Search - Lynch (One) on DVD

A gripping experience . . .

Tara | New York, NY | 08/29/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From the first scene I was gripped and fascinated, not only by the eccentric Lynch, but by the pure artistry of the film itself. From the music and sounds to the vivid imagery and the intelligence of the storytelling I found the film a complete experience. I highly recommend this film."

Portrait of the Absurdist

Boy | 12/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Many of the best scenes from this stylish and compelling documentary are of David Lynch telling stories. This is a man with an apparently bottomless reservoir of true-life tales that are every bit as humorous, disturbing, and all-out absurd as the stories from his films like ERASERHEAD, BLUE VELVET, MULHOLLAND DR., and others.

For instance, there's the story about the time he became obsessed with "popping" an enormously bloated dead cow with his pick-ax. Let's just say the effort backfired.

Or the time he found himself pinned against his steering wheel, in the middle of traffic, by a ponderous, house-eating floor sander.

Um...

Or there's that black and white French film ("But I swear there was color in it, although I don't know HOW!"), entitled "Blood of the Beast," in which the world's most efficient slaughterhouse made a horse disappear before his awe-stricken eyes.

And on and on and on...

But aside from chronicling many of Lynch's alternately grotesque, hilarious, and sometimes even poignant, stories, LYNCH (ONE) also gives you insight into: Lynch the mad carpenter at work in his shops; Lynch the enthusiastic practitioner of Transcendental Meditation; Lynch the meteorologist, delivering idiosyncratic daily weather reports to his official website members; Lynch the charmer explaining to Laura Dern the real reason why he calls her "Tidbit"; and even Lynch the rock star recording his distorted, otherworldly vocals to the INLAND EMPIRE theme song, "Ghost of Love".

And speaking of INLAND EMPIRE, quite a bit of this film is a fly-on-the-wall look at the unusual gestation process of Lynch's latest absurdist extravaganza. For those who still don't know, IE is a three-hour mind-bender (and the bonus disc provides 74 more minutes of footage entitled MORE THINGS THAT HAPPENED) that, two years after its release, absolutely no one on earth has a solid, working interpretation for. Check that one out.

But getting back to LYNCH (ONE), the dvd is generously packed with bonus features which, although they can get a bit tiresome, contain all sorts of hidden gems throughout.

It should also be noted that LYNCH 2 (the follow-up to LYNCH [ONE]) is included on the sprawling INLAND EMPIRE bonus disc. L2 focuses on behind-the-scenes IE production footage, as opposed to LYNCH (ONE), which is more about Lynch's background, personal philosophies, and approach to craft.

All in all, this is a film that no Lynch fan, and no fan of INLAND EMPIRE, should ever pass up.

Oh, and happy Bastille Day!"

Could've been longer

crown of indica | saint paul,mn,usa | 04/10/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's great to be able to see Lynch at work in something more concrete than a DVD extra or two, and this doc gives fairly good insight into the man doing his thing. The four stars come from that.

Had to take a star away because of how short it is compared to how much footage was shot, and also because the director did a bit of an amateurish job of imitating Lynch's trademark visual mechanisms and scattered editing style. I would've rather just had a straight-up 200 minute documentary about Lynch without any huge focus on artistic representation(outside of Lynch at work of course): if the mystery is being exposed to a certain degree, don't try to shroud it in mystery's cloak.

A must-have for Lynch fans though."

Hardly Essential

Robert Buchanan | Wisconsin | 03/09/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Shot over the course of two years in 2005 and 2006, this video documentary presents a non-linear record of filmmaker David Lynch's personal and professional activities during that time. Lynch paints, sculpts, addresses his website subscribers via webcam, celebrates Bastille Day, tells several entertaining anecdotes (of course, a few of these are culled from his disconcerting years in the cesspool of Philadelphia) and explains his personal approach to art and its relation to his practice of transcendental meditation. He's also shown scouting locations, preparing sets, recording sound and shooting his three-hour video feature, "Inland Empire."

It's a bit surprising to see the iconic filmmaker occasionally infuriated by ineptitude and depressed by his own lack of direction, but to watch him surmount these obstacles to realize his weird and unique vision is all the more heartening. Lynch's enthusiasm is truly inspirational for any sort of artist, and his advice is invaluable. We're shown too little of his interaction with his performers (Weronika Rosati and Laura Dern, among a few others), and that's a pity - Lynch is as much an actor's director as any other.

Although it's well edited, the Super 8 stock on which this was shot has yielded distinctly unphotogenic results. There's not much here that Lynch fans don't already know, which is unfortunate, as they're the only people who are likely to take much of an interest in it.

If you're a Lynch devotee, this is worth a rental or broadcast viewing. Otherwise, you'll probably be wasting your time."