898 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#51 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:48 am

R0lf wrote: I was operating on the assumption the chronological end of Mulholland Drive was when the cube is opened and that the first part of the movie was a sort of purgatorial set up to redeem both the characters after they died.
I'll have to watch it again. I saw the end as more downbeat and ambiguous what with the last shots being that creepy hobo and Del Rio in the club.

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R0lf
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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#52 Post by R0lf » Fri Aug 28, 2009 7:11 am

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:
R0lf wrote: I was operating on the assumption the chronological end of Mulholland Drive was when the cube is opened and that the first part of the movie was a sort of purgatorial set up to redeem both the characters after they died.
I'll have to watch it again. I saw the end as more downbeat and ambiguous what with the last shots being that creepy hobo and Del Rio in the club.
I feel bad about discussing it here in fear of derailing the thread topic. But oh well. I figured that movie was basically about two people whose death was pretty intricately linked to each other. Both go through a scenario that basically brings them to a peace and understanding regarding the circumstances involving their death. I think chronologically the end of the movie is when Camilla opens the cube. The point I take of that is Camilla did not know why she was dead and when she looks into the cube it explains the previous events that lead up to her death. I think the point when Diane commits suicide and the old couple appear under the door is when she is escorted back to her introduction in the movie - which is further indicated when they find Diane's corpse after visiting her apartment just before Club Silencio. The very end scene in the club is showing that both characters have sorted out their issues and moved on.


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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#54 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Apr 09, 2010 1:28 pm

Announcement! LQ and I are moving to 534 S Lewis St, Monroe, WA 98272. Please forward any mail there.

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#55 Post by JamesF » Fri Apr 09, 2010 10:39 pm

I first saw FWWM years ago on BBC2 (Moviedrome? Can't remember) and was instantly struck by it, despite the fact I hadn't seen any of the series. If anything, having absolutely no context for the characters or locations served to heighten the dark randomness of the film; Lynch comes the closest to replicating the feeling of having a nightmare on film than any other filmmaker.

However... the Gold Box was finally released in the UK a few weeks ago, and I eagerly snapped it up so I could finally watch the series, which I did straight through in about three days.
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(I had seen odd random episodes, like the one where Leland is revealed as BOB.)
I loved the series - bad patch in the second half of Season 2 aside - and was keen to revisit FWWM straight away. Alas, I loved the show so much that some of the changes and choices Lynch made (garmonbozia? Donna going to the Bang Bang Bar?) just didn't sit well with me anymore. Hopefully that'll change one day. The last fifteen minutes are still stunning, though.
Last edited by JamesF on Sat Apr 10, 2010 7:17 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#56 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:10 pm

I know this series is decades old, but you really might want to spoiler-tag some of your post.


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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#58 Post by broadwayrock » Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:56 am

British film critic Mark Kermode has posted a 6 minute video introduction for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#59 Post by wattsup32 » Fri Jul 13, 2012 1:40 pm

I didn't find Twin Peaks until 1998-ish. So, I had no idea that FWWM was so poorly received. I'm surprised to hear that because I have always thought it was brilliant--if only for how flawlessly executed it is in tone. I'm not sure I've seen another film strive so unapologetically for a visceral aesthetic and actually achieve it.

I chuckled in the video when Kermode talked about David Bowie because he pronounces the Bow part of Bowie the same way I would if I were asking Muslim what I should do toward Mecca when praying. It would be like an American saying Bob Die-lan.

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Roger Ryan
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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#60 Post by Roger Ryan » Fri Jul 13, 2012 2:29 pm

wattsup32 wrote: I chuckled in the video when Kermode talked about David Bowie because he pronounces the Bow part of Bowie the same way I would if I were asking Muslim what I should do toward Mecca when praying. It would be like an American saying Bob Die-lan.
Mr. Kermode's pronunciation of Mr. Bowie's surname is not actually inaccurate...as long as you say it with a British accent!

I'm afraid I was one of those who was disappointed with TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME upon first release. At the time, it felt like Lynch was still trying to cash in on the temporary success of the TV show that had stopped being news over a year earlier (although it seemed even longer). Given that the series ended on a cliffhanger that was never resolved due to the show's cancellation, I had hoped that the film would offer a suitable conclusion to the series even though I knew early on that it would be a prequel of sorts. When the film turned out not to offer any kind of resolution but, instead, recycled many of the show's tropes in an uglier, more violent way, I was miffed. I did admire the many interesting set pieces (I was immediately thrilled by the scene where the one-armed man confronts Leland - great direction and editing), but considered it minor Lynch.

