Mr. Lynch, thank you very much.
In 2013, we had the honour of hosting an exclusive masterclass by the prestigious American director David Lynch. The film director visited the University School of Arts TAI within the framework of the RIZOMA Festival. A masterunrepeatable class on his first visit to Madrid, in which he discussed his creative process and reviewed his filmography, revealing details behind films such as Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, The Elephant Man and Inland Empire.
The best surprise I had on my summer vacation was finding out that the great David Lynch (1946) visited the School of Arts and Shows TAI, where a little over a year ago I am consolidating my passion for cinema. I am honest in confessing that my approach to this art was influenced by a 90% commercial style, so I did not know or had even heard of the filmmaker born in the state of Montana, United States, something that I decided to change in the days before to said visit.
Thus, I went to the nearest library and selected some of his main works for a private cycle, beginning with ''Eraserhead'' (1977). Then came some slightly conventional tapes like ''Elephant Man'' (1980) and ''Mulholland Drive'' (2001), ending with ''Blue Velvet (1986), perhaps the best known and which serves as a direct reference to the Lynchian universe. What you will read below will be a chronicle of what this humble servant experienced both in the master class given by the director as well as after watching his films, which are characterized by high doses of color, hypnotic transitions, disturbing sounds and confusing, but no less interesting, stories.
“Initially my stay at the AFI (American Film Institute) was two years, but it ended up being extended for four, within which I was able to do 'Eraserhead´, the first of my feature films''. These were the words of master Lynch when answering a question about the most personal and surreal of his films. And it is that talking about ''Eraserhead'' (1977) is a bit complicated considering that although the story may seem linear, its development is far from it.
In it we meet Spencer, a weak and ordinary employee, who finds himself with the surprising responsibility of raising a deformed newborn baby. This being the main premise, we can see how throughout the film we are presented with slightly disturbing images such as a man with a devilish appearance operating some factory levers, a happy woman with a certain deformity in her face and who at a certain point in the film we see stepping on what seems to be a series of fetuses of the same baby that our protagonist is taking care of, his head being mutilated and used to make erasers and, as cherry on the cake, the deformed "child" being stabbed and decomposed so grotesquely done that it reminded me of movies like ''Evil Dead'' (specifically, that scene with the crushed eyes). It is worth mentioning the tremendous importance of sound as a disturbing and complementary tool to the images already described. A film that you can hate or love, but to which it is impossible to be indifferent.
''After making 'Eraserhead,' I went on to write my next film, 'Ronnie Rocket.' The problem with it was that, apparently, the only person interested in carrying it out was me. Accepting this, I asked my producer, Stuart Cornfeld, to provide me with some script so that I could bring it to the big screen. We met in a coffee shop and Stuart told me that he had 4 scripts available, the first being 'The Elephant Man'. I only needed to hear that title to know that this would be my next film. '' What can be said that hasn't already been said about this film? So brilliantly narrated, with a great performance by an unrecognizable (no pun intended) John Hurt and a soundtrack that made the final scene one of the best ever filmed. As a detail, it is worth mentioning that the makeup and hair work done by Christopher Tucker was not recognized by the American Academy, which originated a series of protests that ended up forcing the creation of the category "Best Makeup and Hairstyle" from the year 1981.
''I had 95% of a story written, but it was just unrelated bits and pieces. Days later, while I was waiting for my producer for a meeting, an idea came up, so I asked the receptionist to please quickly hand me a pen and paper. It was thus that 'Blue Velvet' was born.” This fantastic thriller tells the story of young Jeffrey Beaumont, who returns to his hometown to care for his father after he is the victim of a fatal heart attack. This is how, after finding a mutilated ear in a field, he begins to enter a world that shows him the dark side of the most hedonistic of communities, Lumberton. John MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern and Dennis Hopper lead the cast of this famous film, winner of the Sitges festival and nominated for an Academy Award in the ''Best Director'' category., the second of good David.
''Living in Philadelphia was a great inspiration for my work as an artist, since it represented a reality that hides under another: the first one reminded me of my childhood, full of elegant homes and cherry trees. The second, and most important, was one where fear and danger were as routine as my desire to create. '' Reading these lines it is possible to understand Lynch's habit of using characters who, as they develop, discover that the reality they know is far from the one in which they live. This can be seen in ''Mulholland Drive'' (2001), a clear example of narrative non-linearity and what it meant for our honoree, among many things, to be nominated for the third time and win the award for best director, both at the at La Academia and at the Cannes Film Festival, respectively. The French director Jean-Luc Godard already said: ''Every story has a beginning, middle and end, but not necessarily in that order''.
What cinema can generate in a person is very impressive, but it is even more so to be in front of the person responsible for those sensations: The unveiling of a deformed fetus, the most heartbreaking of suicides, one of the most cinematographic rapes I have ever seen and the false musical interpretation in the theater ''El Silencio''. Four scenes that for some may be grotesque, but for others a valid and very personal way to enhance the most beautiful of arts.
By César Pereyra.