The one movie David Lynch refused to watch on TV: “A pathetic joke on a little screen”
Going to the cinema these days is a lot different to the time before social media, when no viral challenges or trends plagued screenings of certain movies (did anyone watch The Minecraft Movie in a silent movie theatre?) and no phone screens lit up an otherwise dark room.
I hate to sound like a downer, but I’ve had far too many bad experiences of going to the cinema that for a while I was completely put off. In the age of streaming, it’s much easier to wait until a new movie comes out on Amazon Prime instead of sitting among piles of spilled popcorn and rowdy teenagers. But where’s the joy in watching a movie on a small screen at home?
It’s only when I frequently began visiting my local independent cinema that going to the movies became more bearable – not only are you supporting an indie venue, but you’re likely going to be surrounded by theatre-goers with much better cinema etiquette. Watching movies old and new on the big screen with surround sound – perhaps even shown on film – allows you to experience a movie completely differently compared to if you merely watched it on your laptop in bed.
With the rapid evolution of technology, you can watch movies almost anywhere at any time, from a tiny iPod screen to a smart fridge, but there’s only one place you should really watch a film – the cinema. David Lynch was a staunch advocate for watching movies on the big screen, and he once told The New York Times, “There’s nothing like the big screen. The cinema is really built for the big screen and big sound, so that a person can go into another world and have an experience.”
There’s one film he was adamant had to be viewed on the biggest screen possible, and it’s one that truly changed the game for sci-fi. “As an example, there’s Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey — this would be kind of a pathetic joke on a little screen,” Lynch explained. The film revels in expansive visuals that convey the sheer scope of space – can that really be communicated through a screen as small as a MacBook? Of course not.
Kubrick’s masterpiece arrived in 1968 with a visual palette of neon lights and retro-futuristic set design that was mesmerising. From the Star Gate sequence to the final image of the baby, 2001: A Space Odyssey boasts an impressive aesthetic world that directly aids the film’s psychedelic vision, and you just can’t feel the whole impact on the movie if it’s not blown up massively in front of you.
“More and more people are seeing the films on computers — lousy sound, lousy picture — and they think they’ve seen the film, but they really haven’t,” Lynch complained. While computers are the most accessible way to watch movies – and some films are just never going to be available to view at your local cinema – if you’re able to view a classic like Space Odyssey on the big screen, do it.
When I saw Kubrick’s film on 70mm at the Prince Charles Cinema in London, I finally understood it in a way that I hadn’t before. I was pulled into the hypnotising visual world in front of me, and suddenly space was right there, flickering on the screen before my eyes, which I immersed myself in alongside a packed out theatre of other fans.
