Directed by Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnett, Neergaard-Holm
Picturehouse, Liverpool
24th – 27th July 2017

Reviewed by Colin Serjent

This is an intriguing documentary about radical film director David Lynch. To use a well worn phrase, he is ‘off his head’ in regard to to his creation of art and films, but that is why I like him!

It includes three years of interviews with him, including a substantial degree of time of him painting in his studio.

Lynch’s story is recounted in his own words, juxtaposed with hundred of often bizarre but highly visual paintings.

People think of him as just a film director and painter but he is also a musician, photographer, furniture designer, coffee lover and an avid cigarette smoker! You constantly see him puffing away, getting every last drag possible.

The documentary ends with the filming of his classic surrealist creation Eraserhead, which took him three years to complete on a very low budget. It was filmed entirely in the stables of a large mansion in Los Angeles and released in 1977.

He was given the opportunity to do so after being awarded a grant by an American institution to make films. Lynch commented that without this grant he might have taken a wholly different direction in life, for example, holding down a regular job to support himself and his young family.

NERVE supports workers struggling for a living wage.