David Lynch: The Art Life Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

David Lynch: The Art Life Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 28, 2017

Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes, and Olivia Neergaard-Holm’s documentary "David Lynch: The Art Life" (2016) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film and exclusive new video interview with codirector Jon Nguyen. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring a new essay by critic Dennis Lim. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The master

If you wish to understand how the mind of David Lynch works, you need to do two things. First, you have to think of it as a giant vault where the director has stored a staggering amount of memories and ideas. Second, you have to be fully aware of the fact that the overwhelming majority of them are constantly evolving, which is why when shared they can easily appear in different forms and configurations.

Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes, and Olivia Neergaard-Holm’s documentary David Lynch: The Art Life temporarily unlocks the vault and successfully pulls out a fascinating mix of intimate memories and complex ideas that describe an artist who has spent most of his life freely moving between two different realities -- the one where his family and friends were and life had a steady rhythm, and the one where his imagination roamed free. The documentary identifies when Lynch realized that he had the ability to do so and then essentially lets him describe how his experiences shaped up his persona.

The bulk of the information is about three different periods -- Lynch’s childhood years in Idaho, the time he spent in Virginia and the evolution of his relationship with his best friend Jack Fisk, and his move from Boston to Philadelphia where his interest in art matured. There are long descriptions that address important events from these periods that frequently overlap, but this is something that will actually help you see how from a very early age Lynch was basically looking at life from a unique prism that people that knew him, including his parents, did not even suspect existed. So in a way he really was learning a lot more about life thanks to his curiosity and terrific instincts, and not because he was blessed to be surrounded by great mentors.

The only film that is specifically addressed in the documentary is Eraserhead, and as Nguyen confirms in an excellent interview that is included on this release, this was done intentionally. Eraserhead represents a crucial turning point in Lynch’s career where his ability to transfer material from the alternative reality where his mind felt at ease to create was finally legitimized. To be perfectly clear, the focus of attention is not so much on the film’s aesthetics but on the fact that it signals a fundamental shift in Lynch’s life when he begins to visualize memories (some real and some imaginary) and ideas through a medium that would ultimately grant him unlimited freedom to express himself.

Perhaps the most interesting segment of the entire documentary is the one where Lynch calmly begins to describe The Art Life. He insists that it involves mostly coffee, cigarettes and painting, but it is really quite clear at this point that it is something much bigger and most certainly a lot more complex. Is it an entirely different philosophy of what it means to exist? It could be, but a ‘philosophy’ also implies that it is a complete system, defined by a specific logic and a set of rules that dictate a certain way of behaving. It just doesn’t seem right. Lynch’s paintings, films, and even his very own voice recordings belong to a giant puzzle and it is way too early to try and come up with a formula that would properly arrange its pieces.

The documentary’s soundtrack features original tracks written and performed by Lynch and Dean Hurley, as well as original music from Jonathan Bengta.

David Lynch: The Art Life Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes, and Olivia Neergaard-Holm's David Lynch: The Art Life arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"The film was shot with a Canon EOS 50 digital camera and an iPhone 5, and the entire production was completed in a fully digital workflow. The final color-corrected DPX files were output to Rec. 709 high-definition color space for Blu-ray and DVD release. The film features a fully digital soundtrack. The 5.1 surround audio for this release was mastered from the original digital audio master files using Pro Tools HD.

Master supervisors: Anders V. Christensen, Jon Nguyen.
Colorist: Maria Klarlund/Kong Gulerod Film/Copenhagen."

As it is often the case with various documentaries, there is footage that comes from different sources that retain some native limitations. Therefore, what is important is how the final material transitions to Blu-ray. There are no technical anomalies to report -- the new footage has outstanding depth and clarity while delineation is as good as it can be; the archival footage has some resolution limitations, some fading, and other minor age-related imperfections. Image stability is outstanding, except where some bits of raw archival footage are used. All in all, this is an excellent technical presentation that makes it exceptionally easy to enjoy the documentary as it was envisioned by its creators. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

David Lynch: The Art Life Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The film has a very unique minimalistic electronic soundtrack, and while the dynamic intensity cannot rival that of big-budget action films, there are nuances and colors beautifully enhance the intended atmosphere. During the monologues some minor fluctuations can be heard, but this is how they were recorded by the creators of the film.

David Lynch: The Art Life Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for David Lynch: The Art Life. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Director Interview - in this new video interview, codirector Jon Nguyen explains how David Lynch: The Art Life was conceived and some of the challenges that he and his colleagues faced during the long production process. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in March 2017. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080p).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring a new essay by critic Dennis Lim.

David Lynch: The Art Life Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I have read and seen plenty to know that there will never be enough books or documentaries that would reveal everything that there is to know about David Lynch. His mind is simply too big of an enigma and he really hasn't stopped creating, so there are too many stories to be told and too many confessions yet to be made. Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes, and Olivia Neergaard-Holm's new documentary David Lynch: The Art Life uses the great director's own words to shed more light on his early years and really the way he emerged as an artist. Considering the enormous amount of material the filmmakers had to work with, I thought that the documentary was very well constructed and edited, and truly illuminating. Fans of David Lynch and his work should not miss it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.