David Lynch’s children to honour film-maker with ‘worldwide group meditation’
By Naomi Clarke, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter
David Lynch’s children have invited fans of the filmmaker to join in a “worldwide group meditation” to honour his legacy “by spreading peace and love across the world”.
His children Jennifer, Austin, Riley and Lula Lynch have organised the event to take place for 10 minutes on Monday at 8pm (12pm PST), on what would have been his 79th birthday.
It was announced on Thursday that the acclaimed Oscar-winning director, known for the surreal TV series Twin Peaks and films such as The Elephant Man, Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet, had died age 78.
His children remembered their “beloved dad” as a “guiding light of creativity, love, and peace” as they announced the celebratory event in a joint statement shared on his X account.
“On Monday, January 20th — what would have been his 79th birthday — we invite you all to join us in a worldwide group meditation at 12:00pm NOON PST for 10 minutes”, the family statement added.
“Let us come together, wherever we are, to honour his legacy by spreading peace and love across the world.
“Please take this time to meditate, reflect and send positivity into the universe. Thank you for being part of this celebration of his life.”
The US film-maker’s death comes five months after he revealed he had been diagnosed with emphysema, a chronic lung disease, after “many years of smoking”.
Following his death, the world of film and TV hailed Lynch as a “visionary” film-maker who approached his projects with “two guns blazing”.
Oscar-winning British film-maker Sir Steve McQueen shared his admiration for Lynch’s approach with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday, saying: “He did it his way. He designed nightclubs, he painted, he did what he wanted to do.
“I tip my hat to him, he went out with two guns blazing, he did it, end of story. And he tapped in to the mainstream, which is extraordinary.”
Sir Steve, whose 2013 drama 12 Years A Slave won the best picture Oscar, also said Lynch brought “evil to the forefront of our narrative” within his work.
Lynch achieved worldwide stardom with the release of Twin Peaks, co-created with Mark Frost, following FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) who visits a quaint town to investigate the murder of a 17-year-old.
The director returned to develop and write Twin Peaks: The Return, released in 2017, as MacLachlan came back to the role.
MacLachlan said he “owed” his “entire career, and life really, to his vision” after Lynch originally cast him in 1984 sci-fi film Dune based on the Frank Herbert novel, before starring in Lynch’s 1986 film Blue Velvet.
Lara Flynn Boyle, who played Donna Hayward in Twin Peaks, said “there goes the true Willy Wonka of film-making” in a statement.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese was also among the film-makers reflecting on Lynch’s back catalogue, including Eraserhead, Wild At Heart, Lost Highway, The Straight Story and Inland Empire, which he said will keep “growing and deepening” as the decades go by.
Scorsese said the word “visionary” has become a catch-all phrase but feels it was accurate in Lynch’s case.
“The word could have been invented to describe the man and the films, the series, the images and the sounds he left behind,” he said in a statement.
Scorsese said Lynch made “everything strange, uncanny, revelatory and new” which were “right on the edge of falling apart but somehow never did”.
The Oscar-winner added that it was a “sad day for moviemakers, movie lovers, and for the art of cinema” following Lynch’s death.
Other stars paying tribute were Italian-born star Isabella Rossellini, British actress Naomi Watts, Sir Ringo Starr, Wolverine star Hugh Jackman, The Police singer Sting and Oscar winner Nicholas Cage.
Mystery movie Blue Velvet launched Lynch into the mainstream but prompted controversy with its violent and sexual content, despite securing him an Oscar nomination for best director.
He was known for the dreamlike, surreal quality of his work, epitomised in 1980 film The Elephant Man – which secured Lynch Oscar nods for best director and best writing, and was loosely based on the life of Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed man who lived in London in the late 19th century.
Following three Oscar nominations, the Academy presented Lynch with the honorary award in 2019 for “fearlessly breaking boundaries in pursuit of his singular cinematic vision”.
Born in Missoula, Montana, Lynch began a career in painting before switching to making short films during the 1960s.
He was also known for the 1970s feature-length film Eraserhead, a black and white, surrealist body horror which follows Henry Spencer as he navigates a strange and gloomy industrial landscape filled with characters such as The Lady In The Radiator.
He also directed 1997’s Lost Highway and 1999’s The Straight Story, and made a foray into music, releasing three of his own studio albums, working with Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O and Swedish singer Lykke Li.