David Lynch Being a Madman for a Relentless 8 Minutes and 30 Seconds

Madman or visionary? A little of both? A genius? A brand? A mensch? David Lynch was all these things and more, and this fan-made video above serves as a quick reminder of the career and the consistency of the film director/artist/transcendental meditator who passed away last year.

Early in the video we see one of the director’s publicity stunts, when he sat in a chair on the corner of La Brea and Hollywood, next to a cow and a large poster of Laura Dern. No, the cow had nothing to do with the film he was promoting—2006’s Inland Empire—but it did stop traffic and draw attention. Lynch didn’t have an advertising budget to promote Laura Dern’s lead role in the film, so the cow had to do.

Laura Dern appeared in a majority of Lynch’s films beginning with 1986’s Blue Velvet, and the video honors their friendship (he called her “Tidbit”) as well as his collaborations with Kyle MacLachlan (who Lynch called “Kale”) and Naomi Watts. All three obviously adored him.

There’s also a compilation of Lynch swearing like a champ. Product placement in film is “bullshit,” problems on set are “fucking nuts,” and for those who sat through the “peanut sweeping” scene in Twin Peaks The Return, you’ll understand his outburst on set: “Who gives a fuc&ing $hit how long a scene is?”

We’ve linked previously to Lynch’s video where he makes quinoa, and this short edit sums up that video nicely. It’s also nice to see attention given to The Straight Story, which usually gets passed over in his filmography, despite (or maybe because of) being his sweetest movie.

There’s also a reminder that Lynch made videos from quarantine in his Los Angeles home. Not only did he deliver the daily weather reports like he used to, but he also announced “Today’s Number,” which caused quite a lot of anxiety in the YouTube comments. (Why no seven? WHY NO NUMBER 7?)

The video ends with Lynch’s theory about catching ideas like fish—we’ve also highlighted this before—and then a lovely montage of title cards, reminding us all that “Directed by David Lynch” remains a guaranteed sign of quality.

Note: An earlier version of this post appeared on our site in 2020.

Related Content:

The Wide-Ranging Creative Genius of David Lynch (RIP): Discover His Films, Music Videos, Cartoons, Commercials, Paintings, Photography & More

David Lynch Teaches You to Cook His Quinoa Recipe in a Strange, Surrealist Video

Twin Peaks Actually Explained: A 4‑Hour Video Essay Demystifies It All

David Lynch Explains Why Depression Is the Enemy of Creativity — and Why Meditation Is the Solution

David Lynch Made a Disturbing Web Sitcom Called “Rabbits”: It’s Now Used by Psychologists to Induce a Sense of Existential Crisis in Research Subjects

Patti Smith and David Lynch Talk About the Source of Their Ideas & Creative Inspiration

Ted Mills is a freelance writer on the arts.