TWIN PEAKS : FIRE WALK WITH ME directed by David Lynch (USA, 1992)
If Dune is David Lynch’s prize turkey, Fire Walk With Me, follows as a close second. It is significant that neither are included in the ‘select filmography’ in ‘Catching The Big Fish’, Lynch’s collection of anecdotal reflections on meditation, consciousness and creativity published in 2006.
After two seasons of Twin Peaks on TV, the plug was unceremoniously pulled by the network in 1991 to leave a sense of unfinished business. But much as I loved the show, the recent announcement that a new Showtime miniseries with Lynch at the helm is in the pipeline fills me with more trepidation than excitement. 25 years on, it will be tough to replicate the subtlety and surreal humour that made the small screen version so compelling
Further cause for concern stems from the dire movie spin-off of Fire Walk With Me. The wayward plot focuses on the events leading up to the murder of Laura Palmer leaving a trail of loose ends in its wake.
The movie substitutes cheap horror and seedy sex for anything more considered. Overall, you are left with the distinct impression that it is little more than an elaborate cut and paste job of half-conceived ideas. A bizarre cameo by David Bowie is one of many sequences that serve little purpose. Continue reading
No prizes for guessing that I bought this through an addiction to David Lynch’s cult TV drama Twin Peaks.
The genius of Lynch is that he always knows exactly the look and atmosphere he wants. Cruise is so right because she looks so spaced out and her voice exudes an eerie stillness perfectly in tune with the surreal ‘there’s something in the woods’ quality of the drama. She was discovered by composer Angelo Badalamenti and this song is very similar in feel to her sublime performance of Mysteries of Love featured in thr Blue Velvet movie (and later covered brilliantly by Antony).
