Monday, April 22, 2024

The Art Life

I reckon it's about that time.



Mainly sprung on by the fact I grabbed David's autobiography, I wanted to talk some more about his films. He didn't direct this one, it was a true passion project and started as a Kickstarter film that took some time to get done from three directors briefly chronicling David's life. Now when I say brief I mean brief like the underwear on my hips now, it ends around Eraserhead so you could argue it's not a complete documentary but even I can't say I hated it. Shot in the Hollywood Hills at David's home/workshop the film is a wellspring of pictures, home movies, and a gallery of his art while he recounts bits and pieces of his life. It's interesting stuff to look at, to hear, to experience especially if you don't know much about the man himself. Hell you don't hear a peep out of anyone else besides David except his sweet little daughter from time to time, and to hear right from the horse's mouth on his childhood, what got him into art and how that transferred to filmmaking, to these vignettes he tells is just what I expected. I'll admit there were certain things that struck me but not in an overly bad way just things I took notes on, primarily this is pretty much the example I point to henceforth if you want to see the most arty, avant garde, bordering on pretentious and maybe slips it's baby toe across that line cinematography and shot placement, simply look no further. I can't decide if it was intentional or not but it is sure to make an art house critic rumble with delight or perhaps seething disgust from their diaphragm. The other thing which I take more slight issue with, is they showcase a lot of David's drawings and paintings and if you've ever seen them you know it's very stark and very blunt. It's almost a smokescreen effect because I've seen enough behind the scenes stuff of Mr. Lynch and not only is he candid but he's got a lot of appreciation for life in all it's unique and quaint beauties, not to mention he's got a lot of love and an open mind to boot. So you'll forgive me if I take the usage of straight up serial killer music, this distrubing shrill soundscape to convey the point that a person is not mentally or emotionally well, in bad taste. It's genuinely the only thing I did objectively hate in this documentary, and if you've been here long enough you know I just don't like being negative about things. But you feel the way you feel, and you gotta make peace with that. But if that's as bad as it gets I think this biographical picture can skate by on a pretty good score. 3.5 stars, 8/10! Very much an appetizer before we delve in proper tomorrow with hopefully my first step into the world of Twin Peaks. 

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