When Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me premiered during the Cannes Film Festival in May 1992, the world was a different place. The internet barely existed and certainly wasn’t what it is today. Almost a year after the season two finale in the United States, folks in France and Japan would get to see David Lynch’s prequel film first. I was green with envy and salivated on every news article or television clip about the film. The weeks leading up to the Cannes Festival were filled with many mysteries that led my 17-year old mind to daydream on the potential of what a Twin Peaks movie could be. All that we knew was it was selected for competition at the Festival, and that it would have its world premiere on Saturday, May 16th, 1992.
Soon, reports and rumors about what took place at the festival began flowing in small bits and pieces. Most disheartening was a rather consistent story of a poorly received premiere and yet there was much more. Julee Cruise performing in the middle of the sea? Michael Anderson too? A mythical super extended cut screened exclusively at Cannes? A hotel set on fire to honor the premiere? For the 29th anniversary of the premiere, I am revisiting what actually happened at Cannes that year – who was there, what went down, and finally setting the record straight about audience’s reactions.
BRIEF HISTORY OF CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
For those that don’t know, the Cannes Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres from all around the world. Many that have attended describe the event as pure madness likening it to the San Diego Comic Con squeezed into a tiny town on the French Riviera.
Founded in 1946, the event is held annually (usually in May) at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres. It is a networking event where studios and celebrities can promote their films and is reserved strictly to film industry professionals. The annual event lasts 12 days and is also an opportunity for films to compete in one of several competitions held during the event.
In 1992, the event was held May 7-18, and American films by American directors dominated the line up. The competition opened with Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct , and was followed by screenings of Robert Altman’s The Player, James Ivory’s Howard’s End, Gary Sinise’s Of Mice and Men, and others. The festival closed with Ron Howard’s Far and Away staring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
It makes sense then why David Lynch, who is as American as apple pie, joined the mix that spring. Already a favorite in France, he took home the Palme ‘dOr two years earlier for his epic road trip film, Wild at Heart. Many attendees in 1992 were anxious to see how his Twin Peaks story would continue.
Lynch had only a handful of months to complete the film. Principle photography took place in September and October 1991, with a handful of soundstage scenes in Southern California were captured in November 1991. This left Lynch about six months to edit, mix, color correct and finalize his masterpiece before the Cannes premiere.
Here is a timeline of the Twin Peaks-related activities that took place during the festival.
MAY 10 – KYLE MACLACHLAN AT CANNES
Days before the screening, Kyle MacLachlan arrived to help promote the film. He did multiple interviews for various international media and entertainment news outlets.
By all records we have found, Kyle did not stay to attend the premiere likely due to a scheduling conflict. But it was great to see him there promoting the film nonetheless.
MAY 15 – TEAM LYNCH ARRIVES
On their way to Cannes, David Lynch and Mary Sweeney were photographed by the paparazzi walking the streets of Paris.
They arrived in Cannes a day before the world premiere. Sweeney served as editor for the film.
The metal briefcase Lynch is carrying looks similar to one that Special Agent Albert Rosenfield has upon arriving in Twin Peaks. (“Two briefcases … weird.”)
In the bottom image, you can see someone following them wearing a Twin Peaks shirt, but it is hard to tell who it is. @ThatsOurWaldo identified the mystery man as Angelo Badalamenti.
Lynch and Sweeney were later joined by Angelo Badalamenti, Julee Cruise, Bob Engels, and Michael J. Anderson who participated in taking press photos and interviews.
Anderson appears to be wearing a Twin Peaks shirt that is similar to one the unidentified gentleman Angelo is wearing in the photo with Lynch and Sweeney above.
It is great to see that even back in 1992, the Blue Rose was something that Lynch and team were prominently teasing during the Festival.
Unbeknownst to Lynch and team, James Marshall was also at Cannes during the same time promoting his film Gladiator.
Walter Olkewicz also joined them that day but ended up spending time soaking up some sun and enjoying Palm Beach, a nude beach that was down the street from his hotel. Side note – the city of Cannes eventually banned nudity on Palm Beach in July 2009.
MAY 16 – MORNING/AFTERNOON – SCREENING #1 (PRESS ONLY)
For years it has been rumored that Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me received a cold reception when it was screened at Cannes. Years later, cast and crew members have shared inconsistent stories as to whether the news articles accurately reported what actually happened at the world premiere.
