David Lynch: The Art Life

As "David Lynch The Art Life" (2016 release; 89 min) opens, we are introduced to some of David Lynch's paintings. We see Lynch at work in his art studio. Then Lynch starts talking about his roots and upbringing. At this point we are 5 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: I sought out this movie after the recent passing of David Lynch. I really didn't know much about this documentary. As it turns out, this is not a conversation with Lynch about his various movies, so if that is what you are looking/hoping for, you may wish to reconsider. Instead, "David Lynch The Art Life" is an almost abstract documentary about Lynch's upbringing and his view on the arts in general. In essence, this documentary shows the road that led David Lynch to Eraserhead, his 1977 brilliant debut feature length. The way that Lynch talks about Eraserhead makes very clear this movie is dear to him, perhaps more than any other of his films? (That is speculation on my part, as this documentary makes no mention of any Lynch movie after Eraserhead.) In the end, while this was not exactly what I had expected, I quite liked this documentary.

"David Lynch The Art Life" is currently streaming on Max, where I caught it the other day. Since his recent passing, I want to rewatch some of his films, perhaps none more so than Eraserhead. If you are a fan of David Lynch's art works, be it movies or paintings or whatever else, I'd readily recommend you check this out, and draw your own conclusion. RIP David Lynch.

I watched the second movie of Lynch and then I watched Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway. I liked very much his other movies without Lost Highway. I used to think always he is a mysterious man but after watching this film I think he is very friendly. I liked his workshop. I think he had hard youth times but that is why he is a successful director and artist. I really liked Lynch's story. It's a very successful documentary. Be always yourself and don't give up your dreams.

Much like a David Lynch film, the documentary on said subject "The Art Life", mixes surreal tales, uncomfortable silences, and gorgeous photography.

Sure to befuddle many, this moody documentary concentrates on Lynch's visual art, barely touching on his filmmaking claim to fame. Revealed solely through his smoking words, "The Art Life" presents absorbing childhood recollections as Lynch creates his stark art pieces. It's beautifully shot, methodically paced, with a rather unsettling quality.

There is no external opinion to be had, as the film exists entirely in Lynch's world. We see him making art, talking art, pondering art, and then making more art. He is obsessed, focused, but friendly and charming, whether in the midst of molding a creepy canvas, groping his shock of white hair, planning his next canvas move in a cloud of smoke, or interacting with his tiny daughter. The mystery of Hollywood's extreme outsider remains deliciously intact.

Unforgettable.

David Lynch at around 70 years old talking, smoking, and doing his art. That's about it. But as he says about his childhood, when the whole world was only 2 blocks, but you can have everything you need in the world in 2 blocks, David Lynch - The Art Life - a film about 2 blocks long compared to a Hollywood blockbuster - still can give you everything you need for a really fascinating film experience.

If you are hoping for an exploration of the films of David Lynch, and of the filmmaker David Lynch, stay at home. Only David Lynch the neophyte filmmaker is explored because this is a natural development of the real star of the show - David Lynch the painter. One day he sees one of his paintings moving, and that's when the seed is planted for him to make movies - he wants to make moving paintings.

We see a lot of the finished artwork of David Lynch, and most of it is stunning and quite dark, the latter being somewhat of an incongruity considering that David Lynch seems to be a happy and contented person. In one scene, Mr. Lynch talks about showing his father some of his art as a young man, and his father's reaction is grave concern that Mr. Lynch is seriously mentally ill. "Don't have children," his father tells him. David Lynch once described his art as "violent comedy". Indeed, if you get the violence but not as much the comedy, you might think something is deranged about the man. During the whole 90 minutes I spent at the TIFF Lightbox Cinema in Toronto with David Lynch, I never got the sense that he was a nut job. His toddler of a daughter made several appearances in the film, and David Lynch was warm, playful, and attentive with her, and never acted bothered by her as she played while he was painting. He told story after story the way that regular guy that everybody likes in your life would. It finally occurred to me that Mr. Lynch had found the perfect catharsis in his art for anger and violence - which are within all of us - and the result was a cleansing of sorts, the mentally wholesome fellow I spent some time with yesterday at the cinema.

Every art student, budding artist, artist wannabe, art appreciator, and artist appreciator should see David Lynch - The Art Life. And every David Lynch fan, of which I am one...a BIG one. The rest of you might be bored.

Some revealing insights into Lynch as an artist, his childhood and his films which open the lid on his creative process.