The Characteristics of the New Surrealism in Cinema through A Glance at the Work of David Lynch

The formation of Surrealism roughly coincides with the first successes of silent movies. In cinema, Surrealism underwent changes after the World Wars, and it is evident that like Surrealist filmmakers, Surrealist artists are no longer committed to a full implementation of Surrealism in their works. It is safe to claim there are no recent filmmakers whose oeuvre is entirely within the Surrealist genre. Furthermore, there have been shifts in the overall concept of Surrealism itself towards a more wide-ranging concept. David Lynch is one of the most important filmmakers who has paid attention to Surrealism with many signs in most of his recent work being compatible with Surrealism. He can, therefore, be seen as a follower of Surrealism despite the fact that – typically for him – he has never acknowledged it openly. The present paper studies and analyses Lynch’s films from a Surrealistic point of view. The first part studies the genesis of cinematic Surrealism, followed by a focus on the second-wave Surrealism, or ‘New Surrealism’, as it is called here.  The work of Lynch is then studied using a Surrealist approach, and with an emphasis on technicalities and the views of some critics. The conclusion is a comparison between the new and old Surrealism in cinema.