12 David Lynch Movies and Shows and Why They’re Classics
There’s nothing more boring than listening to other people describe their dreams. But David Lynch’s films have found a way to transform him into groundbreaking cinema. Nor were dreams and night terrors all that the late filmmaker explored in his work: in the history of cinema, there have been few more profound observers of black America. white. While he lives and loves Los Angeles, Lynch—Who died on Thursday?—spent much of his life in less glamorous parts of the country, and expressed a deep affection for all of them in his films. His film and television work was filmed with cruelty and kindness lurking in our cities and suburbs, adults and children, the fortunate and the poor.
Like dreams, simply hearing Lynch’s work described cannot compare to experiencing his films and television series firsthand. Unique to the core, the director’s film (plus Twin peaksintegral to his work) almost always elicits strong responses, with each project bringing together a number of core ideas, themes and images.
As a filmmaker who closely associates his creative output with his subconscious, this is less a ranking of quality than a meditation on daydreaming. Lynch is at his best when he invites us into his subconscious. However, he was transcendent when he made room for us to incorporate ours into his.
© Universal/Everett Collection
12. Dune (1984)
Remarkable cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Virginia Madsen, Sting
MPA rating: PG-13
rotten tomatoes: 36%
Metacritic: 41
Famously the project that caused Lynch to give up studio filmmaking, sand dunes memorable as a fork in Lynch’s career path—a moment he vowed never to It feels like it’s sold out again. However, even with the reputation being a bummer for both director and studio, sand dunes remains a unique sci-fi epic, making Frank Herbert’s vision of a spacefaring empire’s battle for a mind-altering drug strange and fresh again.
© Samuel Goldwyn Films/Everett Collection
11. Wild Soul (1990)
Remarkable cast: Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Crispin Glover
MPA rating: R
rotten tomatoes: 65%
Metacritic: 52
A raucous fairy tale romance spanning the American South, Wild heart is a passionate film, following two reckless and tough lovers (Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern) who hit the road in an attempt to escape the violence around them. More jarring than Lynch’s other works in their combination of the realistic and the surreal, there is a discordance to Wild heart that only emphasizes the desperation to which its heroes are fleeing. But even with those jagged edges, Wild heart sings like Lynch’s most unbridled film — a primal scream that doesn’t signal madness but challenges it.
© Paramount/Everett Collection
10. The Elephant Man (1980)
Remarkable cast: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft
