Monday, June 1, 2020

THE SCHOOL OF MAYA DEREN: DAVID LYNCH & REPETITION


Meshes Of The Afternoon / Blue Velvet


There are lots of examples of Maya Deren’s influence on David Lynch (Check our parts one, two, three & four for examples of this). One of the most interesting similarities between them is how often they revisit the same scenes/moments at different points in their films.
The idea of being trapped inside of a time loop are common themes in both of their work (Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, Inland Empire, Meshes Of The Afternoon, etc), so this shouldn’t come as too much of a revelation. I just thought it would be cool to show examples of this as I have an ongoing series comparing the films of David Lynch to Maya Deren.

For example...

Early on in Meshes Of The Afternoon Deren shows us this mysterious figure placing the flower on the pillow...

Towards the end of the film we're taken to the same room except with a different person placing a flower on the pillow...

Early on in Lost Highway we're introduced to the mystery man at a party (play video for sound)

Later on that same character delivers the same exact line of dialogue...



In this entry we’re going to use Deren’s two most commonly known films (Meshes Of The Afternoon & At Land) and put them up against similar examples from just about every Lynch feature film along with a few forgotten examples (Hotel Room).


In Deren's At Land we revisit her rising from underneath the table towards the end of the film. Similarly, Lynch bookends Eraserhead (right) with an appearance from the nameless man in the window...
At Land / Eraserhead

We see this same thing in Meshes Of The Afternoon. Deren takes us back in to that same at room at the beginning & end of the film (with a slightly different perspective each time) much like how Lynch bookends Inland Empire (right) in a similar fashion...
Meshes Of The Afternoon / Inland Empire


Lynch uses this same bookend deal on most of his films...

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Mulholland Drive

Lost Highway (right) begins & ends with the same exact shot...
Meshes Of The Afternoon / Lost Highway

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Lost Highway

Meshes Of The Afternoon / The Elephant Man

At Land / Hotel Room

At Land / The Straight Story

At Land / The Straight Story

At Land / Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

At Land / Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

At Land / Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me



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