A crowd of about 75 students erupted in laughter and gasps during surprising scenes in David Lynch’s film “Blue Velvet” at the Film Row Cinema at 1104 S. Wabash. Many students waited outside to be seated to watch the film — many for the first time — and mourn the loss of Lynch.
David Lynch, who died this year on Jan. 15, was an American filmmaker best known for his dark and disturbing films. His thriller film, “Blue Velvet,” earned a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. With many reviews praising it to be brilliant and provocative.
Attendees, who registered on Engage, were asked to dress up as their favorite David Lynch character to the screening on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Several students as well as members of the Cult Cinema Club, Messed Up Movies Club, Columbia Horror Picture Show and the Experimental Film Society were all dressed as different characters.
According to Bowie Preston, a film and television major and a member of the Messed Up Movies Club, the event came together easily, with all the clubs working together to get the film and the space.
“We were all just really sad about David Lynch dying, and we all wanted to do something, but we didn’t know how to, so we thought, why not just put all the clubs together. It would be really nice and sweet,” Preston said.
First-year film major, Marie Zentz was familiar with Lynch’ s work, noting that he was a good director, and had many of his films on their watch list. Zentz was also intrigued by his surrealist work.
“I actually put off watching this movie to watch it in a group, but I thought it was very inventive,” Zentz said. “Like, it was beautifully shot. It looks wonderful and it’s a very unique story.”
Zentz enjoyed the atmosphere of the crowd, how connected everyone was and how the group setting added to the experience for them.
“It’s nice that we get to have that at Columbia because usually [in] movie theaters, that isn’t usual etiquette, which is fine. I also like completely silent movie theaters, but sometimes it’s nice to just be with a group of people that you know are all gonna laugh at the multiple awkward jokes that are throughout the movie.”
Senior Dante Dammit, a film and television major, president of Cult Cinema and vice president of Messed Up Movies, has watched the film several times.
“The first time I watched Blue Velvet, I didn’t really connect with it,” Dammit said. “The second time, I really connected with it. And then the more I watched it, the more it just, it latched like every other David Lynch film, it just gets a deeper and deeper connection with me personally of how I either resonate with it as a filmmaker.”
Similarly, Alex DeCroix, a sophomore film and television major and secretary of Cult Cinema Club finds the film to get better after each watch. DeCroix also commended Lynch on his compassion on set.
“It was great how much he was able to bring people together and turn every single set into its own little family, and I think that’s something that we can all learn from as artists because I feel like that sort of close connection is kind of missing now,” DeCroix said.
For Dammit, “Blue Velvet” has helped her growing up and learn responsibility, especially being a senior now, the lessons in the film resonate even more.
After only seeing “Blue Velvet” two days after Lynch’s death, senior Noah Alvarez, a film major and president of the Messed Up Movies Club enjoyed seeing the film in a theater for the first time.
“Getting to hear the full sound mix in an actual theater full of like all these folks that are so so excited to see this, it was unlike anything I’d seen,” Alvarez said. “It was great, I had a great time.”
Both of them agreed that the loss of Lynch was a loss for true cinema, adding that there are not many directors left like him left.
“There are no other directors that have that same sort of singular vision that are so unique and so iconic,” Alvarez said. “There is no one else anymore that was successful too.”
Many of Lynch’s films, accoring to Dammit, represent the queer community in a casual and accepting way, unlike other filmakers at the time.
“The fact that David Lynch had the balls to represent queer culture as such a welcoming, normal thing without being the butt of the joke is just so refreshing to see,” Dammit said.
Other free screenings will be announced soon via Engage, including a short film by Conor O’Malley called “Unicorn Worlds” and John Waters’ “Pink Flamingos.”
Copy edited by Patience Hurston
Resumen en Español:
La película “Blue Velvet,” dirigida por David Lynch, fue mostrada en el Film Row Cinema en el edificio 1104 S. Wabash Ave. para honrar su memoria.
Lynch era un cineasta americano reconocido por sus películas oscuras y perturbadoras que falleció el 15 de enero.
Los estudiantes se registraron para el evento por la aplicación Engage y fueron disfrazados como personajes de varias películas de Lynch. Compartieron la experiencia juntos por un cineasta que era significante para el mundo cinemático.
Este evento fue organizado por las organizaciones estudiantiles Cult Cinema Club, Messed Up Movies Club, Columbia Horror Picture Show y el Experimental Film Society.
Resumen por Uriel Reyes
Resumen editado por Doreen Abril Albuerne Rodriguez
