I kicked things off with a montage of short films, and was suitably confused, slightly comfortable and captivated: a classic Lynchian combination, I am discovering. Six Men Getting Sick was exactly that, but with gorgeous graphics, and the accompanying siren sound gave the piece an oxymoronically dull urgency which mesmerised. The Alphabet exhibited disturbing, mind-bending horror, and I could see the character of Laura Palmer emerging in the performance of Lynch’s then-wife, Peggy Reavey. The Grandmother dealt with neglect and abuse via childish fantasies and escapism. From these first short films, it is evident that Lynch had a unique ability to use an abstract form to convey a universal truth or emotion. These shorts were intercut with Lynch’s YouTube Shorts – hilariously upbeat weather reports and mostly useless DIY suggestions – during which Lynch’s vividly positive outlook on life shone through. I marvelled at how a man of his demeanour had created such beautifully dark and twisted tales, and realised that, actually, it made sense.
My next watch was Mulholland Drive, about which I knew nothing except the existence of a lesbian sex scene, and this I only knew from a Chappell Roan song. I wish I could claim that I understood the twist of this film without further explanation, but that wouldn’t be true. But once you get it, my god it is satisfying. I immediately felt I needed to watch it all again and figure everything out. Images, detail and desire drove this film, and it is a rollercoaster that everyone should ride on.
Finally, Wild At Heart was a fire-cracker of a film: less abstract, but no less beautifully shot, and its running theme of heat and fire kept an irrevocable energy coursing through it. I thought steam might begin to rise from the seats in Tyneside Cinemalike the deserts the characters drove through. Not at all surprisingly, Laura Dern and Nicolas Cage give exceptional performances, and everything they do is raw, primal, outrageous. It ticks all the genre boxes, so if you like a good on the road movie – or a romance, a thriller, a family drama – I can’t recommend this film enough.
The tribute, David Lynch: Dream Weaver, is still underway at Tyneside Cinema, so check out Blue Velvet, Dune, Lost Highway, and more from David Lynch over the coming months.