline
remember those hairstyles and jewel
to many of your films. In so many of them,
tones from Blue Velvet suddenly became
the women become the emotional pivot
a look, as did the extreme rockabilly style
for the action.
in Wild at Heart. Prada’s Spring 2012 collection really echoes the way some of
LYNCH: There are men and women in the
your characters dress. A couple of years
world, and they’re different in many ways.
ago, I know that you also made a short
David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
film, Lady Blue Shanghai, for Dior starring
the way she dressed everybody was
get the right person for the project.
Marion Cotillard. We know that your work
perfect, and it has to be. If that part of
Sometimes a person can be your dearest
has been an influence on fashion, but
the movie is wrong, then it’ll jump out
friend, but there’s just not a role for them
does fashion play a role in your work?
and bite you.
in the next film. That’s kind of a hardship.
LYNCH: Well, the women dress a certain
DIEHL: You’re known for having so many
rejoice, because you not only love this
way for my films, for the world. I want to
key long-standing collaborators, like
person, but you’ve worked with them
say one thing about that look: I work with
Laura Dern, Kyle MacLachlan, and the
before and developed a shorthand. It’s
this woman, Patricia Norris, with whom
late Jack Nance, for example. You’ve
a beautiful ride.
I started working on The Elephant Man.
also transformed people’s careers at
I loved the ’50s and early ’60s and that
unlikely moments, like Dennis Hopper
DIEHL: There’s a song that you sing on
sort of started the style of Blue Velvet,
[in Blue Velvet] and Robert Blake [in Lost
the soundtrack to Inland Empire . . .
but Patty deserves all the credit for the
Highway]. How do you choose whom
way people dressed in it. She has
to work with?
If they’re right for the part, though, you
a knack for putting clothes on people
LYNCH: That’s the song “Ghost of Love.” I had sung before that, but that one is
that really fit them in every way. The way
LYNCH: There are so many people I’ve
where I got more comfortable. That song,
she dressed Dennis Hopper, too . . . Well,
loved working with, but you’ve got to
I really love. It did start something . . .
The Director
DIEHL: At one point while watching
But storytelling with cinema never will
Inland Empire, I realized that I was watching
die—ever, ever, ever. The way the stories
a movie conceived by David Lynch, with
are told may change, but it will always be.
a song sung by David Lynch, over a scene conceived by David Lynch. It was like
DIEHL: It might, though, be the death
full immersion, visually and aurally, in
of film as a director’s medium, where the
that moment.
artist gets final cut. It’s interesting how so many filmmakers with established
LYNCH: That’s beautiful.
oeuvres and visionaries who have changed how we perceive cinema—
DIEHL: And then on top of that, I learned
people like you, John Waters, Gus Van
that you self-released the film. You took
Sant, and even Martin Scorsese—often
charge of every aspect of that movie,
still struggle to set up projects today.
from its creation to its distribution. LYNCH: Thousands of other filmmakers LYNCH: Well, everybody knows that
out there would agree with that. The
the art houses are pretty much gone.
studios are superreluctant to give final
It’s the mainstream films that get the
cut. They have so much money riding on
theaters now, and theaters can’t survive
these things, so they want a committee
if nobody’s coming to them, so it’s big
to go and rule the roost. The poor director
advertising and big money that talks. We
just dies a death. More and more, when
didn’t have the big money, so we figured
a committee at a studio sees something
that if we could go and book theaters and
that maybe people won’t understand,
do it on our own, then it might be the best
they’ll kill the thing quickly. It’s an insult.
way. I don’t know if it was, but that’s what
I don’t know why anyone would make
happened with Inland Empire.
a film if they couldn’t make the film they wanted to make with all the freedom and
DIEHL: In your best-selling memoir,
the support they needed. But it happens
Catching the Big Fish, you say, “For me,
every day, so you have to be independent.
film is dead.”
You have to not only find enough money to make the film, but you have to have
LYNCH: I meant that celluloid, the actual
final cut—you absolutely have to have it.
film that runs through the camera, is
Otherwise, you’re gonna die. But there’s
dead. That’s gone, and now digital is here.
always a way. Sometimes restrictions are a big blessing. When you have to build
David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
“...WE’RE ALL LIKE DETECTIVES IN LIFE. THERE’S SOMETHING AT THE END OF THE TRAIL THAT WE’RE ALL LOOKING FOR.” something yourself, ideas start coming
ideas just flowed in, in one meditation—
that never would’ve come otherwise. New
all the ideas to finish that into a feature.
ideas flow in. Happy accidents do occur. DIEHL: You’re a devotee of Transcendental DIEHL: With Inland Empire, you seemed
Meditation, which you’ve practiced for
liberated to run with your vision like
more than three decades. What does it
never before.
do for you?
LYNCH: Well, it’s a very big freedom
LYNCH: Well, you’re swimming in the
to have lightweight equipment and
transcendent twice a day, and when
a smaller crew. The pressure is so much
you swim there, the world gets bigger,
less. Pressure equates to money,
and you get wet with that, and the
so it’s really, in a way, a blessing to go
creativity grows. The Beatles, who did
low budget.
Transcendental Meditation, always talked about how the ideas for all those great
DIEHL: Mulholland Drive started out as
songs came to them when they were
a TV pilot at first. But when that failed, it
working with the Maharishi. I always say
actually opened the door for it to become
it’s not Transcendental Meditation that
a theatrical film.
does it, but the great treasury within—the great field at the base of all matter and
LYNCH: It was a closed-ended pilot, and
mind. But you need to transcend to get to
then the ideas came to make it into
that field. People have a lot of different,
a feature. I was meditating, and all these
strange ideas of what meditation is.
26
The Director
I meet people who say, “My form of
DIEHL: We live in a moment where
DIEHL: Except for Dune (1984) and The
meditation is jogging,” or “I lay in the sun.
violence is pervasive in pop culture. When
Elephant Man, all your movies are set in
That’s my form of meditation.” But that’s
you made films like Wild at Heart and
America—and often a mythic America
not meditation. You need a mental
Lost Highway, you came under fire for
of your own making. What is the myth of
technique that truly gets you to a field
the graphic depictions of violence that
America that intrigues you now?
that is beyond the field of relativity. The
they contained. But I always felt you were
key word is transcend. Transcendental
bringing that violence to the screen so
LYNCH: I’m an American, and I love
Meditation is like a key that opens the
we could transcend it, in a way.
