Directors like David Lynch?

Anyone know any directors who are like David Lynch?
While I'm writing short films over summer, I'd love to try and get the idea for a feature down and Lynch style stuff is what I wanna write (non linear, surreal etc.) so I'm wondering if anyone knew directors like him so I knew more stuff to look at to get influence.

Thanks (:
 
Jodorowsky - Not seen any of his movies. A starting point please?
Miike - Only seen Audition and Ichi The Killer. Care to recommend anything more... Out there?
Shinya Tsukamoto - For ages I've been meaning to watch the first two Tetsuo movies and Vital
Del Toro - I love his Spanish language films and I've been meaning to get Cronos for ages :)
 
Jodorowsky - Not seen any of his movies. A starting point please?
Miike - Only seen Audition and Ichi The Killer. Care to recommend anything more... Out there?
Shinya Tsukamoto - For ages I've been meaning to watch the first two Tetsuo movies and Vital
Del Toro - I love his Spanish language films and I've been meaning to get Cronos for ages :)

All good picks for "not the usual director" directors, but I dont see many parallels with lynch

Shinya is industrial crazy
Miike is an arterial spray nut
Del toro is versitile and coherent. (how is that like lynch?)
And Mobius (jodorowsky) is more a great artist than a great director.

No offense to John, just not seeing the connection

Lynch is kind of his own brand, if you asked me who was like him, I really couldn't answer
 
I see what you're saying about Lynch, Nate, but there are some parallels to other directors, stylistically and thematically -- to a degree. Nobody's quite like Lynch (and after seeing the mess that is "Inland Empire," I'm thinking Lynch isn't even like Lynch anymore).

I think that a very Lynchian director is Guy Maddin. He's got a very unique, idiosyncratic style that blends his own weird sense of humor (which, like with Lynch, you will either love or not) with striking visuals that approach the level of watching somebody else's bad dreams, and that disturb you for reasons you can't quite put your finger on. See "Tales from the Gimli Hospital" for a murky visual journey consistent with, but different from, "Eraserhead."
 
Yes, I know of at least one very Lynchesque film. It's called The Reflecting Skin.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100469/

I've only seen it once --back when it was a new release. I found it very affecting at the time and still think of it as possibly the most grim and depressing fictional movie I've ever seen. It's not too far off from a Blue Velvet, say, only...think darker.

It was directed by Philip Ridley. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0726000/

I haven't seen the other four films he's directed. Though I did see The Krays, which he wrote.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099951/

I can't remember it all that well, but from what I can recall of it, it may be somewhat comparable to a Wild at Heart. Then again, maybe it's better compared to a Scrorsese film like Good Fellas, asking us to care about conscienceless sociopaths, thugs, and murderers. Fun. If I remember right, The Krays enjoyed a fair amount of critical acclaim when it came out, which is what led me to rent it.

I'll try to recall some other Lynchean-like films if I can. But I'm not very optimistic that I'll be able to.
 
I love "The Krays." Director Peter Medak did a lovely job on that movie, and since then, he's done much more TV than film.

Thanks for reminding me about "The Reflecting Skin" -- I need to see it.
 
It's a challenge to identify a director that is "just like" Lynch. I was going more for a list of directors who create a strong visual style with elements of surreal.

Regarding Jodorowsky - El Topo and Holy Mountain are his best known works, those are good to start with.

Regarding Miike - his output is so prolific and varied. As far as suggestions...maybe Gozu, Izo, or if you are feeling daring, Visitor Q (not surreal at all, but definitely a freak festival).
 
What Lynch does very well that a lot of people with a similar style miss is humor. His films are creepy and surreal, challenging but not incomprehensible (yes, even Inland Empire makes sense as a narrative. And once you get it, even the way it was told makes sense. Except maybe the rabbits) and always, often inappropriately funny.

Now, to second some of John's recommendations, Tetsuo is usually the film I follow up a viewing of Eraserhead with. Both have a J.G. Ballard/Kobo Abe vibe and both are very entrenched in industrial culture. In recent films, I'd follow that with a "Tokyo Gore Police" which does have more of the Lynch weird humor, but is about as subtle as the name, and very campy. Different, but similar vibe.

As for Miike, watch Audition after you watch Blue Velvet. If Audition was funnier, it could have been done by Lynch. His films are a mixed bag (I'm not so into yakuza films), but there are definitely similarities.

I haven't watched Jodorowsky yet, but there could have been a world where he had done Dune and Lynch had done Return of the Jedi. Odd to imagine!

Del Toro is one of my favorites and I think if he did a film with Terry Gilliam, the end result would probably be pretty close to Lynch. That said the director I most closely associate with Lynch is David Cronenburg. Definitely different, and definitely has his own style, but if you like Lynch, you'll probably like a lot of Cronenburg. Start with Videodrome, eXistenz, Naked Lunch and Crash. You'll love Spider too and, well, pretty much all of his films!
 
Great topic! Near and dear to my heart. David Lynch is certainly his own brand and style, pretty much one of a kind. The phrase often imitated, never duplicated comes to mind for his body of work, perhaps more of his earlier films than recent ones.

Would agree about Cronenburg being of the same ilk, although Cronenburg films tend to lack much humor. I might even add Bergman as an influence of Lynch, but I could be way off there. Lynch could have made something along the lines of The Brood.

LOVE The Reflecting Skin. One of my favorites. Amazing soundtrack on top of stunning visuals.

Interesting comparison with Maddin. I've only seen My Winnipeg. Now I must watch more. I guess Tales from the Gimli Hospital was his first 16mm film.

Jodorowsky for his artfulness and command of visuals. And the Dune connection is there.

I need to see more Miike films.

And then there's David Lunch. He does try that guy. ;)
 
If we are talking strictly visuals, give Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall, Losing My Religion music video) a look. Excellent composition and color palette. Subject to taste - as always.
 
Lots of recommendations here :)
I've been meaning to watch Reflecting Skin for a while. Are the director's other films any good? Don't know if anyone knows them.

Cronenberg, I've only seen Dead Ringers but I've been meaning to watch more of his stuff, including some of his less horror style movies.

Jodoworsky, the name's been in my head for ages but I've never gotten round to checking him out.

Bergman, I'm a big fan of so that's all fine ;D
 
Another nod to Tarsem! While Lynch uses the logic of a dream in his narrative, Tarsem paints dreams. The curtain/cape scene in The Cell is beyond beautiful. The Fall is amazing, start to finish, clever and a complex emotional mix (speaking of comparisons to Bergman). I'm looking forward to Immortals! Speaking of unlikely collaborations, if Tarsem ever did a film with Lynch, it would be the closest thing to a film version of a dream possible.

Which reminds me: Wim Wenders' "Until The End of the World". Not as dark as Lynch, but has a lot of his humor, and the "turn" in the movie, without giving it away, definitely strays into Lynch territory....
 
Yeah. He's an awesome director, but he's definitely his own animal. Some of his films are kinda dreamy (Wings of Desire, notably), but not really in a Lynch way. Again, his humor is similar (Million Dollar Hotel is a good example of that), but overall, that's the most Lynch-like of his films. They're all good and worth watching though (you mentioned being a fan of Bergman, Wenders leans more towards that comparison)
 
Yeah. He's an awesome director, but he's definitely his own animal. Some of his films are kinda dreamy (Wings of Desire, notably), but not really in a Lynch way. Again, his humor is similar (Million Dollar Hotel is a good example of that), but overall, that's the most Lynch-like of his films. They're all good and worth watching though (you mentioned being a fan of Bergman, Wenders leans more towards that comparison)

I've heard of Wings of Desire. It's a German film about angels isn't it?
 
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