Director Jon Nguyen's portrait of filmmaker David Lynch looks at his early life, beginnings as a painter and visual artist, and first experimental short films. Lynch provides the narration, offering remembrances of growing up in the "green grass" of Idaho and Washington state, his first forays into painting ("I had this idea that you drink coffee, you smoke cigarettes, and you paint. And that's it."), and his experiences at art school and the American Film Institute, where he made his first feature, Eraserhead (1977). Given the often nightmarish visions of his movies, some will be surprised to learn that Lynch had loving and supportive parents and a generally happy childhood. Along with the usual archival photos and home movie footage, Nguyen shows Lynch at work painting in his studio and at rest with his young daughter—chain smoking and drinking coffee just as he imagined as a teenager. The film is a mix of autobiography and documentary with personal reflections on what shaped Lynch as an artist, and it features clips from his early short films, which he approached as "a moving painting with sound." While hardly a Rosetta Stone to Lynch's thinking, the film does illustrate Lynch's lifelong commitment to creating art, his youthful drive in old age, and an imagination that remains fecund. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include an interview with director Jon Nguyen (17 min.), and an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Dennis Lim. Bottom line: a decent extras package for this art house profile.] (S. Axmaker)
David Lynch: The Art Life
Criterion, 88 min., not rated, DVD: $19.95, Blu-ray: $29.95, Sept. 26 Volume 32, Issue 6
David Lynch: The Art Life
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