America, even with the problems we’ve
door to that deepest level of life, that ocean of pure consciousness.
got. Stories come out from where we live LYNCH: Most films reflect the world, and
and what we hear and see and feel, so I
the world is violent and in a lot of trouble.
don’t know what will come next. It’s like
DIEHL: You’ve said meditation helped you
It’s not the other way around. The films
fishing: You just wait . . . I’m starting to
in the making of The Elephant Man, which
don’t make a peaceful world violent—the
catch ideas for the next film, but I don’t
was really your breakthrough film.
violent world made the films.
know what it is yet. It’s like I always say,
LYNCH: Meditation does open up a kind
DIEHL: In a way, though, the way you’ve
make the fish.” Desire is the bait, the
of an understanding that grows. The
reflected the very surreal world in which
fish is caught, and then the chef cooks
Elephant Man was such a gift to me. I was
we live in your films has helped make
it. Ideas are like fish. They just come to
a kid from Missoula, Montana, who had
surrealism itself a part of the popular
you sometimes, and when you’re really
made one film at that point that was
cultural discussion.
lucky, you fall in love with them and know
“The chef cooks the fish, the chef doesn’t
considered very strange by most people,
exactly what to do.
and here I was in London, England,
LYNCH: Well, I don’t know. I love the
making a Victorian drama with some of
surrealists, and I sort of understand what
the greatest actors in the world; a lot of
they’re saying, but I just think that maybe
people thought I was really not right for
things aren’t always surreal. To me,
that job. One day, I was standing in
a story can be both concrete and
a derelict hospital in East London, long
abstract, or a concrete story can hold
since it was a working hospital. The halls
abstractions. And abstractions are
had the remnants of gas lamps, and it was
things that really can’t be said so well
filled with pigeon shit and broken
with words. They’re intuited. They’re
windows. Then a wind came and kind of
understood in a different way, and
blew through me, and I suddenly knew
cinema can do those things. Cinema
exactly what it was to be alive at that time.
is a great, great language for concrete
Once I got that feeling, no one could take it
stories, and concrete stories that hold
away from me. I kind of owned it after that.
abstractions, and abstract stories. 27
“I LIKE THINGS THAT GO INTO HIDDEN, MYSTERIOUS PLACES, PLACES I WANT TO EXPLORE THAT ARE VERY DISTURBING. IN THAT DISTURBING THING, THERE IS SOMETIMES TREMENDOUS POETRY AND TRUTH..” — DAVID LYNCH
02.
THE FILMS BLUE VELVET TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME MULHOLLAND DRIVE LOST HIGHWAY INLAND EMPIRE WILD AT HEART
David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
BLUE VELVET DIRECTED BY David Lynch
RELEASE DATES September 12, 1986 (Toronto) September 19, 1986 (United States)
PRODUCED BY Fred Caruso
RUNNING TIME 120 minutes
WRITTEN BY David Lynch
COUNTRY United States
MUSIC BY Angelo Badalamenti
LANGUAGE English
CINEMATOGRAPHY Frederick Elmes
BUDGET $6 million
EDITED BY Duwayne Dunham
BOX OFFICE $8.6 million (North America)
DISTRIBUTED BY De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
32
STARRING
Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) returns to his logging home town of
Kyle MacLachlan
Lumberton, North Carolina from Oak Lake College after his father suffers
Isabella Rossellini
a near-fatal stroke. While walking home from the hospital, he cuts through
Dennis Hopper
a vacant lot and discovers a severed ear. Jeffrey takes the ear to police detective
Laura Dern
John Williams (George Dickerson) and becomes reacquainted with the detective’s
Hope Lange George Dickerson Dean Stockwell
daughter, Sandy (Laura Dern). She tells him details about the ear case and a suspicious woman, Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini), who may be connected to the case. Increasingly curious, Jeffrey enters Dorothy’s apartment by posing as an exterminator, and while Dorothy is distracted by a man dressed in a yellow suit at her door (whom Jeffrey later refers to as the Yellow Man), Jeffrey steals her spare key. Jeffrey and Sandy attend Dorothy’s nightclub act, in which she sings “Blue Velvet”, and leave early so Jeffrey can sneak into her apartment to snoop. He hurriedly hides in a closet when she returns home. However, Dorothy, wielding a knife, discovers him and threatens to kill him. Believing his curiosity is merely sexual and aroused by his voyeurism, Dorothy makes Jeffrey undress at knifepoint and begins to fellate him before their encounter is interrupted by a knock at the door. Dorothy hides Jeffrey in the closet. From there he witnesses the visitor, Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper), inflict his bizarre sexual proclivities—which include inhaling an unidentified gas (possibly amyl nitrite), dry humping, and sadomasochism—upon Dorothy. Frank is an extremely foul-mouthed, violent sociopath whose orgasmic climax is a fit of both pleasure and rage. He continually refers to
David Lynch Film Festival
34
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
Blue Velvet
The Films
“IN DREAMS YOU’RE MINE. ALL THE TIME...” her as “Mommy” and to himself as both
nothing about him, she has been yearning
the “Daddy” and the “Baby”, who “want
for him. Jeffrey attends another of
to fuck.” Frank has kidnapped Dorothy’s
Dorothy’s performances at the club,
husband and son to force her to perform
where she sings the same song. At the
sexual favors; to “Do it for van Gogh.”
club, Jeffrey spots Frank in the audience
When Frank leaves, a sad and desperate
fondling a piece of blue velvet fabric he
Dorothy tries to seduce Jeffrey again
cut from Dorothy’s robe. Jeffrey follows
and demands that he hit her, but when
Frank and spends the next few days
he refuses, she tells him to leave. When
spying on him. Shortly afterwards, two
Jeffrey moves to leave, she asks him to
men that Jeffrey calls the Well-Dressed
stay, though he leaves anyway.
Man and the Yellow Man exit an industrial building that Frank frequently visits.
Jeffrey relays his experience to Sandy,
Jeffrey concludes the men are criminal
asking her why there are people like
associates of Frank, and tells his new
Frank. Sandy in turn tells him of
findings to Sandy. The two briefly kiss,
a wonderful dream she had about robins
though she feels uncomfortable about
that she interprets as a sign of hope for
going any further. Jeffrey immediately
humanity. Jeffrey and Sandy find them-
visits Dorothy again, and the two have
selves attracted to each other, though
sex. However, when he refuses to hit
Sandy has a boyfriend.
her, she pressures him, becoming more emotional. In a blind rage he knocks her
Jeffrey again visits Dorothy’s apartment
backwards and is instantly horrified, but
and she tells him that although she knows
Dorothy derives pleasure from it.
David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
Afterwards, Frank catches Dorothy and
Jeffrey insists on returning to Dorothy’s
Jeffrey together and forces them both to
apartment and tells Sandy to immediately
accompany him to the apartment of Ben
send the police there, including her father.
