A few weeks ago, I decided to watch Blue Velvet. I think it has been about 25 years since I last watched this movie and I find that odd. I say odd because I'm a fan of David Lynch's work and Blue Velvet is probably one of his most powerful. I don't know why it took me so long to get around to watching it again.
I think what I like about him is that he challenges me as a viewer. There's always some reason that makes watching his movies worthwhile. Here's the thing about Lynch: even those movies of his that don't quite hit the mark still have more merit than most others that don't do as well as expected. Dune is probably his biggest miss but even that movie has so much to offer. The visual style alone makes me return to it time and again.
But I digress. It's time I talked about the red curtains. It was while rewatching Blue Velvet that I noticed them in one particular scene. Apparently, this was the first time Lynch had included them in a movie. But it wouldn't be the last. Obviously, any fan of Twin Peaks - and I count myself in that number- will know of the curtains. But it wasn't until watching Blue Velvet again that I decided to try and find out more about them. Why? What is their significance?
Cue the internet.
Now, I don't know how accurate this information is but what I found was this: the red curtains were born of Lynch's childhood pasttime of visiting the cinema. Just before the start of the movie, the red curtains would slide apart to reveal that other world on the silver screen. It all makes sense to me. I spent a number of Saturday mornings visiting my local cinema for Saturday Matinee. The building is long gone - demolished decades ago to make room for new development- but I still remember those big, red velvet curtains and how they would part just as the opening music began to blare from tired, old speakers. That sense of anticipation. That sense of wonder as the white screen would suddenly become alive with the images of heroes and villains, of dastardly plots and derring do. Fast forward to the dawn of Twin Peaks and the red curtains are signifying that otherworldly place of the Black Lodge and its backward/forward speaking characters. Fascinating, funny, horrifying and utterly compelling.
And we come full circle. For all that Lynch movies can be both hypnotic and confusing, there's a sense of familiarity and comfort to be had when you find that your own memories align with those of his and that, for all the mind boggling and mesmerising behaviour within the Black Lodge, it's all symbolised by the red curtains and the magical effect they had on one particular boy in a cinema in the USA and another particular boy here, all these years ago in Scotland.
I think what I like about him is that he challenges me as a viewer. There's always some reason that makes watching his movies worthwhile. Here's the thing about Lynch: even those movies of his that don't quite hit the mark still have more merit than most others that don't do as well as expected. Dune is probably his biggest miss but even that movie has so much to offer. The visual style alone makes me return to it time and again.
But I digress. It's time I talked about the red curtains. It was while rewatching Blue Velvet that I noticed them in one particular scene. Apparently, this was the first time Lynch had included them in a movie. But it wouldn't be the last. Obviously, any fan of Twin Peaks - and I count myself in that number- will know of the curtains. But it wasn't until watching Blue Velvet again that I decided to try and find out more about them. Why? What is their significance?
Cue the internet.
Now, I don't know how accurate this information is but what I found was this: the red curtains were born of Lynch's childhood pasttime of visiting the cinema. Just before the start of the movie, the red curtains would slide apart to reveal that other world on the silver screen. It all makes sense to me. I spent a number of Saturday mornings visiting my local cinema for Saturday Matinee. The building is long gone - demolished decades ago to make room for new development- but I still remember those big, red velvet curtains and how they would part just as the opening music began to blare from tired, old speakers. That sense of anticipation. That sense of wonder as the white screen would suddenly become alive with the images of heroes and villains, of dastardly plots and derring do. Fast forward to the dawn of Twin Peaks and the red curtains are signifying that otherworldly place of the Black Lodge and its backward/forward speaking characters. Fascinating, funny, horrifying and utterly compelling.
And we come full circle. For all that Lynch movies can be both hypnotic and confusing, there's a sense of familiarity and comfort to be had when you find that your own memories align with those of his and that, for all the mind boggling and mesmerising behaviour within the Black Lodge, it's all symbolised by the red curtains and the magical effect they had on one particular boy in a cinema in the USA and another particular boy here, all these years ago in Scotland.