(Source: pretentiousjackass)
You grew up in the fifties, and all of your work seems to be done through a fifties prism. Would you agree that era is still a big influence?
Oh yeah. When you’re a kid, they say the window is wide open, and you take in things. Those things stay with you for the rest of your life: the music of that time, the smells, the look of the trees, the cars, the feeling of your living room rug. Every bit of detail stays with you in a real special way, and it can be an influence. It’s not the only influence, but it’s an influence.Do you miss that era?
I miss what I call a fifties dream: slow dancing in the basement with a girl with a really soft sweater and these budding breasts. Then a slow kiss in the dark in the basement with certain music playing. You know, it doesn’t get much better than that.
(Source: New York Magazine)
by Fiorella Valdesolo (Brooklyn)
I grew up with a brother who was David Lynch obsessed, so my family spent many a holiday on the sofa ensconced in Twin Peaks marathons. Lynch fans—a devoted bunch to say the least—know there is no one quite so wonderfully weird as this accomplished director. And though I would happily reflect on his oeuvre anytime, today is especially fitting since it’s his birthday (the big 6-6). To celebrate, a look at some of the most memorable of Lynch’s leading ladies.
1. Isabella Rossellini as Dorothy Vallens in Blue Velvet (1986)
A severed ear kicks off the murder mystery that remains Lynch’s most iconic—and definitely most disturbing—film. In Rossellini’s able hands, the character of a mysterious, fragile nightclub singer—in slinky midnight blue dresses, aqua eyeshadow and scarlet lipstick, no less—was riveting to watch. Case in point: the scene where she breathily croons, “And I can still see blue velvet through my tears.”
2. Laura Dern as Lula Pace Fortune in Wild at Heart (1990)
Laura Dern is back in the spotlight now, having picked up a Golden Globe just last week (looking stunning, we might add) for her role as the unhinged lead on Showtime’s Enlightened. Hard to believe it was over 20 years ago when she played wild child Lula Pace Fortune, with her mop of wild blonde curls and penchant for underwear-as-outerwear, opposite Nicolas Cage, the snakeskin jacket–wearing paramour Sailor Ripley.
3. Sherilyn Fenn as Audrey Horne on Twin Peaks (1990)
The character of Audrey Horne changes dramatically over the course of Lynch’s surreal cult series—and yet, Sherilyn Fenn perfectly captured this subtle evolution from bratty, entitled teenager to impassioned young woman. And though she seemed to ooze an easy sensuality, Audrey was as prim as she dressed (think modest hemlines and cardigan twinsets).
4. Patricia Arquette as Renee and Alice in Lost Highway (1997)
A 21st century film noir, Lost Highway is a strange tale that volleys between waking and dream life. Once again, Lynch uses the open road as a backdrop for a shady, sometimes violent adventure that sees the bodacious Patricia Arquette playing two women: reserved brunette Renee Madison and platinum blonde bombshell Alice Wakefield—or is it two sides of the same woman? Hmmm.
5. Naomi Watts as Betty and Diane in Mulholland Drive (2001)
One actress playing two roles and the open road as a backdrop: sound familiar? In Mulholland Drive, the road is the scene for a violent car accident that leaves the driver an amnesiac and sets off a chain of mysterious events. Naomi Watts is captivating as both Betty, a small-town girl who comes to Hollywood to make it big, and Diane, a washed-up depressed actress, in this dramatic thriller.
Bobby Vinton - Blue Velvet (1963)
Q. Did Bobby Vinton’s version of the song ‘Blue Velvet’ inspire the movie?
David Lynch: It was the song that sparked the movie! Bernie Wayne [& Lee Moris] wrote that song in the early 50s….Bobby Vinton’s version was the first one I ever heard. I don’t know what it was about that song, because it wasn’t the kind of music that I really liked. But there was something mysterious about it.
It made me think about things. And the first things I thought about were lawns - lawns and the neighborhood. It’s twilight - with maybe a streetlight on, let’s say, so a lot of it is in shadow. And in the foreground is part of a car door, or just a suggestion of a car, because it’s too dark to see clearly. But in the car is a girl with red lips. And it was these red lips, blue velvet and those green-black lawns of a neighborhood that started it.
-excerpted from Lynch on Lynch
David Lynch, Dune. 1984
Duke Leto Atreides: I’ll miss the sea, but a person needs new experiences. They jar something deep inside, allowing him to grow. Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.
(Source: lattefreddo)
