After blowing everybody’s minds this week, and even though the ratings might not have been what you’d call a success (and really, that’s such an outdated metric in this era of streaming services), it’s safe to say that this new season of Twin Peaks is pretty much a cultural phenomenon, and it should be.
We were never given a conclusion to the show that wasn’t a massive fucking bummer, and it perpetually disturbed people until, finally, the new season was announced. This lack of closure caused critics and Cannes audiences alike to slam director David Lynch’s 1992 feature film based on the series, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, as it was a prequel, covering the days prior to Laura Palmer’s untimely death.
Thankfully, this new season is causing that movie to get a complete re-evaluation, and lets it stand on its own as the immensely difficult, beautiful, and horrifying work that it is. All signs, from the poster on the iTunes store sporting a fresh new logo and to a hint in one of their monthly newsletters, have indicated that the Criterion Collection will be giving the same loving treatment to this film that they give all of their films (including Lynch’s Eraserhead and Mulholland Dr.). No details about a release date have been released to the public yet (though we’re willing to be cash money that it’s going to happen right before the series ends in September), though all is not lost: From renting it on a digital storefront to streaming it on Showtime’s mobile app to buying the new edition of the series on Blu-Ray, there’s already a bevy of options for you to watch it.
BOY THEY BOUTTA DO IT https://t.co/7sA9sC633A
— Nick Johnston (@onlysaysficus) May 24, 2017
However, If you’re interested in this incredibly harrowing and challenging work, and are looking to what may wind up being the closest parallel to the modern incarnation of the show, there’s no better way to watch it than on 35mm film.
It’s an actual honest-to-god movie, and is meant for both the immersive darkness and quiet of the theater, as opposed to in 4:3 on whatever kind of TV you own. Luckily, the Brattle Theatre has you covered this weekend, as they’re showing a print of Fire Walk With Me this Saturday night (May 27) as a part of their yearly “Reunion Week” series, where they screen prints of some curiosities and some certified crowd pleasers (see you at Hard Boiled, everybody). We can guarantee you that it’s an experience you’re unlikely to forget — we saw a print of Fire Walk With Me three or four years ago at the Coolidge After Midnite series, and it wrecked us for about a week.
Seriously, you owe it to yourself to watch this in a theater if you like the new season, so get on it. We’re going to huddle in the corner now and cry over the fact that David Bowie and his garish attempt at a Southern accent. won’t be reprising his role from this movie for the Showtime series (though they did reference him in the second episode).
‘TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME’ :: Saturday, May 27 at the Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St. in Cambridge, MA :: 9 p.m., all ages, $11 :: Advance tickets :: Brattle event page