CinemaDavid Lynch’s strange experience working with Michael Jackson

The filmmaker’s trajectory David Lynchwhose death at the age of 78 was announced this Thursday (16), has a strong relationship with music. Throughout his career, there were several musical projects with which he was involved.

Also a musician, Lynch has released solo albums, worked in collaboration with various artists (such as Angelo Badalamenti, Chrystabell and Jocelyn Montgomery), produced and wrote lyrics for Julie Cruiseamong other initiatives. Many of these initiatives had to do with their own feature films.

In the midst of so many experimental projects, it is surprising when one remembers that he was also involved with none other than michael jackson. The singer, who left us in 2009 at the age of 50, personally asked Lynch to direct a 30-second teaser trailer to promote his then new album, Dangerous (1991), responsible for presenting hits such as “Black or White”, “Remember the Time”, “Heal the World”between others.

However, the experience was not the most conventional. The filmmaker told in his book Room to Dream (via New York Times) that Jackson was a nice guy, but he couldn’t stop talking about The Elephant Man (1980), one of his most acclaimed films.

The film tells the real story of Joseph Merricka man who lived in Victorian England with severe bodily deformities. The work shows him suffering abuse, being treated like an animal or a bizarre being. For a series of reasons — from his appearance problems caused by skin diseases to the media spectacularization of his life — Jackson identified with Merrick to the point that, according to media outlets at the time, he unsuccessfully tried to buy his remains.

In his own words David Lynch:

“I’m in my living room in Los Angeles. My phone rings and there it is michael jackson on the phone, telling me he wants me to make some kind of trailer for his album Dangerous. I said, ‘I don’t know if I can do it; I don’t have any ideas for this,’ but as soon as I hung up and started walking toward the hallway, all these ideas came to me. I called back and said, ‘I have some ideas,’ and I worked on it with John Dykstra in his studio.”

“We built this miniature world that was a red room with a tiny little door, and in the room there were these weird modern-shaped wooden trees and a bunch of silver fluid that would burst into flames and then reveal Michael Jackson’s face. It was stop-action and took a long time to make. To me, things don’t have to be that exact, but the people who worked on this planned it to the nth degree. The trees were lacquered red or black and the people who went in to move them wore white gloves and moved them along this precisely marked route.”

“That was part of it. The other part was filming Michael’s face, and we had a camera rig for that with a circle of lights that created this fantastic shadowless focus look. All Michael had to do was stand in one place for a few minutes, but he would be doing makeup for eight or ten hours. How could someone stay doing makeup for ten hours? He is someone who is very critical about his appearance.”

“Finally he was ready, he came out and I met him for the first time. And all he wanted to do was talk about The Elephant Man. He tried to buy the bones, the cape and all the things from the museum. He asked me several questions about this. He was a really nice guy. So he stayed there and we filmed it and a minute later his part was done.”

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— VMJ | fan💎media acc🎥 (@notastrangertho) January 16, 2025

David Lynch dies at age 78

Iconic director of Hollywoodresponsible for productions such as Twin Peaks, City of Dreams (2001), Eraserhead (1977), Dune (1984), Blue Velvet (1986) and The Elephant Man (1980), David Lynch died at age 78. Those who confirmed the news were the artist’s family, in a publication made on Facebook. He leaves two daughters, two sons and his wife, Emily Stofle.

Known for dark and surrealist films and series, Lynch had been diagnosed with emphysema from his lifelong smoking—so much so that he could no longer leave the house to drive. “There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not the hole.'”the relatives lamented.

David Lynch began his career as a painter and creator of short animation films and live-action. In the first film, Eraserheaddrew attention for its exaggerated and uncompromising style. It didn’t take long to be highlighted in the awards: The Elephant Man received eight nominations in Oscaras Best Director.

On television, he also left a big mark. With Twin Peaksstarted in 1990, told the story (created alongside Mark Frost) investigation into the mysterious murder of a high school student. Despite its initial success, the second season did not register a good audience, but the franchise received a film, titled Twin Peaks: The Last Days of Laura Palmerin 1992. The third season came about 25 years later.

In the interview book Lynch on Lynchfrom 2005, the iconic filmmaker spoke about the enigmatic core of his work with the author Chris Rodley and how he couldn’t define the meaning of his own work for viewers.

“Well, imagine if you found a book of riddles and you could start to solve them, but they were really complicated. The mysteries would become apparent and thrill you. We all found this book of riddles and that’s exactly what’s happening. And you can discover them. The problem is that you discover it within yourself, and even if you told someone, they wouldn’t believe you or understand you the same way you do.”

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