User reviews

David Lynch at around 70 years old talking, smoking, and doing his art. That's about it. But as he says about his childhood, when the whole world was only 2 blocks, but you can have everything you need in the world in 2 blocks, David Lynch - The Art Life - a film about 2 blocks long compared to a Hollywood blockbuster - still can give you everything you need for a really fascinating film experience.

If you are hoping for an exploration of the films of David Lynch, and of the filmmaker David Lynch, stay at home. Only David Lynch the neophyte filmmaker is explored because this is a natural development of the real star of the show - David Lynch the painter. One day he sees one of his paintings moving, and that's when the seed is planted for him to make movies - he wants to make moving paintings.

We see a lot of the finished artwork of David Lynch, and most of it is stunning and quite dark, the latter being somewhat of an incongruity considering that David Lynch seems to be a happy and contented person. In one scene, Mr. Lynch talks about showing his father some of his art as a young man, and his father's reaction is grave concern that Mr. Lynch is seriously mentally ill. "Don't have children," his father tells him. David Lynch once described his art as "violent comedy". Indeed, if you get the violence but not as much the comedy, you might think something is deranged about the man. During the whole 90 minutes I spent at the TIFF Lightbox Cinema in Toronto with David Lynch, I never got the sense that he was a nut job. His toddler of a daughter made several appearances in the film, and David Lynch was warm, playful, and attentive with her, and never acted bothered by her as she played while he was painting. He told story after story the way that regular guy that everybody likes in your life would. It finally occurred to me that Mr. Lynch had found the perfect catharsis in his art for anger and violence - which are within all of us - and the result was a cleansing of sorts, the mentally wholesome fellow I spent some time with yesterday at the cinema.

Every art student, budding artist, artist wannabe, art appreciator, and artist appreciator should see David Lynch - The Art Life. And every David Lynch fan, of which I am one...a BIG one. The rest of you might be bored.

Putting aside archival footage and his young daughter making cameos in parts of the film, David Lynch is the only person in the cast. His monologues do have an overarching story and chronology, but lots of it could come off stitched together. Not a bad thing, but The Art Life doesn't give you some deep understanding of his motivations behind every single one of his movies, rather why he does what he does. Beware: This is only logging his life from childhood to Eraserhead. Not his story of fame and success.

Some found it too shallow, but in my opinion David has a lot of interesting stories to tell and he's a charismatic storyteller. It's almost a very organized podcast. Pretty decent all in all, if not some life-changing perspective on what we already figured about everyone's favorite Hollywood surrealist.

Much like a David Lynch film, the documentary on said subject "The Art Life", mixes surreal tales, uncomfortable silences, and gorgeous photography.

Sure to befuddle many, this moody documentary concentrates on Lynch's visual art, barely touching on his filmmaking claim to fame. Revealed solely through his smoking words, "The Art Life" presents absorbing childhood recollections as Lynch creates his stark art pieces. It's beautifully shot, methodically paced, with a rather unsettling quality.

There is no external opinion to be had, as the film exists entirely in Lynch's world. We see him making art, talking art, pondering art, and then making more art. He is obsessed, focused, but friendly and charming, whether in the midst of molding a creepy canvas, groping his shock of white hair, planning his next canvas move in a cloud of smoke, or interacting with his tiny daughter. The mystery of Hollywood's extreme outsider remains deliciously intact.

Unforgettable.

As far as documentaries go, there have been more substantial and significant, affecting ones that have come out about artists' work. However, considering that David Lynch is one of the most enigmatic directors who fully represent and defy what art means, of course any film revolved around him would get the job done. This film takes a pretty simplistic approach in examining him and it's a collection of stories he gives about his childhood, but they're all worth it. This would be a fascinating documentary for any die-hard fan as well as any other film buff in general. Definitely recommended.

OMG! I fell asleep!!! Having David Lynch tell his own story in his soft MONOTONE voice makes a fascinating story, a yawner. NOT the stories themselves, but the way the tone in which they are told.

I am a David Lynch film fan and his art, while fascinating, isn't my "taste". I appreciate the visuals along with his stories.

He is a fan of home movies - which helped. And he is honest about his family.

But this movie is by far mostly about his art and his life, not his films. That was a bit of a disappointment. 95% of this is about the first 22 years of his life.

Not wasted time at all. But just not what I had hoped for.

I watched the second movie of Lynch and then I watched Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway. I liked very much his other movies without Lost Highway. I used to think always he is a mysterious man but after watching this film I think he is very friendly. I liked his workshop. I think he had hard youth times but that is why he is a successful director and artist. I really liked Lynch's story. It's a very successful documentary. Be always yourself and don't give up your dreams.

