It may be a post-fact world, but it’s also a pre-“Twin Peaks” one, so no matter how bleak some things may look, we’ve got a whole new batch of David Lynch goodness on the horizon. Over the past several months we’ve been supplied a steady dose of “Twin Peaks” goodies, as Showtime has rolled out clips and teasers to wet our whistles, and at the beginning of the year the official release date was finally dropped (May 21st). Now, though, despite the expectation of a more comprehensive trailer, all that’s really left for us to do is take a stroll down Lynch Memory Lane.
READ MORE: 5-Minute Video Essay Explores The Influence Of David Lynch
To help us do just that, Channel Criswell has put together a new video essay that explores the surrealist and deeply idiosyncratic work of the director. “David Lynch: The Elusive Subconscious” is a 20-minute essay that grapples with the question: What does David Lynch mean to cinema? The easy answer, of course, is that Lynch means a hell of a lot. He has acted as a defining voice of disruptive cinema for much of his career, and his moody, line-blurring films have served as a foundation for a generation of filmmakers.
More to the point, though, Lynch’s name has become less of a noun and more of an adjective, the essay argues. But how to define a filmmaker whose visual style spans from Americana to surrealist horror? The answer, Criswell says, is that it’s less about what’s on the screen, and more about how the familiar has suddenly become so ghastly unfamiliar.
So, as we all eagerly await the revival of “Twin Peaks” this summer, it’s a perfect time to dive back into the Lynchian world we’ve all been missing. And “David Lynch: The Elusive Subconscious” is an excellent way to dig into the eccentric and chaotic auteur.
Check out the video and weigh in with your Lynch-related thoughts in the comments below.