David Lynch disclosed in a recent interview with Sight and Sound magazine that he has developed emphysema from years of “smoking for so long,” which has prevented him from directing in person. “I’m homebound whether I like it or not,” he continued. “I can’t go out. And I can only walk a short distance before I’m out of oxygen.”
According to what the Dune (1985) director said in the interview, “Smoking was something that I absolutely loved, but in the end, it bit me. It was part of the art life for me: the tobacco and the smell of it, and lighting things and smoking and going back and sitting back and having a smoke and looking at your work, or thinking about things; nothing like it in this world is so beautiful. Meanwhile, it’s killing me. So I had to quit … because of COVID, it would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold. I like to be amongst the things and get ideas there. But I would try to do it remotely, if it comes to it.”
Unfortunately, Lynch’s animated film Snootworld—about minuscule beings called Snoots who go through a process of shrinking at the age of eight—was just rejected by Netflix. The narrative would have focused on the tiny Snoot hero, who grows so tiny that he vanishes into a carpet’s fibers and finds himself in “a crazy, magnificent world” that is quite unlike anything he was raised in. Lynch acknowledged that he is still interested in directing Antelope Don’t Run No More, an enigmatic Los Angeles-based film about “space aliens, talking animals, and a beleaguered musician named Pinky,” in response to a question about which of his many unfinished projects he would most like to direct.
While this news is extremely upsetting for Lynch and his fans, it’s important to remember that he recently dropped a fantastic new album with co-star Chrystabell from Twin Peaks: The Return, which was released last week. In addition, Lynch has an active YouTube channel where he has been promoting the album by uploading episodes of a new series called David Lynch Theater Presents. The 78-year-old director isn’t going down without a fight, even if health problems are finally catching up to him. The most recent episode closes with an ant electrocuted while singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”
Following a flood of worried comments, Lynch declared on social media that he would “never retire” from full-time filmmaking.
Do you want David Lynch to keep directing?
[Via Consequences of Sound]
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