(Dean Stockwell), his suave, effeminate
At Dorothy’s apartment, Jeffrey finds
partner in crime who is holding Dorothy’s
Dorothy’s husband (Don Vallens), who is
son. Ben lip-syncs a performance of Roy
dead from a gunshot to the head and
Orbison’s “In Dreams”, sending Frank
identifiable by his missing ear, as well as the
into maudlin sadness, then rage. Frank
Yellow Man (Gordon), who bears a gruesome
takes Jeffrey to a lumber yard and when
head wound and appears to have suffered
he molests Dorothy, Jeffrey stands up to
a crude lobotomy. When Jeffrey tries to leave,
Frank by punching him. Frank’s cronies
he sees the Well-Dressed Man coming up
drag Jeffrey out of the car and Frank
the stairs and recognizes him as Frank in
kisses Jeffrey’s face, intimidates him, and
disguise. Jeffrey talks to Detective Williams
then savagely beats him to the overture
over the Yellow Man’s police radio, but lies
of “In Dreams”. Jeffrey wakes the next day
about his location inside the apartment.
at the same place and walks home, over-
Frank enters the apartment and brags about
come with guilt and despair. He goes to
hearing Jeffrey’s location over his own police
the police station, where he notices that
radio. While Frank searches for him in the
Sandy’s father’s partner is the Yellow
wrong room, Jeffrey retrieves the Yellow
Man—an officer named Lieutenant
Man’s gun and hides in the same closet
Detective Tom Gordon (Fred Pickler).
in which he hid during his first visit to the
Later, at Sandy’s home, her father is
apartment. Frank fires sporadically, knocking
amazed by Jeffrey’s story, but warns
over the dead Yellow Man, who had still been
Jeffrey to stop his amateur sleuthing lest
standing up, and when he opens the closet
he endanger himself and the investigation.
door, Jeffrey fatally shoots him in the head.
Jeffrey and Sandy go to a dance together
Detective Williams, gun drawn, enters with
and profess their love, only to be confronted
Sandy a moment later. Jeffrey and Sandy
by Sandy’s boyfriend. A confrontation is
now go ahead with their relationship and note
averted when the group finds Dorothy—
the unusual appearance of robins in their
naked, battered, and distressed—on
town. A montage sequence ends the film,
Jeffrey’s front lawn. Barely conscious,
which shows Dorothy and her son reunited.
Dorothy reveals her intimacy with Jeffrey, causing Sandy to become upset and to slap Jeffrey, although she later forgives him.
Blue Velvet
The Films
37
DIRECTED BY
MUSIC BY
David Lynch
Angelo Badalamenti
PRODUCED BY
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Francis Bouygues
Ron Garcia
Gregg Fienberg EDITED BY SCREENPLAY BY
Mary Sweeney
David Lynch Robert Engels
DISTRIBUTED BY AMLF (France)
STARRING
New Line Cinema
Sheryl Lee
(United States)
Moira Kelly David Bowie Chris Isaak Harry Dean Stanton Ray Wise Kyle MacLachlan
38
The Films
TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME RELEASE DATES May 1992 (Cannes) July 3, 1992 (France)
FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole (David Lynch) sends agents Chester Desmond (Chris Isaak) and Sam Stanley (Kiefer Sutherland) to investigate the murder of drifter and teenage
August 28, 1992 (United States)
prostitute Teresa Banks in the town of Deer Meadow, Oregon.
RUNNING TIME
Desmond and Stanley view Teresa’s body at the local morgue
134 minutes
following a tense exchange with the town’s sheriff. They notice that a ring is missing from her finger and a small piece of paper
COUNTRY France United States
printed with the letter “T” has been inserted under one of her fingernails. The agents question residents about Teresa but come up with few clues so Stanley leaves Deer Meadow while Desmond remains behind. Desmond discovers Teresa’s missing
LANGUAGE English BUDGET $10 million
ring under a trailer belonging to the sheriff’s deputy. As he reaches out to it, the screen fades to black. The following day at FBI headquarters in Philadelphia, Cole and Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) experience a brief vision of their long-lost colleague Agent Phillip Jeffries
BOX OFFICE $4.2 million (North America)
(David Bowie). In a surreal montage, he tells them about a meeting he witnessed involving the Man from Another Place, Killer Bob, Mrs. Chalfont (Frances Bay) and her grandson, all mysterious spirits who appeared as characters in the original television series. Desmond is reported missing and Agent
David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
Cooper is sent to Deer Meadow to
from the house. Laura begins to suspect
investigate. The clues to Teresa’s murder
her father is Bob. That evening, while the
lead to a dead end but Cooper is certain
Palmer family is eating dinner. Leland sees
her killer will strike again.
Laura’s half-heart necklace and questions her menacingly about her “lovers.” Later, he
One year later in Twin Peaks, high school
goes into his daughter’s bedroom and tells
homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl
Laura he loves her. Laura wonders if he could
Lee) and her best friend Donna Hayward
truly be Bob.
(Moira Kelly) attend school. Laura is addicted to cocaine and is cheating on her
Before bed, Laura hangs the painting on her
boyfriend, the arrogant and ill-tempered
wall and then falls asleep. She dreams about
jock, Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook), with
entering the Black Lodge. Suddenly, Cooper
the biker James Hurley (James Marshall).
and the Man from Another Place appear in her dream. The Man from Another Place tells
Laura realizes pages are missing from her
Cooper that he is “the arm” and offers Teresa’s
secret diary and tells her friend, the
ring to Laura, but Cooper tells her not to take
agoraphobic recluse Harold Smith (Lenny
it. Laura finds Annie Blackburn (Heather
Von Dohlen) that Bob took them. Laura
Graham) next to her in bed, covered in blood.
insists that Bob is real and will kill her if
Annie tells Laura to write in her diary that “the
she does not allow him to possess her.
good Dale” is trapped in the Lodge and can’t
Laura’s face then changes color as she
leave. Laura sees the ring in her hand and is
utters the words, “Fire walk with me.”
frightened. After looking outside her bedroom
She quickly returns to normal and, visibly
door, Laura finds herself inside the painting.
shaken, gives Harold her diary to keep. She leaves saying she does not know
Laura awakens in the morning with the ring
when, or if, she will return.
gone from her hand. Disturbed, she removes the painting from her wall. Meanwhile, Bobby,
During her Meals on Wheels rounds,
Leo, and Jacques Renault discuss drug
Laura sees Mrs. Chalfont and her grandson.
