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What Do You Get When You Mix Dom Perignon With David Lynch?

This.

David Lynch is the Dom Perignon of filmmakers. He has developed a unique, surrealistic cinematic style, which has been dubbed “Lynchian”, a style characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound design. This ad for Dom Perignon is a good example.

In a release, Dom Pérignon said the partnership with Lynch was natural because they have much in common, including “mystery, intensity, commitment, time, the constant reinvention of the self, and above all, absolute faith in the power of creation.” The commercial carries the name, “The Power of Creation”.

These are the recurring themes in Lynch’s work. In their biography of Lynch, leading film critics Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell state that “his films are so packed with motifs, recurrent characters, images, compositions and techniques that you could view his entire output as one large jigsaw puzzle of ideas”.  And so it is.

Lynch bubbled-up (how else should I describe it—burst? popped?) on the film scene with his 1977 film Eraserheadthat became an instant cult classic. He went on to make some of the most original cinematic movies including Blue Velvet (1986), Lost Highway (1997) and Mulholland Drive (2001). He also directed the popular TV series, Twin Peaks.

My favorite of his films, Straight Story, did not have his characteristic flair, rather it was based upon a true story, that of Alvin Straight (played in the film by movie stuntman turned character actor Richard Farnsworth), an elderly man from Laurens, Iowa, who goes on a three hundred mile journey to visit his sick brother (played by Harry Dean Stanton) in Mount Zion, Wisconsin, riding the whole way on a lawnmower.

Lynch is not only one of the most original filmmakers today, but he a visual artist, musician, and an occasional artist. Of interest to TD, Lynch began making guest appearances on the TV show Family Guy spin-off, The Cleveland Show as Gus the Bartender.

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About Author

Josh is an author, former blogger, media critic, x-Capitol Hill legislative aide and White House assistant, business consultant, idea marketing specialist, a squatter at the global village virtual bar and an alpine rock gardener where he lives in Woodstock, NY.