David Lynch: Through a Glass Darkly

3 Philosophical Keys for Understanding David Lynch

Everybody knows mysterious places, there are things in life that are more felt, sensed than rationally known. … They are signals coming from the mind, from hidden places, you don't really know what's there behind the door at the end of the dark corridor that swallows you. But you can imagine it. And I make films to open that door in front of the nothing.
—Lynch on Lynch

This week, we lost an absolute giant, one of the true masters of cinema: David Lynch. His works are deeply enigmatic and unsettling. To me, he belongs in a small group of legendary directors—Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock, Dario Argento, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch— whose films have consistently held up a mirror and made us look at the innermost labyrinths of the human mind, and the shadowy corners of ourselves that we would probably prefer to hide beneath the surface.

With works like Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Lost Highway, and Mulholland Drive, Lynch continues to perplex and haunt us. His films are usually considered difficult to understand.

Therefore, I would like to give you three philosophical and psychological keys that can unlock some of their mysteries. With David Lynch, we can't just lean back and relax. We have to actively participate in solving those mysteries that Lynch has created for us.