David Lynch, director of Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive, dies at 78

American director David Lynch dies at age 78 one of the most important filmmakers of the contemporary era. The family announced it in a statement on social networks.

“It is with deep sorrow that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and artist David Lynch. We would appreciate some privacy at this time. There is a big hole in the world now that he is no longer with us But, as he would have said, ‘keep your eyes on the donut and not the hole’.”

Born in Missoula, Montana, on January 20, 1946, the young Lynch studied painting but already dedicated himself to making short films at the end of the 1960s. His debut feature film, in 1977, was ‘Eraserhead’, a psychotic and disturbing black and white horror film, with a long and tormented production, which soon became a cult in the underground circuits. Critical appreciation came in 1980 with the next one ‘The Elephant Man’, a moving biographical film, once again in black and white, which tells the story of John Merrick, a man suffering from a serious deformity who, in London at the end of the 19th century, is saved by a doctor who manages to rescue him from the circus that took him uses it as a freak and attempts to integrate it into society.

Having stepped into the limelight, Lynch then came recruited by Dino De Laurentiis to film ‘Dune’, reduction of Frank Herbert’s science fiction classic which, according to the Italian producer’s intentions, should have been a response to ‘Star Wars’ but turned out to be a colossal flop. The disagreements between De Laurentiis and Lynch led the latter to disavow the work, which was massacred by cuts, making the already complicated plot of the novel almost incomprehensible. The film was later re-evaluated and still has strong points, starting with Carlo Rambaldi’s special effects.

Lynch, who in the meantime had also expressed his eclectic talent in comics and photography, was still contractually obliged to shoot at least one more film for De Laurentiis. With “Blue Velvet”, released in 1986, Lynch returned to explore his obsessions, from the relationship between dreams and reality to that between sex and violence. The result was highly original and disturbing, it was a huge success among critics, who still consider it among his best works, it won Oscar nominations and also had decent box office receipts.

Having become a star, Lynch began working with television producer Mark Frost on a biographical series about Marilyn Monroe. The project stalled and, during a working lunch, the idea for the incipit came up, the corpse of a young woman found on the shore of a lake, of what would become one of the most important series in the history of television: ‘Twin Peaks’, which revolutionized the language and redefined the boundaries of what can be shown on the small screen. It was an extraordinary success and half the world was shaken by a single question: who killed Laura Palmer? The investigation into the identity of the killer uncovered a dark and supernatural world stirring beneath an apparently quiet town in Washington State. ‘Twin Peaks’ quickly became the object of a cult that endures to this day.

Busy filming ‘Wild Heart’, which would prove to be another great success, Lynch did not shoot all the episodes of the series but at the beginning he managed to have a fair amount of creative control over the product, relying on his now fetish actor Kyle McLachlan and choosing the directors to whom he would entrust the other episodes. However, the production’s decision to reveal the identity of the murderer too soon aroused Lynch’s anger and caused the public’s interest to collapse. The series was discontinued and the filmmaker decided to film a prequel in 1992, ‘Fire Walk With Me’, which sparked mixed reactions.

After other short-lived adventures, Lynch left television and returned to cinema. ‘Wild at Heart’, received lukewarmly in the US, had won the Palme d’Or at the 1990 Cannes festival. The surrealist thriller ‘Lost Highway’, released in 1997, however, also left European admirers perplexed. A reset was needed. Everything had to be reset. And so it arrived in 1999 ‘A true story’, with a minimal style and gentle tones, a fairy-tale ‘road movie’ starring an elderly man who undertakes a journey by tractor to make peace with his distant brother, who has suffered a stroke. The film took everyone by surprise but raised Lynch’s stock, as he had another masterpiece in store.

Born from another failed television project, ‘Mulholland Drive’ tells the dark side of Los Angeles through the eyes of Naomi Watts and Laura Harring, trapped in a narrative universe suspended between dream and reality where they lose themselves together with the viewer. In 2001 another consecration arrived at Cannes, this time as best director. After the bizarre serial experiments of ‘Rabbits’ and ‘Dumbland’, distributed on the internet, in 2016 it was the turn of ‘Inland Empire’, which remains his last feature film to this day.

The multifaceted and unconventional narrative structures this time convinced the public and critics only partially. The following year came a new series of ‘Twin Peaks’, Lynch’s last major project. The following years would be marked by collaborations, special appearances and even reading weather forecasts. But the elderly maestro no longer seemed to have any intention of returning behind the camera. In August 2024 the announcement of emphysema which, after a lifetime of smoking, would have led to his death. But it’s no time for tears because “it’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies everywhere.”