Subverting the Mainstream: The Postmodern World of David Lynch

Type :

Presentation

Pages :

5 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

11/19/2007

Category :

Arts & media

Sub category :

Film studies

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Summary :

Introduction
The world that David Lynch portrays
David Lynch's first successful film
The innovative storytelling behind Blue Velvet
What most critics of Wild at Heart failed
The critical response to Mulholland Drive
The world of David Lynch
Conclusion
Works cited

Abstract

During the first half of the twentieth-century, a movement known as "classical Hollywood cinema" thrived; this was the dawn of truly "mainstream" films. The movies created during this time operated largely within metanarratives; all-embracing laws which governed human behavior. These films utilized well-known plot structures and familiar characters to tell their stories. There was almost always a hero and a villain, and, in the end, the hero would inevitably get the girl. This was a decidedly modernist period in the realm of film. In the latter half of the century, the metanarratives of mainstream, modernist cinema began to face subversion at the hands of a new generation of filmmakers. One filmmaker who has lead the way in this fundamental shift in cinema is david lynch. lynch has, for nearly thirty years, stood out as a remarkably postmodern, independent filmmaker. He is largely responsible for ushering in a new breed of independent film, in which the simultaneous subversion and celebration of mainstream metanarratives creates endless cinematic possibilities. His films, most notably Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), and Mulholland Drive (2001) have generated extreme controversy, dozens of awards, and a reputation as one of America's most brilliant, offbeat directors. The stories these films tell are elaborately interesting, but what sets lynch apart as a writer/director is the way he tells his stories. lynch's work is categorically postmodern, extremely controversial, and undeniably independent.