David Lynch: The Art Life concentrates on the filmmaker's early experiences and visual art rather than attempting a complete career biography. The intimate documentary lets Lynch's recollections move associatively, with a rhythm that suits the unusual imagination being explored.
Conversations recorded in his studio are combined with paintings, drawings and sculptural work. The connection between that art and the films is striking. Familiar moods seem to exist in the pictures before taking cinematic form.
The direction is quiet and meditative. Long views of the works allow colours and textures to register, while the sound creates a mysterious, almost hypnotic atmosphere. The viewer has room to look instead of being hurried through a catalogue.
The idea of the art life involves concentration, solitude and experiences that leave deep marks. Lynch's accounts of troubling memories suggest how personal impressions can become something stranger and more enduring in artistic work.
Viewers seeking detailed analysis of the later films will not find it here. The narrow focus is a limitation for that audience, but also what makes the portrait distinctive. It examines roots rather than supplying a familiar tour of achievements.
After Lynch's death, that attention acquires an added poignancy. The film preserves the voice and working world of an artist whose influence extended widely. For anyone interested in where his particular sensibility came from, its patient intimacy is rewarding.