David Lynch
David Lynch - Perdersi è meraviglioso

"David Lynch is not so much elusive as enigmatic: a moving target for interviewers, an astute conversationalist who often reveals more by remaining silent than by speaking; all this is his unmistakable trademark."

David Lynch, an extremely enigmatic and bizarre character, creator of true nightmares on film, bares himself in Getting Lost is Wonderful, a collection of interviews and newspaper articles edited by Richard A. Barney and published in Italy by Minimum Fax, in which the thirty-year career of this director, who is not just a director, is retraced. David Lynch is probably one of the most creative and protean minds in the entire global artistic panorama: director, musician, painter, comic artist when younger, designer (for some years now he has been dabbling in furniture design, some of which has been exhibited at the Milan Furniture Fair). But beware of calling him an eclectic talent: "Absolutely not. It's just that I inevitably deal with different things. I started by painting. And like many painters, I was looking for new challenges. Because it's not easy to earn with art." And who knows what else he has in mind for his future.

Watching his films, one might get the wrong idea about Lynch-the-person: he might seem like a completely insane man and, in some respects, deviant or perverted. But David Lynch is not what transpires from his films or his paintings. The artist-Lynch and the person-Lynch are two completely separate entities, something like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The journalists fortunate enough to interview him have seen a nice, easy-going little man always ready with a joke. But also a very serious person when it comes to his works. A person whose silences are indeed worth more than a thousand words. Jealous of the secrets and meanings of his films, he always tries to evade questions like "What is the message of such and such film?", either by saying nothing or giving answers even more enigmatic than the films themselves. But when he speaks of certain technical aspects, an infinite passion for his work, an almost moving passion, becomes evident.

The detractors of this absolutely versatile and protean artist will find confirmation in the criticism most often leveled at him, namely that his way of making films consists of juxtaposing disconnected scenes without any continuity. But it is precisely this seemingly senseless modus operandi that, paradoxically, gives meaning to his work, because his task is not to invent coherent stories, but to fish for ideas (recurring is the metaphor with fishing) and put them on celluloid. They may appear disconnected, but in reality, they are not. Why? Well, read the book if you want to know.

In conclusion, getting lost in the words of this book is wonderful. Because it is not just a book about Lynch, it is above all an inspiration for anyone with a job (of any kind) or a dream they want to achieve. The passion this immense artist conveys with his words is contagious and moving.

"It's so exciting when you fall in love with ideas. There's not much else to think about except trying to delve into that world and be true to those ideas. In a way, you get lost. And getting lost is wonderful."