Once he was silent for ten years. Then announced the irrevocable departure from the cinema. But he did not keep his word – came back and delighted fans with new seasons of the legendary TV series "Twin Peaks". However, in recent years, possibly as a result of long-term practice of transcendental meditation, we can observe a period of equilibrium and balance in his life, when creativity flows without strain, sharp ups and downs.
He is so passionate about meditation that he takes every conversation into a familiar course. And this is – all of David Lynch: if interested in something – whether it be music, movies, painting, photography or, as now, meditation – it is a true passion, absorbing all his thoughts.
LIFE SENSATION
David Lynch is undoubtedly a charismatic, extraordinary and startling personality. Once he admitted that he was afraid of death, pain and public speaking. For a long time, David Lynch was rather reserved and shy and rarely gave interviews. If you want to learn more about his childhood and the beginning of his directorial career, watch the documentary "Life in Art", where he himself tells about his life. However, unexpectedly, 17 years ago, he became just a brilliant speaker, carried away by transcendental meditation. And he got so carried away that he began to actively promote it - so much that it was followed by Martin Scorsese, Donna Karan, Clint Eastwood, Mobi, Alanis Morissette, Iggy Pop, Peter Gabriel ... He even ran the foundation that organizes training in the technique of transcendental meditation for children, victims of violence, military personnel with post-traumatic disorder.
Today, Lynch lives in a house designed by the son of the great American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the author of the principle of organic architecture.
He is still keen on painting and photography.
One of his photographs served as a poster for the 61st Cannes Film Festival, and shoe designer Christian Louboutin offered him a joint photo project “Fetish” - a kind of visual study of the nature of taboos and hidden desires.
- A lot has changed ... so many great films failed at the box office, but the ones that collect cash - are not what I wanted to do - so the director explains the appearance of transcendental meditation in his life.
How can transcendental meditation increase creativity?
Our findings are based on scientific research.
This technique helps to reduce the level of stress, fear, nervousness, which leads to the release of blockages, relaxation, and this in turn has a positive effect, for example, on improving the performance of schoolchildren and students ... This is a simple technique, it will take you twenty minutes of time twice a day and help relieve nervous stress. And they concern not only those who went through violence or war: every day we find ourselves in situations that immerse us in a state of experience. It is necessary to recognize this fact - and you are already on the way to relaxation of your body and brain, which will allow you to experience the fullness of life. We offer - we do not impose, but we offer - a simple way to return the feeling of life. There are 1440 minutes in a day, so everyone can easily find only forty to do meditation.
The first full-length film of the now 71-year-old director - "The Elephant Man" - was released in 1977. Even then, it became a kind of application for a new, unique style.
"Wild at Heart" in 1990 brought the Cannes Palme d'Or to the director. During his entire career, Lynch was nominated four times for an Oscar. The long-awaited third season of "Twin Peaks" has caused a predictable effect: David Lynch once again blew the roof off their fans. And besides the cinema, Lynch enjoys music, high-fashion photo projects ...
Examples when he was filming for the studio’s order can be counted on the fingers, among them “Dune” was based on the novel by Frank Herbert. The director was dissatisfied and even removed his name from the credits of the full version.
Lynch prefers to shoot according to his script. As a rule, his films are full of mystics, there are many mysterious symbols and hidden meanings in them, they often end ambiguously, allowing the audience to think out the plot themselves. His works like to be interpreted by the followers of Freud, speaking of repressed memories and intrusive repetitions.
“I love darkness and confusion, I love absurdity ... But I also like to know that somewhere there is a small door, beyond which happiness and comfort await us,” Lynch repeatedly admitted.
Why mysticism, why "darkness and absurdity"? Answers to these questions is better to look into his childhood experiences.
TRIGGERS OF LYNCH
The family of David Lynch is middle class by the standards of Montana State.
Father - a hereditary farmer, who was able to become a scientist, and his mother - an English teacher. Both were moderately religious and never in their entire lives quarreled. Loving parents did everything so that their three children lived in contentment and love. However, it is not for nothing that one of the main themes of David Lynch is the idyll behind which lies the world of unknowable, otherworldly horror.
