The Passion of David Lynch: Wild at Heart in Hollywood [Paperback]

Martha P. Nochimson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1997

Filmmaker David Lynch asserts that when he is directing, ninety percent of the time he doesn't know what he is doing. To understand Lynch's films, Martha Nochimson believes, requires a similar method of being open to the subconscious, of resisting the logical reductiveness of language. In this innovative book, she draws on these strategies to offer close readings of Lynch's films, informed by unprecedented, in-depth interviews with Lynch himself. Nochimson begins with a look at Lynch's visual influences--Jackson Pollock, Francis Bacon, and Edward Hopper--and his links to Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles, then moves into the heart of her study, in-depth analyses of Lynch's films and television productions. These include Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Dune, The Elephant Man, Eraserhead, The Grandmother, The Alphabet, and Lynch's most recent, Lost Highway. Nochimson's interpretations explode previous misconceptions of Lynch as a deviant filmmaker and misogynist. Instead, she shows how he subverts traditional Hollywood gender roles to offer an optimistic view that love and human connection are really possible.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is the best book on David Lynch that has yet been published. Nochimson's book is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary cinema." -Brian Henderson, Professor, State University of New York at Buffalo

Review

This is the best book on David Lynch that has yet been published. Nochimson's book is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary cinema. (Brian Henderson, Professor, State University of New York at Buffalo )

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press (1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292755651
• ISBN-13: 978-0292755659
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #699,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cuts to the heart of Lynch's works, March 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Passion of David Lynch: Wild at Heart in Hollywood (Paperback)

This book shows how clueless some of Lynch's interpreters have been (and still are!). If you want to "decode" Twin Peaks or Lost Highway, this book will hold your hand as you let go to 'get it'. The book is as much a corrective lens on the critique of Lynch as the author points out Lynch being towards Hollywood. Hitchcock:Bach::Lynch:Brahms -- not for casual "listening". This book may seem a bit wordy, but it does have a multitude of "points" (another reviewer must have skimmed this book!) : e.g. communities based on masculine control, disallowing feminine influence. The notes themselves offer much needed background.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Duper!, June 20, 2001

By 

Josef K "person" (LA, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Passion of David Lynch: Wild at Heart in Hollywood (Paperback)

This is one of my favorites. Again, not nearly as personal and spiritually engaging as "Lynch on Lynch", but near the top of the heap. Martha's adoration for Lynch, and her grounding in the worlds of both academic and personal art make for perfect doorways into the dialogue she shares with David. He's the man, and this a unique way to enter the center... As the drapes peel back, and the Francis Bacon book closes, Angelo's music blows saliva bubbles into the air, and a bunch of really nice people smoking American Spirits come ambling up the crooked walkway. They're talking 'bout coffee... They're talking about trees... They're talkin' 'bout art!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most insightful book on Lynch's work to date!, June 23, 2002

By 

Tim Ho (Seattle WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Passion of David Lynch: Wild at Heart in Hollywood (Paperback)

David Lynch's brilliance as a film-maker lies in his ability to transmit meaning through images rather than dialogue. Consequently, much of the body of his work is very hard to decode conventionally. Nochimson, however, gets around this brilliantly - by incorporating its linguistic indecipherability in her thesis. What she advocates when watching a Lynch movie, then, is a letting go of any hope of finding conventional meaning. Further, she defines such a conceit as inherently masculine - a phallic will-to-control that Lynch decries. Remarkably, this thesis is as equally applicable to Lynch's more mainstream work (e.g. The Elephant Man) as it is to his radical later output (e.g. Wild At Heart). If you want to view David Lynch's films in a radically innovative new light, buy this book today!