Directorial Style of David Keith Lynch

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David Keith Lynch
Introduction
Love or hate his films; there is no denying that David Keith Lynch is one of the most celebrated American film directors. Born in 1946, Lynch studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts before venturing into film making in the 1960s. His first work was Eraserhead, which laid the groundwork for a cinematic style that utilizes ambiguity, sensory elements, and a montage of confusion. Some critics have likened Lynch’s cinematic styles to traditional American literature, obsessed with the idea that evil is a positive principle embodied in matter. However, a panel of critics convened in 2007 by The Guardian concluded that “after all the discussion, no one could fault the conclusion that David Lynch’s cinematic styles create imaginative images that stay with audiences long after the screen goes black.” Despite the criticism, David Lynch’s use of ambiguity, sensory elements, and a montage of confusion in films have created a directorial trademark that personifies his films.
David Lynch’s films are open to interpretation because they do not have ideas, conclusions, or messages that can be clearly defined. In cinema, this condition is known as ambiguity and presses the audience to inquire by persistently asking questions such as “why is it as it is”? The application of ambiguity in cinema has gained prominence in the last few decades because of the growing belief that there is no right or wrong interpretation of a work of art. Lynch’s use of ambiguity was first spotted in Eraserhead, when the meaning of the creepy baby, the shriveled chicken, and the man in the planet pulling his levers was left to the audience to determine. Ambiguity was also extensively used by Lynch concerning the meaning of the cowboy in Mulholland Drive, the giant in Twin Peaks, and the line “He put his disease in me” in Blue Velvet. The application of ambiguity in Lynch’s films is enhanced by camera movements that do not advance the primary action but present a different perspective of the scene (Sinnerbrink). In Blue Velvet, for instance, the scene at Ben’s house is full of tensions and emotions, and camera angles have Franck at the center, although the whole scene is centered on Dorothy. Such ambiguity creates a sense, a tone, and an atmosphere that the audience understands but cannot define or describe.
Unlike other films that use a coherent montage process, Lynch’s movies are always a work-in-progress until the very end. In motion pictures, montage is the processing of assembling and editing separate pieces of a film and creating a sequence that determines how a movie will end. In classical cinematography, the form of a film is pre-determined, and the audience can predict the conclusion of a movie based on the first scene’s content. In contrast, rather than pre-determining the end of his movies, Lynch allows form and context to evolve together through a process referred to as montage confusion. The application of montage confusion gives Lynch’s movies an organic feel that permits various organic parts to emerge, thus allowing the movie to be expanded further (Cutaya 87). For instance, in Twin Peaks, Lynch added various unusual dimensions to the movie’s plot because it had the capacity to accommodate other secondary storylines. Similarly, Mulholland Drive was produced twice; the first part corresponding to the original plot and the second part containing new scenes that advance the original plot.
Lynch’s use of montage confusion has been cited as one reason why films with numerous episodes became famous both in the United States and Europe. The failure to solve a movie’s puzzle at the end through montage confusion, as advanced by Lynch, creates a series of episodes that can redeem even a boring film (Reid and Craig). For instance, the release of Fire Walk With Me 1 was met with negative reactions due to the movie’s clumsy nature. However, part 2 of the movie enabled Lynch to address those flaws by presenting them as a foundation of further storytelling. However, montage confusion has resulted in the distortion of storylines that has caused the cancellation of some of Lynch’s movies. For instance, both On the Air and Hotel Room’s production was cancelled because the application of montage confusion led to diluted storylines and an unwanted waiting period between the release of parts 1 and 2 (Johnson 11).
Lynch's movies employ one texture element that focuses on the sensory aspect of cinematography. Texture refers to salient details such as color and noises, which are not part of a film’s plot. Despite other directors applying various texture elements to their movies, Lynch mainly uses sensory elements to evoke the audience’s feelings. Lynch's use of sensory features in films has been reiterated by critics who ...