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The visionary director David Lynch is dead

17.1.2025

Translation: machine translated

David Lynch, one of the most important and influential directors of our time, has died. With his unmistakable style and surreal visual language, he shaped cinema and pop culture like no other.

David Lynch, the last great mystic of cinema, has passed away just a few days before his 79th birthday. This was confirmed by his family on Thursday evening via Facebook. "There's a big hole in the world now that he's no longer with us", the post reads. "But, as he would say, 'Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole'."

Lynch was one of those rare filmmakers whose name became synonymous with a style of his own: "Lynchian". It describes worlds that hover between dream and nightmare - places where the uncanny lurks behind the deceptively perfect surface. With films such as "Eraserhead", "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive", he created works that fascinate and disturb in equal measure. They challenged the audience and sparked enthusiasm that often only became fully tangible after the credits rolled.

Now he is no more. The family confirmed that Lynch died peacefully at his home in California. The exact cause of death has not been released.

From painter to cult director

David Lynch was born on 20 January 1946 in Missoula, Montana. He originally aspired to a career as a painter. But an inexplicable rush of wind changed everything: while he was painting one day, he thought he saw his picture start to move. This moment had such a lasting effect on him that he devoted himself to film from then on. His first work "Eraserhead" from 1977 became a cult film and laid the foundation for an extraordinary career.

The film adaptation of Frank Herbert's "Dune" in 1984 was a decisive chapter in his career. Although the film was initially torn apart by critics and ignored at the box office, it is now considered one of his most underrated works. Lynch himself often spoke about the difficult production conditions and the lack of creative freedom that characterised his work. This experience led him to devote himself exclusively to independent projects from then on in order to preserve his artistic freedom.

His series "Twin Peaks" in particular revolutionised television in the early 1990s. With its unique blend of mystery, melodrama and surreal horror, it opened new doors for storytelling and influenced an entire generation of creatives. But Lynch was more than a filmmaker: he was also a painter, musician and author. This versatility was reflected in his work and made him one of the greatest visionaries of the modern art world. In 2019, he was awarded an Honourary Oscar for his life's work.

With his death, the world has lost a storyteller who constantly redefined the boundaries of the medium of film and celebrated the weird. However, his legacy lives on - in his works and in the hearts of those who are inspired by his stories.

Header image: Wikimedia Commons

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Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

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