In the inaugural episode of Crash Course, I am joined by dear friends, and David Lynch experts, Ben Elsener and Andy Stewart to discuss the first three films we’re covering in this series: The Elephant Man, Dune, and Wild at Heart.
Why are we starting with those three—even though they’re not in chronological order? Well, Andy has his reasons, and they’re mostly about easing our way in to the most accessible of his works.
The discussion begins with The Elephant Man, possibly the most conventional of his films. It continues with the disastrous 1984 version of Dune, a film plagued by production issues and, perhaps, a creative force who realizes throughout those challenges that conventional Hollywood isn’t for him.
Finally, we dissect Wild at Heart, drawing parallels to other directors like Quentin Tarantino and digging in to Lynch's obvious love for/obsession with The Wizard of Oz. Oh, and we get a chance to celebrate Nicolas Cage, a foxy Laura Dern, and an early entry in to the catalogue of films where a Willem DeFoe performance steals the show.
As we start to delve into Lynch's work, we begin to discuss what the often-overused adjective “Lynchian” actually means—from the grotesque and uncomfortable to the fugue-like states that start (and keep) showing up in his work.
Show Notes
00:00 Re-introduction to the Crash Course Podcast
01:37 Meet the Lynch Lovers, Andy Stewart and Ben Elsener
04:25 The Elephant Man as Soft Landing in to the work of Lynch
19:22 Dune: Lynch's Disastrous Sci-fi Epic
34:26 The Unique Dynamic between Lynch and Frequent Collaborators
35:21 Comparing David Lynch to Orson Welles
40:32 Wild at Heart: A Deep Dive
48:51 Lynch's Wizard of Oz Obsession
58:17 Lynch vs. Tarantino: A Beginning Comparative Analysis
01:03:23 Looking Ahead to Next Episode
Production Note: We ran in to some unsurprising—but still very annoying—technical challenges with our recording, so if you notice rare moments of audio dropping out, that is why. We’ll do some extra testing before next episode to ensure that you get a more pleasant listen. Thanks for your patience!
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