When I finally watched the film a second time years later, I was free of expectations and the TV show was less distinct in my memory. Suddenly, FIRE WALK WITH ME seemed fantastic...for all the reasons noted by Mr. Kermode. Today, I consider it major Lynch and place it just behind BLUE VELVET and MULHOLLAND DRIVE as a favorite.

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#61 Post by beamish13 » Fri Jul 13, 2012 6:54 pm

I wasn't really enamored with this film either when I first saw it almost 10 years ago. I found it to be meandering and confusing, but many of the scenes stuck with me. Seeing it in 35mm a few months ago forced me to completely re-evaluate my opinion of it, though, and I feel that it successfully distills everything that worked about the TV show. It's rare to find a film that can be esoteric and yet humorous and self-reflexive, often within a single scene.

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#62 Post by Mathew2468 » Fri Jul 13, 2012 8:32 pm

I've never seen the film, but I tried watching the Gold Box for the fourth time not long ago and found the acting and cheesiness damnass unbearable. The last time was alright even though I had just become a Bressonian and was supersensitive to cheese, but this time I only watched about five episodes before I got too weirded out by the sappy closeups of Flynn-Boyle and Whutsisname with the music and found myself poppin' in the old Dale Cooper-style earplugs and excessively sipping my black coffee in order to steam my glasses into a pair of fucking... eye shields...?

But the movie, does it reek of the same kind of cheese? I've seen some of it and it's surely more batshit crazy.

I also rewatched Lost Highway and Mulholland Dr., and I liked them, but jeepers... Lynch gets some seriously worthless performances sometimes. 'Peaks has a lot that's hard to swallow; more than his others ∴ 'Peaks is King Cheese. Yes I'm bored. \:D/

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#63 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:34 pm

Don't watch the movie without watching the show anyway

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#64 Post by Mathew2468 » Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:51 pm

I mean my fourth viewing not my fourth attempt, I have seen it three times. I know it inside-out and ass-over-teakettle. Man, the first time left me depressed and wanting more. I had thought beforehand that, since they thought it was over, they would wrap it up nicely instead of shoe-horning in a desperate cliffhanger, but I loved it.

I just watched the movie trailer and it looks more different than I thought. Rivette said it was the weirdest movie he'd seen, and he hadn't seen the show.

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#65 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Jul 13, 2012 10:12 pm

Oh! Well the movie is fantastic, but it has a more grounded style, feels more rooted in reality. And far far scarier

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#66 Post by JonasEB » Sat Jul 14, 2012 1:24 am

Kermode's got it right but I would add that it is substantially, properly "Twin Peaks" and not simply a separate movie (I think the people disappointed with the lack of humor in FWWM never really understood the show to begin with.)
Roger Ryan wrote:I'm afraid I was one of those who was disappointed with TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME upon first release. At the time, it felt like Lynch was still trying to cash in on the temporary success of the TV show that had stopped being news over a year earlier (although it seemed even longer). Given that the series ended on a cliffhanger that was never resolved due to the show's cancellation, I had hoped that the film would offer a suitable conclusion to the series even though I knew early on that it would be a prequel of sorts. When the film turned out not to offer any kind of resolution but, instead, recycled many of the show's tropes in an uglier, more violent way, I was miffed. I did admire the many interesting set pieces (I was immediately thrilled by the scene where the one-armed man confronts Leland - great direction and editing), but considered it minor Lynch.
For Lynch, I think the important thing about making the film is that it returns the show to what it was actually about (Laura Palmer/what it is to keep an enormous burden within you and suffer with it, the isolation, the pain, the trap, hell) vs. what the show tragically became after the forced conclusion of the Palmer story and Lynch's exit (camp stupidity, explicating all of the metaphorical stuff.) Of course the show had a varied amount of humor but Lynch was dead serious about the core of the show, the writers of the larger half of season two didn't understand this in any way, and so we get stuff like Josie getting stuck in a cabinet nob - the point the show hits absolute rock bottom - and Windom Earle putting people in big chess pieces. It's really amazing how close Lynch single-handedly came to turning the ship around in the final episode but it was already a lost cause by that point...

