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C O N T E M P O R A R Y F I L M D I R E C T O R S David Lynch Justus Nieland David Lynch i-xii_1-190_Niel.indd 1 1/23/12 1:43 PM i-xii_1-190_Niel.indd 2 1/23/12 1:43 PM Contemporary Film Directors Edited by James Naremore The Contemporary Film Directors series provides concise, well-written introductions to directors from around the world and from every level of the film industry. Its chief aims are to broaden our awareness of important artists, to give serious critical attention to their work, and to il- lustrate the variety and vitality of contemporary cinema. Contributors to the series include an array of internationally respected critics and academics. Each volume contains an incisive critical commentary, an informative interview with the director, and a detailed filmography. A list of books in the series appears at the end of this book. i-xii_1-190_Niel.indd 3 1/23/12 1:43 PM i-xii_1-190_Niel.indd 4 1/23/12 1:43 PM David Lynch Justus Nieland University oF iLLinois Press UrbaNa, ChICago, aND SprINgFIElD i-xii_1-190_Niel.indd 5 1/23/12 1:43 PM © 2012 by Justus Nieland All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 c p 5 4 3 2 1 ∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper. Frontispiece: David Lynch, at the William Griffin Gallery, Santa Monica, California, © Paul Jasmin. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nieland, Justus. David Lynch / by Justus Nieland. p. cm. — (Contemporary film directors) Includes bibliographical references and index. Includes filmography. isbn 978-0-252-03693-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) — isbn 978-0-252-07851-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) — isbn 978-0-252-09405-7 (e-book) 1. Lynch, David, 1946– —Criticism and interpretation. I. Title. pn1998.3.l96n54 2012 791.4302'33092—dc23 2011034119 i-xii_1-190_Niel.indd 6 1/23/12 1:43 PM Contents Acknowledgments | ix wrapped in plastic | 1 Interior Design 8 Bad Plumbing: Eraserhead 10 Inhuman Windows: The Elephant Man 20 Sexy Tchotchke: Blue Velvet 28 Furniture Porn: Lost Highway 47 The Art of Being Moved 62 Radio-Affectivity: Wild at Heart 65 Melodrama’s Crypt: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me 79 Moving Impersonality: Mulholland Dr. 94 Organism 111 On Moving Pictures: Six Men Getting Sick 114 Animated Humans: The Grandmother 119 Good Machine: The Straight Story 124 Vital Media: Inland Empire 134 interviews with david lynch | 161 Filmography | 171 Bibliography | 177 Index | 185 i-xii_1-190_Niel.indd 7 1/23/12 1:43 PM i-xii_1-190_Niel.indd 8 1/23/12 1:43 PM acknowledgments James Naremore has been a superb editor and provided extremely help- ful advice about the argument of this book. His generosity is as broad as his learning, and his patience is seemingly infinite. Joan Capatano, once again, was terrific to work with. Danny Nasset saw the project to the end with cheer and shockingly prompt responses to my every query. And Jill Hughes did an expert job as copyeditor. How lucky I was to have an editor so familiar with the book’s subject. Thanks to audiences at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference and at Concordia Uni- versity, Montreal, where I presented portions of this book and received perceptive comments and questions. Thanks especially to Omri Moses for the invitation, and for many stimulating exchanges about this work. I also want to acknowledge Gerritt Terstiege at form magazine (www. form.de) and Rob Wilson at Sight and Sound for permission to reprint two previously published interviews with David Lynch. I am lucky to have wonderful friends, colleagues, and students in the Department of English and the Film Studies Program at Michigan State University, many of whom heard or read parts of this book, always asking the most productive kinds of questions, and matching my own excitement about the project. Portions of the book were hatched in the classroom, and I want to thank in particular the students in my classes “An Erotics of Cinema: Surrealism and Film Theory” and “Cinemas of Affect: Hitchcock, Buñuel, Lynch.” Their passion, smarts, and all- around liveliness helped me arrive at the conceptual heart of this book. Thanks to my chairperson, Steve Arch, and the College of Arts and Letters for the post-tenure sabbatical that enabled me to get writing. A special thanks to Akira Mizuta Lippit, Todd McGowan, and Jona- than Rosenbaum, all of whom have written—and continue to write— i-xii_1-190_Niel.indd 9 1/23/12 1:43 PM