David Lynch: Strange Beginnings
DAVID LYNCH: ABSURD ENCOUNTERS, Part 1
We begin David Lynch: Absurd Encounters with a look at the early life and short films that laid the foundation for one of cinema’s most enigmatic auteurs.
Before ERASERHEAD made him the king of the midnight movie circuit, Lynch was a young painter drifting through the American suburbs, obsessed with the quiet horror of white picket fences and the surreal rhythms of everyday life. In this episode, we trace his path from Missoula, Montana to the American Film Institute in Los Angeles — making stops in Virginia, Idaho, and a famously haunted Philadelphia — as we explore the origins of what Lynch would later call “the art life.”
We’ll also dig into his earliest films: SIX MEN GETTING SICK (SIX TIMES), THE ALPHABET, and THE GRANDMOTHER — experimental works that already show the DNA of his later obsessions: bodily decay, domestic dread, and the thin line between dreams and waking life.
Whether you’re a longtime fan or just starting your journey, this is where the Lynchian begins.
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Up Next: David Lynch: Episode 2: ERASERHEAD.
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop & Todd A. Davis.
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