One day, when little David was walking with friends and his younger brother near the house, they saw a sight that was strange to a beautiful town: an absolutely naked woman was walking towards the children. She was clearly not in herself, her mouth was bleeding ... This picture made an indelible impression on the boy. But another traumatic experience was prepared for his immature consciousness. The day before going from one provincial town to another, Lynch staged a farewell party with neighbors and friends, among whom was the Smith couple. So, Mr. Smith said goodbye in a very peculiar way: in front of everyone, he ... shot himself in the head.
As with the case of a naked, bloody lady, Lynch later wrote a picture about it. Having looked at these his creations, it is easy to understand the state of a child, scared madly by these events..
Meditation causes a feeling of peace. But any creative process, including the director's, is possible only in a restless state of mind, an internal conflict.
How do you combine the creativity and practice of transcendental meditation?
Concentration, the goal of transcendental meditation, is achieved by simple methods that do not require much effort. This key method allows you to push the boundaries of consciousness, to make its capabilities more qualitative. Consciousness boosts the brain's ability, creativity. The feeling of energy, love, happiness is released, all the most positive human emotions are released. You feel them, feel their growth. The feeling of happiness frees up your creative energy. And negative emotions are the enemies of creativity: if you are very angry, you poison yourself and your environment, anger or depression begin to control your brain. Transcendental meditation, freeing the subconscious, allows us to be aware of its depth, to broadcast our most intimate thoughts and emotions.
Meditating twice a day, you will see how your career goes uphill. I experienced it on my own experience. We offer our method for free - it will help, for example, to reduce the level of cruelty in schools, to heal the psyche of people who have suffered violence. It can be used by anyone who wants to get rid of negative experiences.
Lynch works with the same fanaticism as his other past hobbies, and stops all attempts to deviate from the topic of transcendental meditation.
FLASHING LAMP
“Ideas are like gifts, they dictate everything,” David Lynch once said.
He loves spontaneity, naturalness.
To audition for the filming of Mulholland Drive, the actor Justin Theroux came straight from the plane, as he was: all in black, rumpled and disheveled. It was in this image that he was shown in the film. And on the set of the first season of Twin Peaks, the director forbade changing the flickering lamp above the table - it created a special, mystical effect.
The same principle applies in the selection of actors. Kyle MacLachlan, Laura Dern, Naomi Watts and many other artists appear in several of his pictures. But there are “people from the street” - many of those whom Lynch shoots are not professional actors. Frank Silva, who played the evil spirit of Bob in Twin Peaks, worked as a decorator for the shoot, and Harry Goaz, who had the role of funny assistant Sheriff Andy, was the driver and once drove David Lynch. Coordinator of the stunt group, editor of the script and even the composer Angelo Badalamenti starred in small roles in the same “Mulholland Drive”.
The director's approach to soundtracks is always very thorough, but at the same time just as democratic. In real clubs, on the set and in mystical places, famous or not so good teams play in his pictures. In addition, he made remixes of famous compositions. And since the beginning of the XXI century, David Lynch has also released his own electronic music albums, recorded at his studio and even sings, although his voice is most often highly distorted by computer technology.
LIFE IN ART
No less spontaneous (and just as unexpectedly ended) was his love affair with Isabella Rossellini, invited to shoot in Blue Velvet, which lasted 2 million 423 minutes, or four years. The film received a total of 17 awards and 11 nominations at various international film festivals. And Isabella received gifts in the form of ... dried cockroaches, dead mice and moles — in short, everything Lynch saw beauty. She was accustomed to his oddities, including gastronomic ones - her lover preferred food imitating ... human brains. It seemed to her that this happiness would last forever ...
But one day, without explaining anything, Lynch disappeared from her life.
Isabella landed in the clinic with a strong nervous breakdown.
"I didn't even notice that in our relationship, he always held a line, for which I did not have the right to enter," the actress later said.
And how can meditation affect political processes?
Celebrities are the same living beings as you and I. And they, like everyone else, do not want to suffer. They want a feeling of happiness, fullness of energy and the ability to create accompanied them every day. This is a common human desire, and it covers more and more people. The same can be said for politicians; there is no difference. I have never engaged in politics, but I think that they, practicing transcendental meditation, can become calmer, smarter, more loving, more creative. And when they learn to act not as politicians, but simply as harmonious people, it will be easier for them to search and find the right solutions.
Well, we can only wait. Time will tell whether this complete return to the beloved business will be replaced by cold detachment, as happened to him more than once, or whether David Lynch has finally found a cause that has engulfed him completely.
