The Film Paintings of David Lynch

Challenging Film Theory

One of the most distinguished ?lmmakers working today, David Lynch is a director whose vision of cinema is ?rmly rooted in ?ne art. He was motivated to make his ?rst ?lm as a student because he wanted a painting that “would really be able to move.” Most existing studies of Lynch, however, fail to engage fully with the complexities of his ?lms’ relationship to other art forms. The Film Paintings of David Lynch ?lls this void, arguing that Lynch’s cinematic output needs to be considered within a broad range of cultural references. Aimed at both Lynch fans and ?lm studies specialists, Allister Mactaggart addresses Lynch’s ?lms from the perspective of the relationship between commercial ?lm, avant-garde art, and cultural theory. Individual Lynch works – The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Lost Highway, The Straight Story, Mulholland Drive, Inland Empire – are discussed in relation to other ?lms and directors, illustrating that the solitary, or seemingly isolated, experience of ?lm is itself socially, culturally, and politically important. The Film Paintings of David Lynch offers a unique perspective on an in?uential director, weaving together a range of theoretical approaches to Lynch’s ?lms to make exciting new connections among ?lm theory, art history, psychoanalysis and cinema.