I think where Lynch goes wrong with the film is in trying to attach more of the show to it than just the core Laura Palmer story. It's only a distraction. Perhaps Lynch did have intentions to continue the story through films but it seems as if he changed his mind. The film really should have been reduced solely to the Laura Palmer story.

It's been years since I've seen Fire Walk With Me, I'll have to look it up again sometime soon (and I suppose I'll be hooked on Julee Cruise's Floating Into the Night again for the foreseeable future.)

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#67 Post by Sloper » Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:31 am

JonasEB wrote:For Lynch, I think the important thing about making the film is that it returns the show to what it was actually about (Laura Palmer/what it is to keep an enormous burden within you and suffer with it, the isolation, the pain, the trap, hell)
This struck me when I finally watched the film for a second time: Laura really comes alive (so to speak) as a tragic character. I think it also takes a couple of viewings of Mulholland Drive to realise how much emotional depth there is behind all the surreal non-sequiturs and narrative contortions; it all adds up to so much more than a load of gimmicks. Once you get onto the film's wavelength, you find yourself inside Laura's/Diane's mind, and the effect after that is devastating. It does take some work to get there, though.
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That moment in FWWM when Laura sees Leland come out of the house is so chilling - such an ordinary, innocuous sight, but when you see it through Laura's eyes it becomes a moment of indescribable horror. I also remember some of the scenes between Laura and Donna being quite heartbreaking.

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#68 Post by colinr0380 » Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:00 am

I agree with Jonas EB. The TV series, even during its very best section was only using Laura Palmer as a McGuffin to explore all of the storylines of the town - she is the extremely important absent central figure but mostly the series is focused on the investigators (which I think the opening of the film teases us with by beginning with and then placing the investigators into some of the most bizarre sequences before dropping them from the picture). Which is made most explicit at the end of series two with Cooper becoming part of the evil rather than being able to maintain his distance from it in a 'don't look too closely into the abyss, lest it look into you' moment. I also think the latter half of the second season up to that magnificent final episode, while pretty excrutiating, illustrated very well how the removal of that structure with the resolving of that plotline threw everything else into disarray - after all of the characters being thrown into upheaval with the murder of Laura Palmer, it was kind of nicely ironic that the makers of the show seem to have been thrown into similar confusion by the neat resolution to it!

As Sloper says, the film does one of the few legitimate things a prequel should be used for - resurrects a character and gives her a voice again. She becomes more than just a body 'wrapped in plastic' or a set of clues to be followed, although the 'resurrection' is problematic as she once again has that inevitable horrible murder awaiting her as the horrible cinematic full stop (compared to the open ended nature of the series it is very interesting that the film is dealing with material that has such a pre-determined end point). It also creates the cinematic equivalent of a fugue state, as characters occasionally seem to have dreadful moments of clarity, aware of being manipulated like pawns on a chessboard but powerless to do anything about it. But there's also a sense of eventually having to confront what fate has in store for you (as in the later films, though the character in Lost Highway is still running at the end of it!), and it is that kind of stoicism of confronting the fate, though it is a horrible one, that makes Laura Palmer into such a powerfully tragic character.

One of my favourite things about the film (but also likely one of the most frustrating ones for people looking for a film version of the TV series) is the way that there are characters and locations from the show that were (or, more properly, will become) important, yet they are often so far in the background, or so distant when they do appear, that I feel they help throw the viewer into the same mindset as Laura - of having no connection to what was previously familiar to her. Or are the characters all waiting for her sacrificial death to fully come alive themselves?

Doesn't this film also have that great scene of extremely loud music in the club with subtitles? That I think is a wonderful, threatening rather than melancholic version of the scene in the club from the series where all of the characters briefly feel the presence of Laura. Laura is actually there in the scene in the film, but it is still impossible to make any more than the slightest contact.