scores. Jacques agrees to send someone
They give Laura a painting and warn her
to meet with him. That same evening, Laura
that the “man behind the mask” is in her
prepares to go to the Bang Bang Bar where
bedroom. Laura runs home, where she
she encounters the Log Lady. Inside the bar,
sees Bob. She rushes outside in terror
Jacques introduces Laura to two men. The
and hides in the undergrowth, then sees
group is about to leave for the Pink Room to
her father, Leland (Ray Wise), emerge
have sex, but Donna shows up. The men are
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
The Films
41
friends, but fled when he discovered Laura was among them. Teresa realized who he was and plotted to blackmail him and he killed her to prevent his secrets from being revealed. Laura realizes that Mike’s ring was the same one from her dream, and was also worn by Teresa. The next night, Laura and Bobby take cocaine in the woods, and wait for Jacques’ drug messenger, the sheriff’s deputy from Deer Meadow. The messenger
“LIFE IS FULL OF MYSTERIES, DONNA.”
delivers the drugs and takes out a gun, but Bobby shoots him first. He hastily tries to bury the messenger as Laura laughs maniacally, high on drugs. The following night, Bob comes through Laura’s window and begins having sex with her. She asks Bob repeatedly who he is and then suddenly realizes that he is Leland, and warns Leland to stay away from her the next morning. Upset, Laura uses more cocaine and has trouble concentrating at school. Bobby attempts
42
impressed with her “audition kiss” and
to initiate sex with her, but Laura refuses.
appears in the train car. Ronette finds
they allow her to come along.
Bobby realizes Laura was only using him
herself untied and opens the door to let
for his access to cocaine. He hands her
Mike in, but Leland kicks her out of the
In the Pink Room, Laura discusses Teresa
his stash, breaking off their relationship.
train car. Mike manages to throw in the
Banks’ murder with Ronette Pulaski
The angel in Laura’s painting disappears.
ring. Laura puts it on, which prevents Bob
(Phoebe Augustine). She then engages
from possessing her. Enraged, Bob stabs
in oral sex with the men. Laura becomes
In the woods, Laura tells James that “his
Laura to death. Bob/Leland places Laura’s
distraught when she sees a topless Donna
Laura” is gone. She tells him that she
body in the lake. As her corpse drifts
making out with one of the men. She
loves him and runs into the woods where
away, Bob/Leland enters the Black
takes Donna home and in the morning,
she meets Ronette, Jacques, and Leo.
Lodge, where he encounters Mike and the
Laura tells Donna she does not want
They hold an orgy in Jacques’ cabin as
Man from Another Place who tell Bob
Donna to become like her. Leland arrives
Leland watches from outside. Leland
they want all their garmonbozia (“pain
to take Laura back home. On the way
attacks Jacques outside, and Leo flees
and sorrow”). Bob pulls the blood from
home, Philip Gerard/Mike (Al Strobel),
in panic. Leland takes Laura and Ronette,
Leland’s wound and flings it to the floor.
the one-armed man, shouts at Leland
both bound, to the train car. Meanwhile,
that “the thread will be torn” and shows
Mike realizes that Bob/Leland is about to
Laura’s body washes up on the lake
Laura Teresa’s ring, but Leland and Laura
kill again and chases after him. In the train
shore, where it is found by the Sheriff’s
become frightened and drive away.
car, Laura asks Leland if he is going to kill
department the following morning.
her. She looks into a mirror and screams
Laura’s spirit later sits in the Black Lodge
Leland pulls into a gas station parking
after seeing her reflection turn into Bob,
and notices Agent Cooper at her side. He
lot to gather his wits, and recalls his affair
who says that he wants her. Meanwhile,
places a comforting hand on her shoulder.
with Teresa. He had asked Teresa to set
Ronette prays for rescue but breaks down
Laura sees an angel appear and begins to
up a foursome and invite some of her
because she is “dirty”. Suddenly, an angel
cry and then laugh. 43
David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
MULHOLLAND DR. DIRECTED BY David Lynch
RELEASE DATES May 16, 2001 (Cannes) October 12, 2001 (United States)
PRODUCED BY Neal Edelstein Tony Krantz
RUNNING TIME 146 minutes
Michael Polaire Alain Sarde Mary Sweeney WRITTEN BY David Lynch MUSIC BY
COUNTRY United States LANGUAGE English BUDGET
Angelo Badalamenti
$15 million
CINEMATOGRAPHY
BOX OFFICE
Peter Deming EDITED BY Mary Sweeney
$20.1 million Starring Justin Theroux Naomi Watts
DISTRIBUTED BY Universal Pictures
Laura Elena Harring Ann Miller Robert Forster
44
Mulholland Dr.
The Films
45
David Lynch Film Festival
46
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
Mulholland Dr.
The Films
The story may not be linear and exhibits
and he is broke. He agrees to meet
several instances of temporal disruption.
a mysterious figure called The Cowboy,
A dark-haired woman escapes her own
who urges him to cast Camilla Rhodes for
murder, surviving a car accident on
his own good. Later, a bungling hit man
Mulholland Drive. Injured and in shock,
attempts to steal a book full of phone
she descends into Los Angeles and
numbers and leaves three people dead.
sneaks into an apartment that an older, red-headed woman has just vacated.
Trying to learn more about Rita’s accident,
An aspiring actress named Betty Elms
Betty and Rita go to Winkies and are
arrives at the same apartment and finds
served by a waitress named Diane, which
the dark-haired woman confused, not
causes Rita to remember the name “Diane
knowing her own name. The dark-haired
Selwyn”. They find Diane Selwyn in the
woman assumes the name “Rita” after
phone book and call her, but she does
seeing a poster for the film Gilda, starring
not answer. Betty goes to an audition,
Rita Hayworth. To help Rita remember her
where her performance is highly praised.
identity, Betty looks in Rita’s purse, where
A casting agent takes her to the set of
she finds a large amount of money and an
a film called The Sylvia North Story,
unusual blue key.
directed by Adam, where Camilla Rhodes gives an audition and Adam declares,
At a diner called Winkies, a man tells his
“This is the girl.” Betty smiles shyly as she
companion about a nightmare in which he
locks eyes with Adam, but she flees before
dreamt there was a horrible figure behind
she can meet him, saying that she is late
the diner. When they investigate, the
to meet a friend.
figure appears, causing the man with the nightmare to collapse in fright.
Betty and Rita go to Diane Selwyn’s apartment and break in when no one
As the principal narrative resumes,
answers the door. In the bedroom they
Hollywood director Adam Kesher has
find the body of a woman who has
his film commandeered by apparent
been dead for several days. Terrified, they
mobsters, who insist he cast an unknown
return to their apartment, where Rita
actress named Camilla Rhodes as the
disguises herself with a blonde wig. The
lead in his film. After he resists, he returns
two women have sex that night and
home to find his wife having an affair and
awake at 2 a.m., when Rita insists they go
is thrown out of his house. He later learns
to an eerie theater called Club Silencio.
that his bank has closed his line of credit
On stage, a man explains in several
languages that everything is an illusion; a woman begins singing then collapses, although her vocals continue. Betty finds a blue box in her purse that matches
“IT’S ALL AN ILLUSION.”
