Notable Director Works: David Lynch

There are few directors who can properly contextualize and bridle the crazy-eyed horse that is Nicolas Cage. Enter David Lynch. Adapted from a 1989 novel by Lynch himself, Wild at Heart follows deeply in-love Sailor (Cage) and Lula (Laura Dern) who go on the run to escape Lula’s domineering mother.

To say they get into wacky hijinks along the way would be an understatement of Lynch’s knack for peculiar and outlandish plotlines. But in its own sweet and unusual kind of way, Lynch manages to make his own brand of romantic comedy, complete with Wizard of Oz allusions, speed metal, and Cage performing not one but two musical numbers in a snakeskin jacket.

Seriously, I mean just watch this clip:

In 1999, Lynch was approached about producing a new television show after the success of Twin Peaks. When the two hour pilot was rejected by television executives, Lynch took what he had an made it into a feature film: Mulholland Drive.

When a woman (Laura Elena Harring) suffers a head wound as she narrowly escapes an assassination attempt, she stumbles from the wreck to lower Los Angeles. She makes her way to an apartment where Betty (Naomi Watts) is staying. Together, the two women venture further down the rabbit hole to discover who each of them really is.

For any other director the open-ended aspect of a pilot might’ve made for a confusing film. And while the same could be said about Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, the dreamlike and twisty neo-noir gives the unorthodox feature an aesthetic to savour. It’s an absorbing journey that’s far less about the answers than it is about asking the questions.