David Lynch Rues His Version Of ‘Dune’ – “I Died A Death”

Director David Lynch learned a vital lesson when his version of Dune was done.

Speaking to NPR‘s Wild Card with Rachel Martin, Lynch responded to a question about the greatest failure that he learned from. He nominated his 1984 film, Dune.

“I knew already one should have final cut before signing on to do a film,” he said. “But for some reason, I thought everything would be OK, and I didn’t put final cut in my contract. And as it turned out, Dune wasn’t the film I wanted to make, because I didn’t have a final say.

“So that’s a lesson I knew even before, but now there’s no way. Why would anyone work for three years on something that wasn’t yours? Why? Why do that? Why? I died a death. And it was all my fault for not knowing to put that in the contract.”

Lynch, age 78, plans to release a new album with the artist Chrystabell in August.

The new music is complicated, as might be expected from a Lynch project, and he says even he was turned off initially. But “second hearing, a little bit less. Third hearing, beauty.”

The album’s title, Cellophane Memories, refers to the way the music moved him. “It just clicked as being like a friend. And it conjures memories … in listening to this, all these way-distant memories started bubbling up. Something about this music conjured memories.”

That will also happen to anyone who listens: “You will find music that’ll bring back memories … that will bring so much beauty and happiness into your life. Beauty is so tender. It’s a tender music, but tender as in beautiful.”

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For attribution, please cite NPR’s Wild Card with Rachel Martin.