Rita’s key. Upon returning to the apartment, Rita retrieves the key and finds that Betty has disappeared. Rita unlocks the box, and it falls to the floor with a thump. The older red-headed woman investigates the sound, but nothing is there. The Cowboy appears in the doorway of Diane Selwyn’s bedroom saying, “Hey, pretty girl. Time to wake up.” At this point, all elements of the narrative seem to change. Diane Selwyn wakes up in her bed. She looks exactly like Betty, but is portrayed as a failed actress driven into a deep depression by her unrequited love for Camilla Rhodes. On Camilla’s
48
invitation, Diane attends a party at
she will find a blue key. Diane asks what,
Adam’s house on Mulholland Drive. Her
if anything, the key opens, but the hit man
limousine stops before they reach the
just laughs. Diane looks up and sees the
house and Camilla escorts her using a
man who had the nightmare standing
shortcut. Adam appears to be in love with
at the counter. Back at her apartment,
Camilla. Over dinner, Diane states that
with the key on a table in front of her,
she came to Hollywood when her aunt
she is terrorized by hallucinations. She
died, and she met Camilla at an audition
runs screaming to her bed, where she
for The Sylvia North Story. Another
shoots herself. A woman at the club
woman kisses Camilla and they turn and
whispers “Silencio”.
smile at Diane. Adam and Camilla prepare to make an important announcement, and dissolve into laughter and kiss while Diane watches, crying. Diane meets with the hit man at Winkies, where she gives him Camilla’s photo and a large amount of money, and they are served by a waitress named Betty. The hit man tells Diane that when the job is done, 49
RELEASE DATES February 21, 1997
DIRECTED BY David Lynch
RUNNING TIME
PRODUCED BY
134 minutes
Mary Sweeney Tom Sternberg
COUNTRY
Deepak Nayar
France United States
WRITTEN BY David Lynch
LANGUAGE
Barry Gifford
English MUSIC BY BUDGET
Angelo Badalamenti
$15 million CINEMATOGRAPHY BOX OFFICE
Peter Deming
$3.7 million (North America) EDITED BY STARRING
Mary Sweeney
Bill Pullman Patricia Arquette Balthazar Getty 50
DISTRIBUTED BY October Films
Lost Highway
The Films
LOST HIGHWAY Fred Madison (Bill Pullman), a Los
Fred and Renée then attend a party being
Angeles saxophonist, receives a message
thrown by Andy (Michael Massee), Renée’s
on the intercom of his house from an
friend. At the party, the pale old man Fred
unknown man, who says: “Dick Laurent is
dreamed about approaches Fred, claiming
dead”. During a break at a show one night,
to have met him before. The man then says
Fred calls his home but Renée (Patricia
he is at Fred’s house at that very moment
Arquette), his wife, does not answer any
and even somehow answers the house
of the home’s ringing telephones. Arriving
phone when Fred calls it. Fred asks Andy
home later, Fred finds her sleeping in their
who the man is, and Andy replies: he is a
bed. The next morning, Renée finds a VHS
friend of Dick Laurent’s. Fred, terrified and
tape on their porch which contains
confused, leaves the party and heads
a videotape of their house. After having
home with Renée. The next morning,
sex one night, Fred sees Renée’s face
another tape arrives and Fred watches it
as that of a pale old man, then tells
alone. To his horror, it shows him hovering
Renée of a dream he had about someone
over Renée’s dismembered body. He is
resembling her being attacked. As the
arrested for her murder, tried, found guilty
days pass, more tapes arrive showing the
and sentenced to death. Shortly after
interior of their house and even shots of
arriving at death row, Fred is plagued by
the pair asleep in bed. Fred and Renée call
frequent headaches and strange visions
the police but the detectives they send
of the Mystery Man, a burning cabin in the
over offer no assistance.
desert and a strange man driving down a dark highway. 51
David Lynch Film Festival
52
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
Lost Highway
The Films
“YOU’LL NEVER HAVE ME.” During a routine cell check, the prison
what he must do to carry out her plan to
When the two detectives then drive up to
guard is shocked to find that the man in
rob Andy but Andy puts up unexpected
the house, Fred runs back to his car and
Fred’s cell is now Pete Dayton (Balthazar
resistance and ends up dead, accidentally
drives off with the detectives in pursuit.
Getty), a young auto mechanic. Since
impaling himself on the edge of his glass
As it gets dark, Fred is shown speeding
Pete has committed no crime, he is
coffee table. Pete notices a photograph
down the highway pursued by the police.
released into the care of his parents,
showing Alice and Renée together, with
Fred suddenly begins convulsing and
who take him home. Pete is then followed
Alice claiming that the blonde woman in
screaming, before the familiar image of
by two detectives who are trying to find
the photo is her. Later, when police are at
the highway at night is seen.
out more about him. The next day, Pete
the house investigating Andy’s death, the
returns to work at the garage where he is
same photo shows only Renée with Andy
soon called on by gangster Mr. Eddy
and Mr. Eddy; Alice is inexplicably missing
(Robert Loggia), to fix his car. Mr. Eddy
from the shot.
takes Pete for a drive, on which Pete witnesses Mr. Eddy chase and beat down
Pete and Alice arrive at an empty cabin
a tailgater. The next day, Mr. Eddy returns
in the desert, the same one Fred had
to the garage with his mistress, Alice
envisioned. The two start having sex but
Wakefield (also played by Arquette) and
during the act Alice gets up, walks up
his Cadillac for Pete to repair. Later, Alice
the stairs to the cabin and disappears
returns to the garage alone and invites
inside. Pete suddenly transforms back
Pete out for dinner. Soon, Pete and Alice
into Fred Madison. Upon searching the
begin a secret liaison, meeting each other
desert cabin, he meets the Mystery Man
at run-down motels every night. Alice
who begins filming and chasing Fred
soon begins to fear that Mr. Eddy is privy
with a hand-held video camera, revealing
to their affair and concocts a scheme to
himself to be the same man responsible
rob her friend Andy and leave town. Alice
for the videotapes earlier in the film. Fred
then reveals to Pete that Mr. Eddy is
escapes and drives to the Lost Highway
actually an amateur porn producer named
Hotel, where he finds Mr. Eddy and Renée
Dick Laurent.
having sex. After Renée leaves, Fred kidnaps Mr. Eddy, beats him and slits his
At home, Pete gets a phone call from
throat. The Mystery Man then shoots
Mr. Eddy and the Mystery Man (which
Mr. Eddy dead and whispers something
eerily mirrors Fred and the Mystery Man’s
to Fred. The Mystery Man disappears
earlier conversation), which distresses
and Fred drives off in Mr. Eddy’s car.
