ReutersDavid Lynch, The American director, whose credits include surreal classics Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks, has died at the age of 78.
Lynch’s death was announced on his official Facebook page by his family.
“There is a huge hole in the world now that he is no longer with us,” the post said.
“But, as he says, ‘Keep your eye on the cake and not the hole.’ … It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.
Lynch It was revealed in August last year He suffered from emphysema, a chronic lung disease, caused by “many years of smoking.”
Considered by many an independent filmmaker, he has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director throughout his career for his work on Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man, and Mulholland Drive.
His last major project was Twin Peaks: The Return, which aired in 2017, a continuation of the TV series that ran for two seasons in the early 1990s.
He won the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Wild at Heart in 1990.
The star of that film, Nicolas Cage, described him as “a unique genius in cinema.”
“He was a brave, brilliant maverick with a delightful sense of humor,” Cage said Deadline said.
He continued: “I’ve never had more fun on a movie set than working with David Lynch. He will always be pure gold.”
Fellow film director Steven Spielberg said he was “a unique, visionary dreamer who made films that felt handcrafted.”
“The world will miss such an original and unique voice,” Spielberg said in a press release. Statement for variety.
Director Ron Howard praised him on social media as a… “A generous man and a brave artist who followed his heart and soul proved that radical experimentation can lead to unforgettable cinema.”
Musician Moby, for whom Lynch directed the Shot In The Back Of The Head video, said he was “heartbroken”.
Many lynch The films were known for their surreal, dream-like quality.
Eraserhead, his first major release in 1977, was full of dark and disturbing images.
“Although his imagination clearly aspires to profound power, this remains an ordinary feat by his later standards,” a BBC reviewer wrote. He said From the 2001 movie.
In May 2024 interview With BBC Radio Three’s The Sound of Cinema, Lynch described the process of working with the late composer Angelo Badalamenti, who designed many of the soundtracks that accompanied his vision.
“And then I’m like, ‘No, this is still too fast, and it’s not dark enough, and it’s not heavy and foreboding enough,'” Lynch recalls.
His body of work was recognized at the Academy Awards in 2020 when he received an Honorary Academy Award.
The general manager said last year that despite being diagnosed with emphysema, he was in “excellent condition” and would “never retire”.
He added that the diagnosis was “the price to pay” for his smoking habit.
But his condition deteriorated within months. In November interview He said in People magazine that he needs oxygen to walk.
Born in Missoula, Montana, Lynch began his career in drawing before turning to making short films during the 1960s.