David Lynch Decoded
by Mark Stewart
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mark StewartEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-01-02
ISBN: 1434349853
Number of pages: 140
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Book Reviews of David Lynch Decoded
Book Review: Cracking the David Lynch Code
Summary: 5 Stars
According to this fascinating book, spotlights in David Lynch's films represent peepholes into mysterious worlds that are usually outside of ordinary perception. In a similar way, this books casts a revealing spotlight onto the mysterious and seemingly impenetrable worlds of David Lynch's stories.
Make no mistake: Stewart's analysis is laudably consistent, perceptive, and compelling. For instance, the theory about dogs-as-harbingers-of-danger is solidly supported by evidence yielded from ERASERHEAD, THE ELEPHANT MAN, DUNE, BLUE VELVET, WILD AT HEART, FIRE WALK WITH ME, and LOST HIGHWAY. In short, every single Lynch film, with dogs in them, fits like a dream into Stewart's interpretation.
And this is true of nearly all of his many astute and surprising interpretations - they hold true consistently.
This isn't to say I agree with everything he says - for instance, I disagree with some of his general interpretations of LOST HIGHWAY's basic story (dogs barking aside) - but these are trifles, especially when you consider that Allyn himself acknowledges that on some level we all see a little something different in Lynch's absurdist visions.
And yet his great little book is the single best effort this confirmed Lynchophile has ever read when it comes to presenting a clear-headed, even-handed, and (most importantly?) unpretentious unified analysis of the symbolism and themes of Lynch's work. Allyn makes his cases, and he backs them up with loads of direct and fascinating evidence.
Many filmgoers are inexplicably invested in the idea that Lynch's films are essentially weirdness-for-weirdness's-sake, and that any attempts to understand them are exercises in futility and subjectivity. The truth, however, is just the opposite: Lynch is one of the most meticulous and obssessive storytellers in cinema history, and his films are elaborate and bizarre mysteries that can be solved.
The trick to understanding Lynch's films is learning to decode his many visual/non-verbal clues, and this is the very point that Allyn elaborates upon in DAVID LYNCH DECODED.
Read the book, watch the films again, and you will almost certainly come to understand Lynch's movies, or at least aspects of Lynch's movies, with a clarity you probably never thought possible. And if nothing else, you're sure to get a fresh new perspective on this great American film-maker's mysterious body of work.
5 stars.
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