Bob Engels, who co-wrote the film with David Lynch, was even quoted in Blue Rose Magazine.
I was there (at Cannes); it didn’t happen. I was sitting with Mary Sweeney (the film’s editor) and David Lynch. The audience didn’t boo. You remember when people hate what you wrote.
Yet almost all of the reviews published between May 17-31 seemed to reinforce that the film was “booed” at the end of the screening. Here are two additional examples of clippings from the day after the film’s premiere that offer a similar story.
TWO SCREENINGS
While the press ran with these stories, we are happy to share that, based on some deep digging, we can finally confirm that like there were two Coopers, there were at least two screenings: one early screening for press and critics (source of possible negative responses); the second being the official world premiere that followed a red carpet event with Lynch, Sweeney, and Engels in attendance.
Most importantly, the crowd gave a standing ovation at the latter screening!
Here is the evidence that supports multiple screenings.
CLUE #1 – Excerpt from the August 1992 Issue #89 of Cinema Papers include a transcript of the press conference following the press screening:
If David Lynch seems less forthcoming than one might expect, the poor reception (of hissing and booing) when he entered may have been partly to blame. Apparently, though, Lynch was unaware of the negative response his film had just received at the press screening in the Grand Palais.
This quote that confirms Lynch was not present at the press screening. Once the press conference concluded, the afternoon festivities and world premiere began.
See this in-depth article about that press conference.
MAY 16 – AFTERNOON – RED CARPET
The press and festival attendees begin flooding the red carpet to get a glimpse of the celebrities about to walk the carpet. French National Police line the walkway as we get to see the first glimpse of Team Lynch.
David Lynch, Michael J. Anderson (sporting his red Little Man from Another place suit) and Mary Sweeney held hands as they walked the red carpet to arrive at the world premiere. Joining them were Angelo Badalamenti, Walter Olkewicz, Robert (Bob) Engels, Fire Walk With Me film producer Francis Bouygues, and singer Julee Cruise.
By pure coincidence, David Lynch spotted James Marshall on the red carpet. He had no idea that James was also planning on being at Cannes that week. He called over to James and invited him to join the group.
The red carpet moved straight to the screening in the Grand Auditorium at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres.
Julee Cruise discussed her appearance at Cannes during the 2015 Twin Peaks Festival in the United Kingdom. Thank you to Aaron Cohen (@IMoveCar) for sharing this clip.
MAY 16 – EARLY EVENING – SCREENING #2 (CAST & CREW)
Following the red carpet event, Lynch, Sweeney, and Engels (others unconfirmed) attended the film’s World Premiere (this was second screening of the film that day).
CLUE #2 – Earlier we cited the comment on Lynch being unaware of the reception as he entered the press conference. The next piece of evidence confirming that there were at least two screenings is found in this unearthed video of the actual premiere that followed the red carpet. The clip is from early DVDs compliments of Twin Peaks archive legend, Bruce Phillips.
There you have it!
Watching this video and listening closely to the audio taken at the screening proves that the world premiere was well received. No boos. Only love for Lynch and his amazing film. The press, however, ran with feedback from some critics who attended the earlier screening.
In addition, we contacted Gilles Jacob who was the CEO of the Cannes Festival in 1992. To many, he is THE authority on cinema in France. Here is what he had to say regarding the reception at the world premiere:
For me Lynch is one of the greatest living filmmakers. Making a film after a series made it even more difficult and he did it beautifully. People whistle because they think the film is treating them low when it’s not about understanding, it’s about feeling. Lynch’s dreamlike nature underlined by Badalamenti’s musical immerses the viewer into a unique universe with his characters (the old dwarf), his zig-zag decorations, his stylized lights, his so particular dialogues … the film. I was at the evening session and the film was not booed but applauded.
CRITICAL RESPONSE
So how was the film received and scored at Cannes? As mentioned, Lynch took home the coveted Palme d’Or award for Wild at Heart. This top prize is determined by a judging committee whose scores are kept confidential. In 1992, the following individuals were part of that Jury for the feature film competition:
- Gerard Depardieu (France) Jury President
- John Boorman (United Kingdom)
- Carlo Di Palma (Italy)
- Jamie Lee Curtis (USA)
- Jole Van Effenterre (France)
- Lester James Peries (Sri Lanka)
- Nana Djordjadze (Georgia)
- Pedro Almodvar (Spain)
- Rene Cleitman (France)
- Serge Toubiana (France)
Like one of Cole’s blue rose cases, we may never learn what exactly those judges thought of Lynch’s film since those scores were never published.
