Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Bizarro Filmmaker Stalks America

David Lynch's Interview Project features the dispossessed of America.

David Lynch, the man who brought you everything from Eraserhead to Blue Velvet to Crumb, is playing with your mind again in his latest online project. The Interview Project had Lynch and his team scouring the highways and biways of America for 70 days conducting interviews with regular folks. Kinda like Charles Kuralt except that it is David Lynch so its more like Charles Kuralt on meth.

Did we say "regular folks?" This is a David Lynch production so the regular folks tend to be the dispossessed and the downtrodden. The sorts of people that you see in the shadows in broad daylight. The people who wear their life experiences on their face. These are the people that David Lynch is drawn toward.

Lynch's crew compiled more than 120 interviews that will be released over the course of the next year. The first interview - that just went up - comes from Needles, California. If that town rings a bell it could be because Snoopy hails from the same place. Curiously, the interview makes no mention of Charlie Brown's dog. Is this all part of Lynch's master plan to toy with our minds?

Sadly, the answer is no. The Interview Project seems to be a heartfelt endeavour that wears its heart on its sleeve. The voyeur in us can catch a three minute glimpse into the life of someone that we probably wouldn't engage in conversation. In the first episode we are introduced to Jess, a 64-year-old man on the side of the road.

We don't know much about Jess after three minutes but we can empathize with him. Lynch's essays in humanity remind us that America is chock full of characters and that even amongst strangers, our souls are all connected.
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