Cinema has lost big today. While the news about To David Lynch passing seems even more unreal than anything the director has done, we mourn the loss along with the rest of the directors and actors who were privileged to exist during the Lynch era. And we pour a glass damn good coffee for him.
Contemporary and fellow titan of modern-era cinema, Steven Spielberg, shared a statement with Diversity on the great loss of his peer: “I loved David’s films. Blue Velvet, Mulholland Driveand Elephant man defined him as a singular dreamer-visionary who directed films that felt hand-crafted,” Spielberg recalled. “I met David when he was playing John Ford The Fabelman family. Here’s one of my characters – David Lynch plays one of my characters. It was surreal and looked like a scene from one of David’s movies. The world will miss such an original and unique voice. His films have already stood the test of time and always will.”
Long-time friend and collaborator Kyle McLachlan paid tribute to Lynch at Instagram: “Forty-two years ago, for reasons beyond my understanding, David Lynch plucked me from obscurity to star in his first and last big budget film. He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career and my life in fact to his vision.
What I saw in him was a mysterious and intuitive man with a creative ocean welling up within him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could reach.
Our friendship blossomed Blue velvet and after that Twin Peaks and I have always found him to be the most authentically alive person I have ever met.
David was in tune with the universe and his own imagination to a level that seemed like the best version of man. He wasn’t interested in answers because he understood that questions are the drive that makes us who we are. They are our breath.
While the world lost a remarkable artist, I lost a dear friend who envisioned a future for me and allowed me to travel into worlds I could never have imagined on my own.
Now I see him standing up to greet me in his backyard, with a warm smile and a big hug and that Great Plains horn. We talked over coffee, about the joy of the unexpected, about the beauty of the world and laughed.
His love for me and mine for him came from the cosmic destiny of two people who saw the best things about themselves in each other.
I will miss you more than the limits of my tongue can say and my heart can bear. My world is so much fuller because I knew him, and so much emptier now that he’s gone.
David, I remain forever changed and forever yours Cale. Thank you for everything.”
Actor Nicolas Cage shared with Deadline: “He was brave, brilliant and individual with a hilarious sense of humor,” Cage continued, “I’ve never had more fun on a set than working with David Lynch. He will always be pure gold.
Like Kafka, like Bacon, he devoted his life to opening a portal. He was the first to show me another world, a beautiful world of love and danger that I felt but had never seen outside of a dream. Thank you David, your gift will resonate with me for the rest of my life. https://t.co/pK2GDycV1Y
#RIPDavidLyncha kind man and fearless artist who followed his heart and soul and proved that radical experimentation can lead to unforgettable cinema. https://t.co/uMsAxrzKFx
The @remedygames the internal code name for Alan Wake 2 was “Big Fish”. I think David Lynch is swimming with the big fish now. rest in peace His influence reached far and wide and will continue to exist. pic.twitter.com/cBlAG46TuS
David Lynch said that filmmaking should be fun and joyful. Of course, this can be hard work. Of course, the work itself can encompass all kinds of pain and painful truth. But the very act of creation should be full of joy. I think about it all the time.
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