Lynch noir; or Film noir According to David Lynch.

Abstract

Right after the era of classic film noir between the 1930s and the 1950s, there is a shift and a re-devising of codes, keys and characters in criminal-themed films and Hollywood thrillers in order to adapt them to the new times in the 1960s. Working on principles of self-conscienceness, self-reflection and irony, films in this new period fragment the essence of what could be called THE «spirit noir», with characters and situations typical of the genre revised in a process of demythologising and even parody. A good example of this tendency is David Lynch. He is inspired by the stylistic features, themes, iconography and narrative of classic film noir as the main frame for his production. He then deconstructs the genre, continually distorting those elements which are easily recognisable: lonesome heroes, detectives, gangsters, corrupt policemen, femmes fatales, etc. By working on these elements which are typical of the singular universe of film noir, this article presents a journey from Blue Velvet (1986) through Wild at Heart (1990), Lost Highway (1997) and as far as Mulholland Drive (2001).