Lynch on Lynch

The career of the creator of Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks in his own words.

Trained as a painter, David Lynch erupted into the cinema with the cult classic Eraserhead. He has been dubbed "Jimmy Stewart from Mars" (Mel Brooks) and has been categorized as a Magritte for the masses. But he is also a true surrealist in the tradition of the great Spanish filmmaker Luis Bunuel.

His films are disturbing and dangerous, with a delicious mystery lurking just beneath the surface of normality. Films such as Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, and the TV series Twin Peaks keep surrealism and hallucination in perfect balance with a sense of Americana that is as pure and simple as his compelling storylines.

Famous for his reticence about his work, Lynch here talks openly not only about his movies, but about the full range of his many activities: a lifelong commitment to painting; his continuing work in photography; his early experimental shorts; his extensive work in television; the musical collaborations with Julee Cruise and Angelo Badalamenti; and his first movie in four years, Lost Highway.