My two favorite directors, hands down.

Both love to explore the darker side of humanity through the use of film

Both use long, moody shots, often fraying your nerves with their drawn-out pacing.

Both are masters of sound.

Both have quirky, off-beat characters. Their characters always seem totaly unique, like you couldn't possibly know someone like them, yet at the same time you can still believe that these people exist.

They also have mastered the use of subtle visual themes in their films. Often, they will use certain colors, sounds or what-not to represent certain ideas. Oftentimes, these visual themes repeat themselves over and over throughout a flim (and, sometimes, they will re-occur in other films as well).

Both venture into the surreal (although, Lynch delves much further)

I COMPLETELY disagree with Heartbeatocean that Lynch's films have no message or morality. In fact, I think Lynch's films ALL have an extreme morality to them. He is more subtle about his message than Kubrick, but it is there.

I think I like Lynchs style of story telling over Kuberick's. Kubericks storys are very compelling but also hit the average viewer in thier appeal. Thus making htem mose classic than Lynch will ever be.

Kubrick also makes movies on a grander scale and thinks movies in a much bigger way than Lynch. AI was to be a 20 year project. Lynch would never have gotten that ambitious.

Lynch goes for the macabre, wierd, strange and unexplainable. There is a different thought process entirely with director vs audience. His characters are a lot more provoking and striking that Kubericks. And dialog. The dialog is very colorful and rich and original. His movies tend to be more smaller scale in that they deal with very few subject if any at all. You never know what to expect in a lynch film.

They do have similarities. They believe in the "shot" and go for that visual that is in their heads. They also are very smart and unconventional in achieving the "feeling" and "emotion" in thier movies through the visual style. They are also both dark and are willing to bring unusual elements and styles to thier pieces of work.

Kubrick and his work is ultimately masculine and heavy handed. Lynch has a much more varied feminine aesthetic and emotional quality to his work.

ufoclub said:

Except that Lynch's work has extreme mysoginist tendencies. I wouldn't exactly call it "feminine".

I think I like Lynchs style of story telling over Kuberick's. Kubericks storys are very compelling but also hit the average viewer in thier appeal. Thus making htem mose classic than Lynch will ever be.