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David Lynch: The Art Life is a new documentary from the filmmaker which is basically watching him paint and sculpt in his backyard, while background narration sees him talking about his life, filled with many childhood experiences from his earliest memory onwards, including how the family moved about a lot, from one small town to another – due to his father’s work, hence, he had to make a lot of new friends on a regular basis.
Of his many stories, he tells how his mother said how she was always disappointed in him because he fell in with a bad crowd in one State, given how he was reacting to the then-new environment around him, although he also believes it could’ve been because she didn’t think he was reaching his potential in whatever she thought he was capable of.
At the same time, while watching the man with the coolest hair style in all of Hollywood, you feel you’re watching a man who’s far closer to the end of his life than the start (he’s 71, but doesn’t quite look it), and he’s looking back on his childhood. Hence, many of the poignant moments, which often reflect on our own memories – since we frequently have similar reflections – draw you in all the more.
He’s also clearly a man who enjoys his own company, rather like myself.
(He doesn’t really say that, but he’s David Lynch, so he can do what he likes!)
In a lot of cases, hearing someone talk about their life would be about as much fun as trapping your finger in the car door, but when it’s Mr Lynch, it makes for a very enjoyable documentary, especially if you want to learn more about the man behind his movies.
In fact, at this point I haven’t even mentioned any of his works. I haven’t seen them all, but I’ve seen a fair number, including Blue Velvet, Wild At Heart, The Straight Story, The Elephant Man… there’s so many, including the new Twin Peaks series, but you can go on IMDB if you need to be reminded of every last one.
This film also has some cool bass in the soundtrack, really making your subwoofer reverberate around the room 🙂
You’ll also notice that he concocts some really bizarre artistic creations, but then it’s Lynch!!
Not all of his anecdotes and stories will hit home, making it a little bit of a mixed bag, but ain’t that just like his films? 😉
Listening to David Lynch effectively narrate his autobiography, while we watch him sketch, paint, smoke and shuffle about his humble abode… it makes for one of the most gentle and relaxing 90 minutes you’ll spend all year.
David Lynch: The Art Life is available to pre-order on and DVD (I’m sure the Blu-ray will appear before long), and click on the poster for the full-size version.
Also, you can buy the paperback book, as well as movie poster
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 88 minutes
Studio: Thunderbird Releasing Ltd
Year: 2017
Format: 1.78:1 (Digital, plus 8mm archive footage)
Released: July 14th 2017
Rating: 7.5/10
Directors: Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes and Olivia Neergaard-Holm
Producers: Jon Nguyen, Jason S and Sabrina S Sutherland
Music: Jonatan Bengta
Cast:
Himself: David Lynch
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.