Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]

Description

In the town of Twin Peaks, everyone has their secrets but especially Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). In this prequel to his groundbreaking 1990s television series, David Lynch resurrects the teenager found wrapped in plastic at the beginning of the show, following her through the last week of her life and teasing out the enigmas that surround her murder. Homecoming queen by day and drug-addicted thrill seeker by night, Laura leads a double life that pulls her deeper and deeper into horror as she pieces together the identity of the assailant who has been terrorizing her for years. Nightmarish in its vision of an innocent torn apart by unfathomable forces, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is nevertheless one of Lynch's most humane films, aching with compassion for its tortured heroine a character as enthralling in life as she was in death. DIRECTOR-APPROVED TWO-DVD SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES- Restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director David Lynch- 5.1 surround soundtrack, supervised by Lynch- Alternate original 2.0 surround soundtrack- The Missing Pieces, ninety minutes of deleted and alternate takes from the film, assembled by Lynch- New interview with actor Sheryl Lee- Interviews from 2014 by Lynch with actors Lee, Ray Wise, and Grace Zabriskie- More!- PLUS: An interview with Lynch from the 2005 edition of filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley's book Lynch on Lynch Review: One chants out between two worlds; fire walk with me - In this prequel to the cult classic television series Twin Peaks, we follow the last seven days of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). On the surface, she is the high school homecoming queen, bright, bubbly, desired by the boys. Behind the scenes, she is full of dark secrets and there are some secrets she herself is not yet fully aware of. David Lynch, co-creator of Twin Peaks returns to direct and also briefly reprise his role as FBI Chief Gordon Cole, boss of agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) who will end up investigating Laura's death. Most the original cast return, notably Ray Rise as Laura's father Leland, Dana Ashbrook and James Marshell as Bobby Briggs and James Hurley, her potential suitors, Michael J Anderson as 'The Man from Another Place'. Moria Kelly replaces Laura Fynn Boyle as Donna Haywood, Laura's best friend. New to the cast are Chris Isaak as Agent Desmond and Kiefer Sutherland as Agent Stanley, who investigate the murder of Teresa Banks, which will have a later connection to Laura. Overall, the film has a much darker tone than the series, which is to be expected due to its subject matter involving incest, drugs, and prostitution. It's not without its moments of darkly funny humor though, often due to Lynch's like of quirky characters and dialog. As with the series, it can be surreal as heck at times. This led to some mixed reviews even though it was entered in the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. Personally, I find the tone works, the whole tale one downward spiral toward the final moment that sets up the plot of the TV series. Like the show, the film has now become a cult classic and considered one of Lynch's notable works. All that aside, I like this, but maybe that's because I've been a fan of Twin Peaks since it first aired back in the early 90's. Sheryl Lee's Laura is never seen alive in the series, so this gives her the chance to show what kind of person she was. Lee does a great job considering the dark content her character faces. Ray Wise as Leland is just terrific, he can be funny, troubled or creepy as heck depending on the situation. There are bit parts by David Bowie and Harry Dean Stanton that are fun additions to the world of Twin Peaks. Angelo Badalamenti once again provides the often brooding, eerie score. I'd suggest if one hasn't watched Twin Peaks, watch this AFTER, even though it is considered a prequel. The story gives away the culprit, and it's much more fun to watch Agent Cooper and the gang follow the clues without knowing who ahead of time. An interesting bit to notice is the scene in the Red Room where Laura is told "The good Dale is in the Lodge and cannot leave", which will tie into Twin Peaks: The Return set 25 years later. If you watch the Criterion Edition of this, there are about 90 minutes of outtakes, many not needed as they simply feature characters better left for the show, but there is some good stuff featuring the Palmer's family life. Worth a view. Review: Possibly my favorite Lynch film-this is a great version. - I recently wrote an essay length review of the new twin peaks series which i loved. I then did an edit of the essay and desertcart seems to not allow this. I am figuring it was prob due to length restrictions so i will cover a few main points i wanted to stress in my last review. THE MAIN POINT OF MY TWIN PEAKS REVIEWS ARE THAT DAVID LYNCHES TWIN PEAKS CINTAIN THE FOLLOWING: 1.the few episodes he directed from the original series. 2. Twin Peaks Fire Walk w me movie+missing pieces, 3. The new event series. 4. The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer --book by lynches daughter. There is a strange confusion with twin peaks that mirrors the main theme of absurdity the show encompass making the end result artistically acceptable to serious artist as well as a mainstream audience that has problems thinking in an abstract or mindful way. What i mean by this is Twin Peaks from a macro view is not David Lynch project. Lynch made Fire Walk with Me --as originally an attempt to apologize for abandoning the tv show to concentrate on Wild at Heart. Fire walk with me would of been how the tv show looked and felt if it was a David lynch project which it was not and for a total auture like Lynch he has to be in full control--another example would be Dune--it's not fully a Lynch movie therefore its's not talked about as being of full Lynch quality. I could write a novella about this film but will try to keep it very short.--I first viewed this film when i was in my late teens and was familiar with most of Lynches work up to that point. My first reaction was i loved about 65% of it even admitting the parts i loved were brilliant but i did not understand Lee's performance. .I at the time did not understand over the top acting the way Lynch uses it. I also did not quite get Lynch dialogue. Lynch has his own linguistics---This film has one of the best obvious keys to unlocking the understanding of this. The scene where-sheryl lee --says--"it's like a turkey in the corn--gobble gobble-- This scene explains so much about lynch that its can be analyzed for structure importance . This scene has great cinematography- and a dramatic feel besides one element being out of place. That element is the dialogue. Lynch is saying he in this scene to pay attention to many elements of a moving picture and to not concentrate on one thing. Lee's whole performance is a type of style that mimic's movie theatrics. Lynch uses a high school girl as a stereotype to probe into the human condition. Twin Peaks--or Lynches twin peaks is NOT ABOUT LAURA PALMER OR AGENT COOPER. This is what divides the audience into 2 types of Twin Peaks fans who experience it in different ways and brilliantly in this case it works. Anyone that compares the original tv show to any of the Lynch stuff that came afterword is like tackling a contradiction. The critic that compares the series which was like 20% directed by Lynch is auto negating themselves. Twin Peaks is very simple. It is a meditation experiment that delves into the classic philosophical questions while using a Edward Hopperesqueamericana/nightmare/beautiful/ absurd landscape and socioeconomic climate of this small town. This film really is probably Lynches most high octane and heavily experimental next to Inland Empire. I went from liking it but thinking of it as flawed, to 15 years later changing my mind to think it as a masterpiece. The reaction to the film at Cannes in a good study of what happens when a real artist tries to mingle with a mainstream audience. Lynch was accused of "killing twin peaks" at Cannes when in reality he was doing twin peaks the right way or the way it should of been done. What happened with this films release should be studied in psychology classes. Even at Cannes the audience was in such a trance cause by the pop phenomenon high- that they could not process what they were seeing. Because of this reaction alone this film is legendary. I absolutely love this film. It is like lynch gone wild. I have watched this Lynch film probably more than any other-- My other 2 most fav's are Blue Velvet and Inland Empire. I will end this review for now and finish it later--cheers