Pete so much that he decides to go along
Fred drives to his old house, buzzes the
with Alice’s plan to escape. Alice tells Pete
intercom and says: “Dick Laurent is dead”. 53
54
55
David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
INLAND EMPIRE DIRECTED BY David Lynch
RELEASE DATES 6 September 2006 (Venice) 6 December 2006 (United States)
PRODUCED BY Laura Dern
7 February 2007 (France) 27 April 2007 (Poland)
Mary Sweeney RUNNING TIME WRITTEN BY
180 minutes
David Lynch COUNTRY MUSIC BY
France
David Lynch
Poland
Krzysztof Penderecki CINEMATOGRAPHY David Lynch
United States LANGUAGE English Polish
EDITED BY David Lynch
BOX OFFICE $4 million (North America)
DISTRIBUTED BY 518 Media
STARRING
Absurda (US)
Laura Dern
Studio Canal (France)
Jeremy Irons Justin Theroux Harry Dean Stanton Karolina Gruszka Peter J. Lucas Krzysztof Majchrzak Julia Ormond
56
Inland Empire
The Films
57
David Lynch Film Festival
58
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
Inland Empire
The Films
The film opens to the sound of
the old woman comments on the confusion
a gramophone playing Axxon N, “the
of time, claiming that were this tomorrow,
longest-running radio play in history”.
Nikki would be sitting on a couch adjacent
Meanwhile, a young prostitute, identified
to them. The film then pans to where the
in the credits as the “Lost Girl”, cries
neighbor is pointing, and we see Nikki
while watching television in a hotel room,
and two girlfriends sitting on the couch.
following an unpleasant encounter with
Her butler (Ian Abercrombie) walks into
her client. The Lost Girl’s television
the living room with a phone call from her
displays a family of surrealistic
agent, announcing that she has won the
anthropomorphic rabbits who speak in
role. Ecstatic, Nikki and her friends
cryptic statements and questions.
celebrate while her husband Piotrek
Occasionally, there are laugh track
(Peter J. Lucas) ominously surveys them
responses within these Rabbit scenes.
from atop a nearby staircase.
These three elements become recurring motifs throughout Inland Empire.
Some time later, Nikki and her co-star Devon Berk (Theroux) receive an interview
The main plot follows an actress named
on a talk show. The host (Ladd) asks them
Nikki Grace (Dern), who has applied for
both whether they are having an affair, to
a comeback role as Sue in a film entitled
which each of them respond negatively.
On High in Blue Tomorrows. The day
Devon is warned by his entourage that
before the audition, Nikki is visited by an
Nikki is out of bounds, due to her husband’s
enigmatic old woman (Zabriskie) who
power and influence. Later, on the set
says she is her neighbor; she predicts
being built for the film, Nikki and Devon
that Nikki will get the role, and recounts
rehearse a scene with the director,
two folk tales. One tells of a boy who,
Kingsley Stewart (Irons). They are
sparking a reflection after passing
interrupted by a disturbance, but upon
through a doorway, “caused evil to be
investigation Devon finds nothing. Shaken
born.” The other tells of a girl who,
by the event, Kingsley confesses that
wandering through an alleyway behind
they are shooting a remake of a German
a marketplace, “discovers a palace.” The
feature entitled 47. Production was
old woman presses Nikki for details on
abandoned after both leads were
her new film, asking whether the story is
murdered, creating rumors of the film
about marriage and involves murder. Nikki
being cursed.
denies both, but her neighbor disagrees. Disregarding Nikki’s offended response, 59
David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
Immersed in her character, while the film is being shot, “Sue” / Nikki appears to begin an affair with Devon / “Billy”. A strange scene follows based on what the old woman had described: Nikki appears in a mysterious alley walking to her car, carrying a bag of groceries, but then she notices a door in the alley marked Axxon N, and enters. It leads her back to soundstage where the earlier rehearsal took place. She witnesses that rehearsal from across the room—she herself was what had interrupted it earlier. This time, when Devon seeks to discover who’s observing them, she disappears from the rehearsal scene, and flees among the half-built backgrounds and into the house of a character named Smithy (possibly her husband in the film’s story, but this is never made clear). Despite the set being merely a wooden facade, Nikki enters to find an illuminated suburban house inside. Devon looks through the windows, but sees only darkness, not hearing her frantic cries of his character’s name, “Billy.” At this point, the film takes a drastic stylistic turn. Various plotlines and scenes begin to entwine and complement each other. The chronological order is often confused or nonexistent. Inside the house, Nikki sees her husband (whether it’s “Smithy” or Piotrek is unclear) in bed. 60
Inland Empire
Hiding from him, she enters a different
husband Smithy seems to be connected
room and encounters a troupe of
with both the pimps and the organization,
prostitutes. One of the women advises
and then is hired by a circus from Poland
her to burn a hole through silk with
because he is said to be “good with
a cigarette and look through the hole.
animals.” There is much talk of the
Nikki complies and witnesses several
Phantom, an elusive hypnotist. Convinced
strange happenings, many of which
she’s being stalked by a red-lipped man,
seem to revolve around her, or alternate
Sue arms herself with a screwdriver.
The Films
versions of herself. Finally, Sue walks down Hollywood Prior to these scenes, the woman who
Boulevard, and is startled to see her
plays Billy’s wife tells a policeman that
doppelgänger across the street. Before
she had been hypnotised to murder
Sue can investigate, Doris arrives and
someone with a screwdriver, but finds the
attempts to kill her, having been
screwdriver embedded in her own side.
hypnotized by The Phantom.
A mysterious organization claims to have captives from Inland Empire.
