David Lynch Cooks Quinoa

David Lynch spends about 20 minutes, supposedly in real time, cooking his dinner: Quinoa with broccoli and flavorings. While it's cooking he sits down on his porch, lights a cigarette and proceeds to tell us a story about his European travels - and in the process succeeds, as only David Lynch can, in thoroughly messing with our heads. Shot in black-and-white (or is it color denaturized?), it all looks so innocent and realistic. But it's all pure Lynch. What more do you want? (I'm not certain how you're going to see it right now. It was an extra on the first disc release of "Inland Empire" but it doesn't seem to be included in the new Criterion set.)

I view this as a pilot that never got picked up for what would unquestionably have become the greatest cooking show of all time. Go watch it on youtube and tell me what would even be a close second.

The title may not sound that appealing, but don't let that fool you. "David Lynch cooks qinoa" is equal parts captivating, eerie, tense and funny. The movie is a distillation of all the things good about David Lynch's films. Some of his films (especially short films) have a tendency to be a bit too focused on one almost unchanging subject and can make a lot of people a bit bored, but there are no such problems here. The monolog and mannerisms that Lynch brings are captivating and never feels meandering. I would compare it to the scene in "Jaws" when Quint, Brody and Hooper tells stories on the boat. Another movie with a lot of similar scenes is the hidden gem "the vast of night".

To summarize: "David Lynch cooks qinoa" is an absolute must see movie for all David Lynch's fans. If you are new to Lynch this is a good start to get what he is about. If you don't like Lynch's feature films this will probably not win you over, but if you are trying to learn to like his style this short all the good things that make Lynch great without the parts that often alienate the average viewer.

Please watch this film. Listening to David is so damn entertaining and we could all use some of it. Only 20 minutes and feels like 5.