However, Screen International had an Independent Critics Jury that published their scores for the competition films.
The Player was voted as their top choice, followed by Howard’s End. Out of 21 films (two didn’t get scored), there were possibly 8 or 10 films that scored lower than Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
Bille August’s The Best Intentions (Den goda viljan – #4 on the list) took home the Palm d’Or that year. Robert Altman and Tim Robbins received best director and actor respectively for The Player. The 45th Anniversary prize was awarded to Howard’s End.
Yet somehow, stories that “everyone hated Twin Peaks” have persisted. Research thus far has demonstrated this is false. It seems the knee-jerk reaction by some critics at a press screening have fueled this narrative for decades, which were cemented in time by news articles published around the world the day after the premiere. If things like Twitter had existed in 1992, we would have seen a much different story unfold.
One theory for the negative press screening response is some critics may have directed their anger at David Lynch and his use of violence in response to an earlier screening of the dark comedy Man Bites Dog. But that is another story for another time.
MAY 16 – NIGHT – TWIN PEAKS AFTER PARTY
After the premiere, Lynch and crew attend a star studded private Twin Peaks party. Only VIPs could attend this event.
The members of the crew, including producer Francis Bouygues, all wore blue roses pinned to their garments as a statement of unity.
Michael Anderson, who played the Little Man From Another Place, was interviewed by various media and press,
He was seen enjoying the company of a tall and mysterious blonde woman.
That night, many approached Lynch to congratulate him on the premiere of the film.
BEACH PARTY
Following the screening, those with VIP access walked across the Croisette (seaside walkway) to Majestic Beach.
While outside, they catch a glimpse of 20-foot high letters atop the roof of the Carlton Hotel that read TWIN PEAKS. This was a special treat Ciby Pictures commissioned to commemorate the film’s premiere.
Huge clouds of smoke rose over the rooftop as the music of the Twin Peaks soundtrack is pumped through speakers everywhere. Tonight – “there is music in the air.” Thousands of people are directed to walk across the street to the sandy beach and towards a barge floating in the middle of the ocean.
Though the night is pitch black, their paths are lit up by candle lights that lay across the beach.
As the crowds arrive at the barge, a huge screen towers behind the barge and begins transmitting images from the private Twin Peaks party followed by interview clips of the cast and crew of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me discussing how they met Lynch.
The TWIN PEAKS letters on top of the building are now lit up with a red light and increased smoke making the Carlton Hotel appear as if it is on fire.
JULEE CRUISE PERFORMS
The interview clips fade and for a moment silence. Music again fills the air but this time it is live as a spotlight is directed below the screen and Julee Cruise walks across the stage.
Julee begins to sing “Questions in a World of Blue,” thousands of attendees are treated to a once in a lifetime experience.
She appears to be wearing the same dress from her scene at the Roadhouse.
A REAL INDICATION
Julee leaves the stage and is followed by an animated Michael J. Anderson who belts out his own rendition of the Thought Gang’s “A Real Indication.”
The crowd enjoys the show and the beach party continues into the night as fireworks fill the sky
REVISITING CANNES
So what does Cannes, France look like today? French Bookhouse Boy David Bartoli recorded this exclusive video tour of the Cannes location as seen in June 2021. David has attended the Film Festival for years, and was at the 1992 when he was a teenager.
A 3 1/2 HOUR CUT?
The days, weeks and months after the event tease many rumors including a famous one of a 3 1/2-hour cut being screened at the event.
After 29 years, I put this one to bed by purchasing the official program given at Cannes via an eBay auction. The one and only theatrical print was screened at both Cannes and also opened on the same day in Japan.
Another rumor around that same time claims there were plans for two additional follow up films should the first one do well. Maybe some evidence will turn up at some point but for now.. who knows where or when.
Special Thanks to John Thorne, Mischa Cronin, Max Kowalski, David Bartoli, Bruce Phillips, Skip Magazine, Ike, Blue Rose Magazine, and of course Steven Miller for helping put this article together.