Sue is brutally stabbed in the stomach with her own screwdriver, causing her to
A parallel plotline involves Polish circus
stagger down the street and eventually
artists in the present day, as well as Polish
collapse next to some homeless people
prostitutes in Łódź during the 1930s, who
on the corner of Hollywood and Vine. One
are confronted by strange pimps while
woman remarks that Sue is dying, then
murder permeates their city. Nikki, having
proceeds to debate with another, younger
become one of the group of present-day
homeless woman about taking a bus to
prostitutes, wanders the streets while her
Pomona. Her companion talks at length
companions ask, “Who is she?” Both Nikki
about a friend named Niko, a prostitute
and her prostitutes frequently ask people
whose blond wig makes her look like
to look at them and “say whether you’ve
a movie star, thus allowing her to walk
known me before.” In a parallel plotline,
through the rich district without drawing
Sue climbs the dark staircase behind a
attention. The older woman comforts Sue
nightclub to deliver long monologues to
by holding a lighter in front of her face
an unidentified man touching upon her
until she finally dies, promising her “no
childhood sexual abuse, disastrous
more blue tomorrows.” Off-camera,
relationships, and retaliations. Her
Kingsley yells “Cut!” and the camera pans 61
David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
back to show this has merely been
and crying all along. The two women kiss,
a film scene. As the actors and film crew
before Nikki fades away into the light
wrap for the next scene, Sue slowly
along with the rabbits. The Lost Girl runs
arises, Nikki once more. Kingsley announces
out of the hotel and into Smithy’s
that her scenes for the film are complete.
house, where she happily embraces
In a daze, Nikki wanders off set and into
a man and child.
a nearby cinema, where she sees not only On High in Blue Tomorrows—encompassing
Nikki is then seen back home, smiling
some of the subplots of the film—but
at the old woman from the beginning
events that are currently occurring.
of the film. The concluding scene takes
She wanders to the projection room,
place at her house, where she sits with
but finds an apartment building marked
many other people, among them Laura
“Axxon N”. Eventually, Nikki confronts
Harring, Nastassja Kinski, and Ben Harper.
the red-lipped man from earlier, now known to be the Phantom. She shoots
A one-legged woman who was mentioned
him, which causes his face to morph first
in Sue’s monologue looks around and says,
into a distorted copy of Nikki’s own face,
“Sweet!” Niko, the girl with the blonde wig
and then an even more distorted face
and monkey, can also be seen. The end
bleeding from its mouth. Nikki flees into a
credits roll over a group of women dancing
nearby room—Room 47, which houses the
to Nina Simone’s “Sinner Man” while a
rabbits on television, though she fails to
lumberjack saws a log to the beat.
see them. Elsewhere in the building, Nikki finds the Lost Girl, who has been watching 62
Inland Empire
The Films
“THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES TO ONE’S ACTIONS. AND THERE CERTAINLY WOULD BE CONSEQUENCES TO WRONG ACTIONS. DARK THEY WOULD BE, AND INESCAPABLE..”
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David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
DIRECTED BY David Lynch PRODUCED BY Steve Golin Monty Montgomery Sigurjon Sighvatsson SCREENPLAY BY David Lynch MUSIC BY Angelo Badalamenti CINEMATOGRAPHY Frederick Elmes EDITED BY Duwayne Dunham DISTRIBUTED BY The Samuel Goldwyn Company 64
Wild at Heart
The Films
WILD AT HEART RELEASE DATES May 25, 1990 (Cannes) August 17, 1990 RUNNING TIME 124 minutes COUNTRY United States
STARRING
Lovers Lula and Sailor are separated after he is jailed for killing
Nicolas Cage
a man who attacked him with a knife; the assailant, Bobby Ray
Laura Dern
Lemon, was hired by Lula’s mother, Marietta Fortune. Upon
Willem Dafoe
Sailor’s release, Lula picks him up at the prison where she
Crispin Glover
hands him his snakeskin jacket. They go to a hotel where she
Diane Ladd
reserved a room, make love and go to see the speed metal band
Isabella Rossellini
Powermad. At the club, Sailor gets into a fight with a man who
Harry Dean Stanton
flirts with Lula, and then leads the band in a rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Love Me”. Later, back in the room, after making love again, Sailor and Lula finally decide to run away to California,
LANGUAGE
breaking Sailor’s parole. Marietta arranges for private detective
English
Johnnie Farragut – her on-off boyfriend – to find them and bring them back. Unbeknownst to Farragut, however, Marietta also
BUDGET $10 million
hires gangster Marcello Santos to track them and kill Sailor. Santos’s minions capture and kill Farragut, sending Marietta into a guilt-fueled psychosis.
BOX OFFICE $14.6
Unaware of all of the events happening back in North Carolina, Lula and Sailor continue on their way until – according to Lula – they witness a bad omen: the aftermath of a two-car accident, and the only survivor, a young woman, dies in front of them. With little money left, Sailor heads for Big Tuna, Texas, where he contacts “old friend” Perdita Durango, who might be
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A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
Wild at Heart
The Films
“THIS WHOLE WORLD’S WILD AT HEART AND WEIRD ON TOP...” able to help them, although she secretly
blows his own head off with his own shot
after Lula. The photograph of Marietta in
knows he is under contract to be killed by
gun. Sailor is arrested and sentenced to
Lula’s house sizzles and vanishes.
Lula’s mother. While Sailor agrees to join
six years in prison.
up with gangster Bobby Peru in a feed
As there is a traffic jam on the road, Sailor
store robbery, Lula waits for him in the
While Sailor is in jail, Lula has their
begins to run over the roofs and hoods of
hotel room, trying to conceal that she is
child. Upon his release Lula decides to
the cars to get back to Lula and their child
pregnant with Sailor’s child. While Sailor
reunite with him. Rejecting her mother’s
in the car. Sailor sings “Love Me Tender”
is out Peru enters the room and forces
objections over the phone, she throws
to Lula, having earlier said that he would
Lula to implore him to make love with her,
water over her mother’s photograph and
only sing that song to his wife.
but in the end he refuses, stating he has
goes to pick up Sailor with their son.When
no time. This traumatizes Lula, who had
they meet Sailor, he reveals he will be
survived a rape as a child.
leaving them both, having decided while in prison that he isn’t good enough for them.
The robbery goes spectacularly wrong when Peru unnecessarily shoots the
While Sailor is walking a short distance
two clerks. Peru then admits to Sailor
away, Sailor encounters a gang who
he’s been hired to kill him and Sailor
surround him. He insults them and they
realizes he has been given a pistol with
quickly knock him out. While unconscious,
dummy ammunition.
he sees a vision in the form of Glinda the Good Witch, who tells him, “Don’t turn
Chasing Sailor out of the store, Peru is
away from love, Sailor”. When he awakens,
about to kill him when the sheriff’s deputy
he apologizes to the men, tells them he
opens fire on him and Peru accidentally
realizes the error of his ways, then runs 67
David Lynch Film Festival
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A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
Wild at Heart
The Films
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“THROUGH THE DARKNESS OF FUTURE PAST, THE MAGICIAN LONGS TO SEE, ONE CHANCE OUT BETWEEN TWO WORLDS, FIRE WALK WITH ME!” — DAVID LYNCH
03.