I'm predisposed to love this. I love David Lynch. Who doesn't. People with no imagination. No sense of wonder. That's who. Lynch is someone who sees art everywhere. Sees possibility. Draws on his experiences. Here he talks candidly about childhood memories as he works in his home studio, painting, drawing, playing. He talks fondly of his mother, her role in encouraging young David to experiment. It sounds like an idyllic start in life. Visualised by happy photos and home cine footage. Until he recalls an early traumatising memory, that sparks wonder and mystery. From here the stories get dreamier, darker. House moves, new friends. More introspection. Disapproving parents, perhaps not understanding where he might be headed. We don't see anyone but David. He works. He smokes. He narrates. The only punctuation are shots of the art he's produced and bits of archive. It's heady stuff. Inspirational stuff. He talks of his own inspiration. Exposure to "The Art Life", "You drink coffee, you smoke cigarettes and you paint and that's it. Maybe girls come into it a little bit". I can certainly see the appeal. If his mother disapproved of early choices. His fathers hands on look at the world, building, fixing, promotes that work ethic. Both parents though are clearly hugely influential and the way he speaks about them is with pure love. That slow methodical delivery. Every word from him feels careful, special. Wise and yet completely humble and honest. The shots of him sat smoking in his studio, contemplating as he looks at something he's working on are a picture of pure zen tranquility. He's such an interesting character to watch, that hair, those eyes. He's like a canvas himself. The stories build a world. His world. An insulated place where he called the shots. Made the rules. No rules. He returns to the same things time and again. Work ethic. Being challenged. A young artist being forced. Forced to find his way. It's a brilliant documentary. You feel totally immersed. It's not, but it sometimes feels as engulfing as one of his films. It's fascinating to hear him talk and make sense of his origins. Through art, through painting. Losing himself in the work, ideas mixing in his head, until... "That idea stuck in my head. A moving painting".

This self documentary meanders along and focuses on Lynch's art life / history. That would be great if it it came with insights into some of his films which it generally doesn't. If you are interested in painting and art generally then this could be for you.

If you don't know anything about the life of David Lynch, some things in this film might be interesting for you. But they still seem pretty random and only scratch the surface. It's just chronologically arranged stations of his life, retold by Lynch himself. If you really want to know something about David Lynch, you'd better read "Lynch on Lynch" by Chris Rodley. Basically the movie just uses passages from the book but without the context or the depth the book delivers. If you read that book, don't bother watching this movie. It will bore you.

Cinematography is mediocre. Archive footage is just tons of pictures from Lynch as a child, e.g. family pictures. At few points the camera captures interesting images of Lynch, just being in his studio. Watching at his painting or interacting with his child. Unfortunately these moments are instantly destroyed by the constant voice-overs. I would have loved to just watch sequences of David Lynch painting. At so many points in his life he emphasized that he just wanted to paint and nothing else. And now this movie shows once again, how he went from painting to film making. Why not portrait the moments when he went back to painting because he did not want to film ever again?

If I didn't know better, I now would think of Lynch as a mediocre artsy-fartsy guy who likes to talk about himself.

David LYNCH: THE ART LIFE: INSPIRING

I know David Lynch mainly from the Twin Peaks series I love. The fact that Lynch is not only a great film director but also an artist - and an inspiring one – comes as a pleasant surprise.

ARTISTIC

During the film Lynch is busy with extraordinary figures, shapes and materials. I did not understand what he was doing and at the same time it was very inspiring to watch. His artistic talent becomes clear from purely looking at him. I also saw many impressive paintings from him.

CINEMORE

The documentary about Lynch was shown during a monthly evening in Cinecenter, Amsterdam: Cinemore, an in-depth program for special films. Prior to the film a lecture was held, which was brought with humor. A nice introduction to this documentary.

TWIN PEAKS

One of the reasons I wanted to see David Lynch: The Art Life was to learn more about Twin Peaks and how he developed it. Unfortunately, this is not discussed in the film. Only a small part is about how he entered the film world.

PERSONAL LIFE

For the most part, and of course the name says it all, this documentary is about his artist's existence. In addition, his family ties and his personal life are discussed. Funnily enough, he himself is often the narrator of the story. That sometimes makes the film chaotic and difficult to follow.

CONCLUSION

The biggest conclusion I can draw after watching is that David Lynch is an intriguing man. David Lynch: The Art Life is an inspiring documentary, with the only two drawbacks that Twin Peaks gets no attention and that the voice-over by himself is not always the most informative choice. Nonetheless: recommended.

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Some revealing insights into Lynch as an artist, his childhood and his films which open the lid on his creative process.

Let's face it, David Lynch is fascinating for his movies, not his art. I came into this movie blind, not knowing what it was about. I suppose I should have been tipped off by the title. It's shots of Lynch working in his art studio, a few shots of his actual artwork (very few), and a voice over of some of his childhood. It bored me to death.