The Cinema of David Lynch - (Directors' Cuts) by Erica Sheen & Annette Davison (Paperback)

About the Book

Recent scholarship has tended to situate David Lynch's complexities within the critical frame of postmodernism; the essays in this collection push beyond this position toward a fuller account of the cultural and technological contexts within which his work has developed across the 1980s and 1990s, and of his intense engagement with the creative and working practices of the industry. Films discussed include Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, The Straight Story, and Mulholland Drive.

Book Synopsis

David Lynch is an anomaly. A pioneer of the American 'indie' aesthetic, he also works in Hollywood and for network TV. He has created some of the most disturbing images in contemporary cinema, and produced startlingly innovative work in sound. If the consistency of his 'vision' suggests he might be approached as an auteur, defining that vision raises many questions. The essays in this collection push toward a fuller account of the cultural and technological contexts within which his works developed during the 1980s and 1990s, and of his intense engagement with the creative and working practices of the industry. They offer an up-to-date range of theoretically divergent readings that demonstrates not only the difficulty of locating stable interpretative positions for Lynch's work, but also the pleasure of finding new ways of thinking about it. Films discussed include Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, The Straight Story, and Mulholland Drive.

Review Quotes

This range and intensity of theoretical approaches marks this book as a worthwhile study...The essays indicate provocative and constructive way of interpreting Lynch's films.--Daniel Herbert "Film International"

About the Author

Erica Sheen is a lecturer in literary theory and film at the University of Sheffield. She has published on Shakespeare, film theory and cinema history.

Annette Davison is a lecturer in film music at the University of Leeds. She has published on film composition and soundtrack.