THE FESTIVAL SCHEDULE DIRECTIONS ABOUT THE VENUES SPECIAL EVENTS
David Lynch Film Festival
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A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
Schedule
The Festival
SCHEDULE This festival will highlight the six most significant films made by David Lynch and explore his importance to contemporary movies and pop culture. The audience will be able to view two movies per day, and there will also be special events for them to attend. They will also have a chance to meet David Lynch himself as well as some of the actors who have performed in his films. Also we are holding events: an opening party, a piano and singing performance, a surrealist exhibition, a small cocktail party with David Lynch, a small alternative music concert and masked ball. During the three days you might feel just like you have been transported into the surreal world of this great director. Enjoy this journey into a dark and disturbing yet fascinating and hypnotic world.
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A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
Schedule
The Festival
DAY 01. JAN 20 FRI. 2017 2:00 pm
Opening Party in the lobby of Twin Peaks Hotel
3:00 pm
Meet the Director
4:00 pm
Screening: Blue Velvet
6:00 pm
Break Time
7:00 pm
Screening: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
9:30 pm
Piano and singing performance at Martuni’s On the first day of the festival, you can enjoy the opening party and meet the director David Lynch in the lobby of Twin Peaks Hotel, which is the first venue for this film festival. After that two films will be screened: Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Between the screenings, there will be a short break time. Lastly, at Martuni’s in San Francisco, you can enjoy a piano and singing performance similar to the one in the movie Blue Velvet.
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David Lynch Film Festival
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A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
Schedule
The Festival
DAY 02. JAN 21 SAT. 2017 2:00 pm
Surrealist exhibition in the lobby of Motel Capri
3:00 pm
Meet the Actors
4:00 pm
Screening: Mulholland Drive
7:00 pm
Break Time
7:30 pm
Screening: Lost Highway
10:00 pm
A small cocktail party at The Royale in SF On the second day of our festival, we’ve planned an exhibition of Surrealist art in the lobby of Motel Capri. It is going to start at 2pm. After you enjoy the exhibition, you can meet some of the actors who have starred in David Lynch’s movies and have an opportunity to talk to them. From 4 pm on, we will be screening Mulholland Dr. and Lost Highway. Between the movies, there will be a short break with refreshments.
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David Lynch Film Festival
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A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
Schedule
The Festival
DAY 03. JAN 22 SUN. 2017 2:00 pm
Alternative music Concert in the Lobby of Inn On Broadway
3:00 pm
Critics Roundtable Discussion
4:00 pm
Screening: Inland Empire
7:30 pm
Break Time
8:00 pm
Screening: Wild At Heart
10:00 pm
Masked Ball at Bimbo’s 365 Club On the last day of the festival, an interesting alternative music concert will be held in the lobby of the Inn On Broadway, which is the last venue of the festival. After that, a roundtable discussion will be held with various film critics on the importance of David Lynch’s movies and his impact on current pop culture. From 4 pm on, we will be screening Inland Empire and Wild at Heart. We also have a break time between the movies. Lastly, there will be a big closing Masked Ball party at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco.
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DIRECTIONS
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Directions
1.
The Festival
Twin Peaks Hotel Address: 2160 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94114 Phone:(415) 863-2909
2.
Martuni’s Address: 4 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94103 Phone: (415) 241-0205
3.
Motel Capri Address: 2015 Greenwich St, San Francisco, CA 94123 Phone:(415) 346-4667
4.
The Royale Address: 800 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94109 Phone: (415) 441-4099
5.
Inn On Broadway Address: 2201 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94109 Phone:(415) 776-7900
6.
Bimbo’s 365 Club Address: 1025 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133 Phone: (415) 241-0205 83
David Lynch Film Festival
A Dream of Dark and Troubling Things
ABOUT THE VENUES & SPECIAL EVENTS The festival will be held for three days in three old-fashioned motels, which are similar to the settings for several of David Lynch’s movies. There will also be events before and after the screenings, and guests will go to the room numbers printed on their tickets. This festival is very private and discrete and has limited seating. After the screenings, we provide events every day. During the three day festival, you can enjoy a piano and singing performance at Martuni’s, a small cocktail party with the great director David Lynch at The Royale, and a weird but interesting masked ball at Bimbo’s 365 Club.
DAY 01.
Twin Peaks Hotel You can watch Twin Peaks: File Walk With Me at the Twin Peaks Hotel, which has the original 1950’s interiors. Moreover, it is a 5-minute drive to Golden Gate Park and this Castro District hotel is two miles from Union Square. So it will be a good opportunity for sightseeing in San Francisco.
Martuni’s From 9:30 pm to midnight you can enjoy the piano show with a glamorous singer performing classic songs at a famous piano bar in San Francisco. You could also belt out show tunes and down large specialty martinis at this popular piano bar. Let’s enjoy the first day of the festival!
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Venues and Special Events
DAY 02.
The Festival
Motel Capri This old-fashioned motel will recreate the atmosphere of many of David Lynch’s films. An 8-minute walk from Fort Mason’s museums, parks and gardens, this family-run motel in the Marina District has been open since 1957. The relaxed property is also a 4-minute walk from the restaurants and art deco architecture of Chestnut Street.
The Royale From 10 pm to midnight, a small cocktail party will be held. You can talk to David Lynch at the party. Don’t miss this precious opportunity!
DAY 03.
Inn On Broadway This mid-century style motel provides a similar feeling to that of David Lynch’s movies. This motel is also set on a bustling commercial street and is 4 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge and 5 miles from Golden Gate Park, which are good places to look around before and after the screening.
Bimbo’s 365 Club From 10 pm to midnight on the last day of the festival, we are having a masked ball at this historical club in San Francisco. We are really looking forward to see your weird but fabulous Lynchian masks at this final celebration of Lynch’s genius.
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References
REFERENCES https://theatre.acehotel.com/events/david-lynchs-festival-disruption/ http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/10/david-lynchs-festival-of-disruption-the10-best-moments/ https://www.ffffilm.com/director/david-lynch?page=1 http://musicvideotop.com/david-lynch-festival-includes-robert-plant-sky-ferreirast-vincent/ http://thevinylfactory.com/news/new-david-lynch-lp-treated-to-deluxe-editionbox-set-with-bonus-7-single-and-bastille-remix/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcJ-DVq25-Q
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School Department Student Email
Academy of Art University Graphic Design Sunjung Park ssunssi02@naver.com
Semester
Fall 2016
Instructor
Hunter Wimmer
Typefase
Tungsten Vitesse Forza
Š 2016 All Right Reserved
HOPE TO SEE YOU IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE UNCONSCIOUS WORLD OF DAVID LYNCH’S FESTIVAL.
Sunjung Park | 04207893 ssnssi02@naver.com