Cover David Lynch passes away at 78 (Image: Getty Images)
David Lynch passes away at 78 (Image: Getty Images)
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American filmmaker David Lynch has passed away in Los Angeles. Tatler takes a look at his seminal works that changed the course of film history, including the Oscars
American filmmaker David Lynch (1946-2025) died on January 16 in Los Angeles from emphysema, a chronic lung disease. He was 78.
“There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the doughnut and not on the hole.’ It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way,” his family wrote on social media on Thursday.
Throughout Lynch’s five-decade career, he was celebrated for his dreamlike, surrealistic and experimental productions, including the seminal TV series Twin Peaks (1990-91), the original Dune (1984) and the multi-award-winning Mulholland Drive (2001). He was nominated thrice in the Best Director category at the Academy Awards, receiving an Honorary Academy Award in 2019. He also won several other prestigious awards including the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 2006.
Outside of filmmaking, he is also a prolific actor, musician and visual artist. In fact, he started training in Fine Arts at the Pennsylvania Academic of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia before studying film at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.
Here are some of his most iconic movies and TV shows that marked important moments in his career and the film industry.
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1. ‘Eraserhead’ (1977)
Above The poster of ‘Eraserhead’ (Photo: Getty Images)
The poster of ‘Eraserhead’ (Photo: Getty Images)
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Lynch had been making short films in the 20s and decided, in the 1970s, that his true pursuit was in filmmaking. He turned his thesis project at the film institute into a black-and-white feature film, Eraserhead. Inspired by his fear of fatherhood, the independent surrealist body horror film portrays a survivor of an industrial environment striving to raise his mutant child. Its detailed visuals, creepy score and disturbing subject made the film a cult classic, and it caught the attention of film producer Stuart Cornfeld, with whom Lynch worked later, and director Stanley Kubrick, who named Eraserhead his favourite movie.
2. ‘The Elephant Man’ (1980)
Above A still from ‘The Elephant Man’ (Image: Getty Images)
A still from ‘The Elephant Man’ (Image: Getty Images)
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This 1980 biographical drama was loosely based on the life of a severely deformed man in Victorian London. The film turned out to be a critical and commercial success with eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor. It also prompted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to create a category for Best Makeup, after public criticism that the Oscars had failed to recognise the film’s remarkable make-up for the protagonist.
3. ‘Blue Velvet’ (1986)
Above A still from ‘Blue Velvet’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
A still from ‘Blue Velvet’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
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Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel Dune (yes, there was another one before Denis Villeneuve’s version with Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet) wasn’t a commercial success. As a response to that disappointment, wanted to share a more “personal” story closer to his surrealist style. In 1986, he took up the screenplay of Blue Velvet, a neo-noir mystery thriller that tells the story of a young college student who discovers a severed human ear in a field that leads him down a rabbit hole of criminal conspiracy and a romantic relationship with a troubled lounge singer.
The response was divided. Some criticised it for its strong sexual and violent content that served little artistic purpose; others credited it for spotlighting the sheer acting skills of its leads, Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper.
Lynch earned his second nomination for Best Director at the Oscars for this film and received the Best Film and Best Director prizes from the National Society of Film Critics.
4. ‘Twin Peaks’ (1990-91)
Above ‘Twin Peaks’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
‘Twin Peaks’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
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Co-created by Lynch and Mark Frost, the TV series portrays an idiosyncratic FBI agent investigating the murder of a young woman in the peculiar fictional town of Twin Peaks. At a time when sitcoms were a dominant genre, Lynch combined elements of mystery, horror, surrealism, strange characters and soap opera in his unique, unconventional narrative style that made him a household name.
5. ‘Lost Highway’ (1997)
Above ‘Lost Highway’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
‘Lost Highway’ (Image: courtesy of IMDB)
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Complexity and confusion meet in Lynch’s noir thriller Lost Highway, where two separate but intersecting stories are put into one production, linked only by actor Patricia Arquette, who plays the female lead in both the stories. One story is about a jazz musician, tormented by his wife’s suspicious affair, who finds himself being accused of her murder; the other tells the tale of a young mechanic being drawn into a complicated relationship with a temptress who is cheating on her gangster boyfriend. The film leaves the audience with absolutely no solution and highlights Lynch’s genius in storytelling.
6. ‘The Straight Story’ (1999)
Above ‘The Straight Story’ (Image: courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures Distribution)
‘The Straight Story’ (Image: courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures Distribution)
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In a surprising departure, Lynch directed this heartfelt and straightforward drama about an elderly man’s cross-country journey on a lawnmower to reconcile with his estranged brother. Though devoid of Lynch’s usual surreal flourishes, The Straight Story is deeply affecting, proving his versatility as a director.
7. ‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001)
Above ‘Mulholland Drive’ (Image: courtesy of Universal Pictures)
‘Mulholland Drive’ (Image: courtesy of Universal Pictures)
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Widely considered Lynch’s magnum opus, Mulholland Drive is a labyrinthine exploration of Hollywood dreams and nightmares. Parts neo-noir, psychological horror, and mystery, the film captivates with its layered narrative, stunning visuals, and Naomi Watts’ breakout performance. Its enigmatic ending will keep fans debating well past Lynch’s passing.
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Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
