Viviendo en Venus

David Lynch is one of the most important authors in the last decades. He has a unique style. Thanks to his artistic experience in painting and photography, he has been able to express himself in unusual but more creative ways.

An early influence on Lynch was Robert Henri, teacher and artist born in the 19^th Century, who embraced the impressionism. Henri’s book, The Art Spirit, became the personal Bible of the young Lynch. As Lynch said in Chris Rodley's book Lynch on Lynch, "it helped me decide my course for painting — 100 percent right there." [1]

Lynch also admired Bacon’s paintings, which are so strong, that they almost scream to the spectators, the same way that David Lynch’s films do. Especially in the violent scenes, we can see an influence of Bacon’s crime-scene gore. He was highly impressed by the pictures of cigarettes, and meat, but also by the perfect balance and contrast in the paintings.[2] 

But Lynch wasn’t only inspired by painters but also by writers and most importantly by other filmmakers.  As Lynch said, he can watch Fellini’s, Hitchcock’s, and Kubrik’s films over and over again. He also likes Billy Wilder; he mentioned how much he likes the world of Sunset Boulevard. His L.A.-set movies, since "Lost Highway", are deranged cousins to "Sunset Boulevard", with their sense of death and decay under the glittery, sun-drenched facade.

Another favorite of his is Mr. Hulot’s Holiday by Jacques Tati.[3]

Lynch’s, Kubrik’s and Bacon’s art have also a particularly way of narrative structure in common, better said a repetitive, almost obsessive, narration.  Lynch and Kubrik play with the dialogs in a way that the spectator can retain an idea or a feeling; this is also a way to emphasize some aspects of the story.

David Lynch was impressed by Kubrik’s work, just as Kubrik does, he uses the Tai Chi – Wu Li which means: nonsense, patterns of organic energy, my way, I clutch my ideas, enlightenment, or physics (Zukav). Kubrik is a master of Wu Li in the contemporary Films. [4]

So David Lynch takes this essence of nonsense and uses it just like Kubrik with an outrageous sense of dark humor.

In the editing part they both used the same kind of dissolve to bring us into another World.

Another remarkable fact is that Lynch also influenced on Kubrik’s work. Kubrink modeled his vision of "The Shining" after a viewing of Lynch's "Eraserhead."

Another influence on Lynch’s work is the movie the Wizard of Oz (1939), this is strong represented in Wild at Heart, it can be confusing because it seems like Lynch is making fun of some characters of the wizard of Oz, like the east-witch represented by Lula’s mother. This woman has serious psychological problems, and isn’t in control of her life or her daughter’s, although she wants to. She tries to be bad but in the end she is a victim too, so she ends alone, like an old sad woman.

But not only in Wild at Heart, but also in Mullholland Drive there are many parallels to the Wizard of Oz. Lynch takes the picture composition from the Wizard of Oz as a sample for some scenes and shots. It’s not so strong as in Wild at Heart, because we don’t see symbols or parallels with the story, but it’s clear that he wasn’t only influence by the story but also by the way to tell it.[5]

David Lynch is also known by the surrealism in his movies, therefore could we mentioned Luis Buñuel as a later influence in David Lynchs work. After Eraserhead he was told that his movie was a lot like Buñuel’s films. We can see the influences of Luis Buñuel very clearly in the insects from Blue Velvet. [6]