7: Wild at Heart (1990)
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern and Willem Dafoe
In Seven (or more) Words: Roger Ebert described this as 'lurid melodrama' and 'soap opera'. There is some accuracy to this, though Wild at Heart, a candid description of the director himself, is supposed to be over-the-top macabre. Plus, some of the dialogue is Lynch at his snappy best. A psychotic prelude to Natural Born Killers.
6: Lost Highway (1997)
Starring: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette and Robert Blake
In Seven (or more) Words: Lost Highway is David Lynch's darkest nightmare; visceral, disturbed and confused, as is the eerie incarnation of the 'mystery man' played by Robert Blake. The substance of the film is illuminated through Lynch's uncompromising camera framing and, although the plot perplexes, Lost Highway drives as highly viewable.
5: Eraserhead (1977)
Starring: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart and Allen Joseph
In Seven (or more) Words: David Lynch marked his style with Eraserhead, an anomaly of a film, with an abnormal titular character. The sound design is as engaging as it is vexing.
4: The Elephant Man (1980)
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt and Anne Bancroft
In Seven (or more) Words: The first film I saw of David Lynch, with John Hurt emotionally naked under hefty prosthetics. One scene in particular will always stay with me, where the humanistic assessment of our protagonist elicits the scream 'I am not an animal! I am a human being!'. The Elephant Man might have been aberrant in appearance, though at his core, Joseph Merrick was one of us.
3: Blue Velvet (1986)
Starring: Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan and Dennis Hopper
In Seven (or more) Words: Extraordinary. Dennis Hopper will always be remembered for a triumvirate of movies: Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now and Blue Velvet. The latter encompasses Lynch's trademark visual flair with an ominous sound design in his preferred small town surroundings.
2: Mulholland Drive (2001)
Starring: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring and Justin Theroux
In Seven (or more) Words: Mulholland Drive is Lynch's last outstanding piece of film making, and very nearly his greatest achievement. Again, the lucidity that is prominent in most of his work frames the whole picture, with his film noir aesthetic conspicuous both in style and substance. An explanation is difficult, things just happen. Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring are both sublime, that much is obvious. As a warning, the film contains perhaps the most shocking moment I have ever witnessed in cinema. It involves a rotting corpse. Hypnotic viewing.
1: The Straight Story (1999)
Starring: Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek and Jane Galloway
In Seven (or more) Words: One of my all time favourite films. Lynch distributes his least Lynchian film; a tale of a man, with poor sight and a disabled daughter, who finances a trip across state to see his brother, who he hasn't spoken to in ten years, though who has been stricken by a stroke. The man's name is Alvin. His mode of transport. A lawnmower. The acting is exemplary, particularly from Richard Farnsworth, who was Oscar nominated, though who tragically took his own life six months after the film was released, due to his own terminal batter with cancer. The stunning images of Iowa to Wisconsin validates both states as picture perfect. The script is splendid, with Alvin contributing to other lives whilst on his travels. With every bit of advice he bequeaths, a life lesson is learnt. David Lynch differs from his usual brand of story telling, and in doing so, exhibits his masterpiece.
My Next Article Will Be.... The Seven Best Films Every Child Must Watch