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#69 Post by Alan Smithee » Sat Jul 14, 2012 10:36 am

Mathew2468 wrote:I also rewatched Lost Highway and Mulholland Dr., and I liked them, but jeepers... Lynch gets some seriously worthless performances sometimes. 'Peaks has a lot that's hard to swallow; more than his others ∴ 'Peaks is King Cheese. Yes I'm bored. \:D/
You can never know for certain whether a performance was directed a specific way or if thats just the best the actor gave but with Twin Peaks they wore their heart on their sleeve as far as being a soap opera. I'm 90% certain that what you're referring to is a stylistic choice. Just as the musical cues are kind of cheesy sometimes. Lynch is a post-modernist with most of his films, I think the difference between him and most though is he's trying to use these knowing effects to achieve something genuine, not ironic.

But yes you'll find the tone of Fire Walk With Me is much more convincing. Sheryl Lee's performance is jaw dropping, ranks right along side the great performances Lynch has gotten from Rossellini, Hopper, Dern, Cage, Dern again, Naomi Watts and on and on.

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#70 Post by dadaistnun » Sat Jul 14, 2012 11:13 pm

Alan Smithee wrote:But yes you'll find the tone of Fire Walk With Me is much more convincing. Sheryl Lee's performance is jaw dropping, ranks right along side the great performances Lynch has gotten from Rossellini, Hopper, Dern, Cage, Dern again, Naomi Watts and on and on.
Yes yes yes, and I would add Ray Wise to that list.
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He pulls off some super quick, almost subliminal changes in facial expression in FWWM. When Leland picks up Laura at Donna's house after Laura & Donna's night out, the shift he pulls as he's heading out the door is just chilling. He's had the friendly dad face on, and for a split second he has this look of absolute evil.

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#71 Post by kidc85 » Sun Jul 15, 2012 4:51 am

Mathew2468 wrote:I also rewatched Lost Highway and Mulholland Dr., and I liked them, but jeepers... Lynch gets some seriously worthless performances sometimes.
Which performances are worthless? MD has to be, for me, one of the most perfectly acted films of all time. Sure, their performances are highly stylized but it's what the very nature of the film calls for.

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#72 Post by Joe Buck » Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:37 am

Is it possible to watch this film without sitting through 2 seasons of the TV show? 'cause I'm not a big TV fan, but I love Lynch films and need something else to watch.

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#73 Post by Cold Bishop » Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:33 am

Is it possible? Sure. Does it ruin over half the series if you ever do decide to watch it? Yes. Should you, as a Lynch fan, watch the series? Of course!

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#74 Post by JonasEB » Mon Jul 16, 2012 5:04 am

Joe Buck wrote:Is it possible to watch this film without sitting through 2 seasons of the TV show? 'cause I'm not a big TV fan, but I love Lynch films and need something else to watch.
I'm not a TV guy either - Twin Peaks is essential. The show falls off the cliff after episode 7 of season 2 (recovering substantially, albeit hopelessly, in the final episode) but the series is central to David Lynch's oeuvre (and the final sequence of ep7/s2, directed by Lynch, is one of his finest achievements and, I think, the peak of American television.) And, yes, as you are a Lynch fan, it should be considered required viewing.

You should watch the show first. The revelation, if you don't already know, is significant less for completing the "whodunnit" than the way it colors the series, which presents Laura Palmer to us after the fact and slowly paints a portrait of that character which everyone else in the series parallels and develops (or was supposed to parallel; again, it completely loses it's path in the middle of season 2.) After that, the film puts you squarely in Laura Palmer's place. The film will have an impact regardless but in light of the series it's that much more effective.

I also recommend listening to the Julee Cruise album Floating Into the Night, which you could subtitle "The Diary of Laura Palmer." The songs are written by Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti. Many of the songs appear on the show and are an important part of the series' complex texture. Floating Into the Night also contains Mysteries of Love from Blue Velvet. Some more Julee Cruise music is in the film.
Last edited by JonasEB on Mon Jul 16, 2012 5:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

#75 Post by Cold Bishop » Mon Jul 16, 2012 5:13 am

Floating Into the Night is one of the great albums of the 1980s. It has plenty of value well beyond David Lynch/Twin Peak paraphernalia (and it did precede it by something like a year).

Even in this age of prestige Cable dramas, the last episode of Twin Peaks is still one of the most audacious, bizarre and gutsy things ever to air on American television. It's also possibly Lynch at his most unfettered and unconventional between Eraserhead and Inland Empire. Shame about the 10 or so episodes that came before it.

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