Lynch’s new film: an “abstract” documentary

   For the coffee drinking, cherry pie eating, chicken dancing fans of David Lynch everywhere, the announcement of his return to film making should be a glorious one. Yet, as always with the eccentric maestro, there is something of a catch.

   The last decade has been a quiet one in the way of film work for David Lynch. Not that he hasn’t kept busy – aside from maintaining his web-site, working on shorts such as Rabbits and the animated Dumbland, adverts for Gucci, music videos for Moby, an exhibition in Paris and a transcendental book called “Catching The Big Fish”, Lynch has kept his fans updated with weather reports and his embracing of Twitter micro-blogging. But, in the way of films, the big-haired auteur’s output has been scant. After re-tooling Mullholland Drive from what was to be a pilot episode for a TV series, the creator of Twin Peaks has made just one feature; Inland Empire.

   For fans of the director’s canon, Lynch’s announcement that he is working on a new feature may be a mixed blessing. Those expecting a return to Blue Velvet territory will be disappointed in that the one time Eagle Scout is preparing to shoot a new documentary focusing on the founder of Transcendental Meditation, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. A passion of Lynch’s for years, the director has toured globally giving lectures on Transcendental Meditation and, as such, the subject matter is not an entire surprise. The project is set to begin filming in December and, although it is to feature interviews with those who knew Maharishi, Lynch states: “I don’t think it’ll be a talking head kind of thing… it’ll hold a lot of abstractions.”

   Moving into the documentary format is an interesting choice for David Lynch who seems to be moving further and further away from the cinematic style that made him famous. In interviews to mark the release of Inland Empire, Lynch stated he would never use film reel again – the entirety of that project was shot on a Sony PD 150 camera. As such, one of the many flaws in Inland Empire was the negation of his trademark aesthetics.

   Another project mentioned by Lynch for the future was Snootland; a “kind of children’s film”. If, as expected, this is to be animated like Dumbland, it may be some time before Lynch returns to making a “standard” film. If this is indeed the case it would be a true shame; Lynch is one of the few auteurs who can genuinely claim to have his name used freely as an adjective due to his highly recognisable eccentric style. An animated feature would, however, mark somewhat of a career full circle for the former art student. Lynch began as a painter before creating the animated short Six Figures Getting Sick; an art installation that somewhat serendipitously launched the Eagle Scout into the world of the moving image and, ultimately, film.