Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks, directed by David Lynch, can be considered crime fiction films, with noticeable archetypes of the genre contained within. Moreover, these two distinct films can be considered subversive and their director, David Lynch, as an auteur director. This essay will begin to discuss the notion of the auteur and how Lynch fits this concept, while thinking of Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks as post-modern products. Furthermore, the two texts in question will be considered as crime fiction material and analysed in regards to their traditional/archetypal elements and the subversive and Lynchian. The essay will conclude with what the unusual mix of traditional and subversive material means for interpreters of Lynch’s work.
David Lynch
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The music, set, lighting, and crew are all impacted directly by Lynch in order for him to put his distinctive touch upon the films. The auteur theory and Politique des auteurs both apply to Lynch, as his collection of works are uniquely his own and distinguishable to the rest of his portfolio. David Cook (1996, p960) defines the auteur …show more content…
The films in focus proceed in a series of events, like traditional crime fiction the narrative goes from the discovery of a crime, following a detective and their investigation and finally the criminal being brought to justice. Although Twin Peaks’ ending is open to interpretation as a conclusive and satisfying ending, when comparing it to that of a straight forward crime fiction narrative. The detective versus the criminal is another archetypal element that both of these films exhibit. Frank Booth and makeshift detective Jeffrey Beaumont are the detective and criminal in Blue Velvet, with Special Agent Dale Cooper and Sheriff Harry S. Truman against ‘BOB’ in Twin Peaks. The detective versus the criminal is one of the most basic archetypes of crime