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FYI: Article on David Lynch in SF Chronicle


Peter J DeCrescenzo

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I have to say, Ive found Lynch's films to be some of the most disturbing and unnerving cinema I've ever seen...and this is from someone who is an averred anti art movie fan.

I mean, my idea of a good cinematic experience is a solid bit of Fincher, Scott ( either brother, but probably earlier Tony stuff), Bay, Sena, et al.

Yes, I know I'm a hopeless stylist, which makes my appreciation of Lynch's skewed, but flatly presented, take on the underbelly of the Midwest even more appealing. Given that it's generally framed by extreme ordinary-ness

Lynch, for all his oddities, DOES actually know what ordinary is, which is why he can present against it so well.

You can't present a comparison, unless you are very familiar with both sides.

 

J

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I don't see David Lynch as being anti-ordinary. On the contrary he seems to be obsessed by it.

And what is ordinary? There is tension and strangeness everywhere if you look for it.

What's beyond that white picket fence?

At what point does a movie become an "art movie"?

Personally I don't think any film by David Lynch is any stranger or more of an "art movie" than "Lord of the Rings". "MatrixII" really had me trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

I'd really like some opinions of what makes an "art movie" besides thge obvious answer of a 30 minute long lockdown shot of an ashtray.

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hi everyone again i dont want anyone to be put off Lynch films , not stiffle students from experimenting etc . just cant be arsed by the thing he makes movies that very few people go to see, so must be an artist . Still love "Elephant Man " john .

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At what point does a movie become an "art movie"?

Personally I don't think any film by David Lynch is any stranger or more of an "art movie" than "Lord of the Rings". "MatrixII" really had me trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

 

I realize that this isn't a direct answer to your question, but wouldn't most if not all films fit, by definition, into the category of art? Here is Webster's definition:

 

Main Entry: 2art

Pronunciation: 'ärt

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin art-, ars -- more at ARM

1 : skill acquired by experience, study, or observation <the art of making friends>

2 a : a branch of learning: (1) : one of the humanities (2) plural : LIBERAL ARTS b archaic : LEARNING, SCHOLARSHIP

3 : an occupation requiring knowledge or skill <the art of organ building>

4 a : the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects; also : works so produced b (1) : FINE ARTS (2) : one of the fine arts (3) : a graphic art.

 

Here is Wikipedia's:

 

Art is that which is made with the primary intention of stimulating the human senses as well as the human mind or spirit.

 

An artwork is assessed by means of the amount of stimulation it brings about. The impact it has on people, the amount of people that can relate, the degree of their appreciation, and the effect or influence it has or has had in the past, all accumulate to the 'degree of art'. Timeless masterpieces in art all possess these aspects to a great extent.

 

Something is not considered 'art' when it stimulates only the senses, or only the mind, or when it has a different primary purpose than doing so.

 

 

Some of Lynch's works, IMO, can be classified as mainstream - for instance, Mulholland Drive. Films like Eraserhead and Inland Empire, IMO, would not. Consequently, a more appropriate category for the latter two would be "indies". The term "art", by its definition, really has little or nothing to do with it.

Edited by Ken Cangi
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"he makes movies that very few people go to see, so must be an artist."

These things are relative. Of course more people go to see "Harry Potter" films but I don't believe David Lynch is all that obscure.

Remember that a lot of money gets made in DVD sales and rentals.

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