Twin Peaks: Fuego camina conmigo

David Lynch's prequel to his TV Show 'Twin Peaks' drowns the viewer into the psyche of Laura Palmer, who was a crucial enigma of the series (but then again, 'Twin Peaks' is full of enigmas and riddles). The darkness of the human mind has been a consistent theme in many of Lynch's works. Other more recent examples include 'Mulholland Drive' and 'Inland Empire'. 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me' is brutal, stark, graphic and horrifyingly disturbing.

'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me' may not be as technically 'polished' as Lynch's other films and the low budget shows (but is not bothersome at all). Yet, the closeups have a very strong effect as it provides some evidence of fine acting. Sheryl Lee is at the centre of the film and she is astonishingly superb. Someone should give this actress more roles. Ray Wise, Moira Kelly, Kyle Mclachlan and the rest of the supporting cast are of note. The visuals, even though this is during the pre-CGI boom, are mesmerizing. And of course, what would a Lynch film be without symbolism. They are plentiful but I won't give my interpretation as they are best discovered first hand.

Many feel that the story is inconsistent but to me it all fits well together. Towards the end it is depressing, as the viewer has witnessed all the layers of Laura's agony in detail. It is not a comfortable film to watch. After all, she was just a normal American teenager who has experienced the worst of life and this movie grips the viewer and shows her life breaking into irreparable pieces. Yet, given the heavy theme 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me' is a film worth experiencing, especially for fans of the series and Lynch's other works.

Since the first line of TP:FWWM is "Get me Agent Chester Desmond in Fargo, North Dakota," some might argue that I am biased in my praise for one of Lynch's most underrated motion pictures. The truth is, my life has never been the same since the fateful midnight in high school when I experienced Eraserhead for the first time. TP:FWWM was savaged by most critics, who are unlikely ever to laud the unconventional Lynch again (unless he makes another film that connects like Blue Velvet). Few other filmmakers have had the ability to depict so tangibly the intangibility of our dreams and the worlds contained therein. Couple this with Lynch's corner on the "uncanny" market, and you have TP:FWWM, a film impossible to confuse with any other. My only complaint concerns the absence of Ben and Audrey Horne, who were such interesting and engaging characters on the television series.

By the time this film was released, critics and TV audiences had already decided its decidedly mediocre box-office fate. The usual network attitude toward anything which demands thought and interpretation assured the cancellation of the series in its second season, and Lynch's departure from the show's director's chair to begin this film project all but sealed the fate of the show. Unfortunately, this same fate determined both the critical and public approach to the film project.

TP:FWWM is a prequel to the two-season Twin Peaks saga, and (sort of) answers the question 'how and why did Laura Palmer die?'. Fans of the show mostly knew the answers before they saw this film, but to see Laura's life so vividly realized, and to see the TV characters cast into such a different, more harsh, surreal and disturbing light, really invigorates the entire TP phenomenon. FWWM actually inspired me to watch the entire series again (and as of 2004, I am in the process of watching it again). Fans of the series who found themselves disappointed by the final few episodes of the series because they felt it became too bizarre, are likely to find this film more gripping, though they will probably end up as unsatisfied as they were at the onset. Those who found the second season thrillingly experimental are likely to be surprised by the subtlety of and dramatic quality of this film. Those, like me, who approach the film with few tangible expectations might just find themselves, compelled, disturbed, and very entertained.

The performances are generally very good, but not entirely even. Some TV cast-members, given the vastly expanded possibilities of cinema, really showed their range and depth. Sheryl Lee, MacLachlan, Dana Ashbrook, and Ray Wise were especially impressive. The cinematography is less powerful than the usual Lynchian vision (see Eraserhead, Lost Highway for extreme examples), and is more in keeping with the TV show's straightforward, but moody, photographic approach. The overall production values are, in fact, comparable to those of Mulholland Drive - also originally planned by Lynch as a TV show. Though more subtle than many of Lynch's more extravagant works, TP:FWWM is very successfully manipulative and powerful.

I ardently appreciate Lynch, considering him one of cinema and performance's greatest contemporary artists. And I am unashamed to state that I believe this to be among his finest works. Many of Lynch's fans love to write interpretations of Lynch himself, as if all of his films are in some way connected beyond the obvious fact that he directed (and more often than not scripted) them. I do not disagree with this approach, but, in my opinion, any such universalizing comments more or less miss the point. Lynch is one of many director's who view film as an art form, not as a craft, nor as a vehicle for specific messages and stories. As Lynch has stated, repeatedly, his films involve a dream-like reality and often attempt to invoke a dream or nightmare state in viewers. Unlike most, however, Lynch succeeds in the purity of his art. His films demand interpretation, engagement and, what's more, demand a different and unique interpretation by most who view them.

If you are looking for something which can be universally interpreted from TP:FWWM as part of this imagined set of Lynchian themes, I am not the reviewer to give it, look elsewhere. I have too much respect for Lynch's artistry to subject him to my own interpretive explanations.

If you are looking for a simple story which will clear up the insanity of Twin Peaks, don't bother with FWWM.

If you are looking, open-mindedly, for an intense, disturbing, and well constructed cinematic experience which creates more questions than it answers, and retains elements of mystery in a fatalistically driven plot environment, you've come to the right place.

There's no doubt about it, Twin Peaks changed the living, breathing face and body of television, the soul and minds of those who watched it, and the attitudes of film and television makers everywhere, who watched what was intended to be a 2 hour Tele-movie become a phenomenon. A phenomenon that dissected the way television was made and shown to its very core, and reassembled it in a fashion that no one had ever witnessed, or dreamed of. A phenomenon that would sweep the world… Not since JR was shot in Dallas had the entire worldwide viewing public stopped to ask itself a question, for one brief, shining, crystallized moment, in 1990… Who Killed Laura Palmer? And so, with David Lynch's Fire Walk With Me, the question is not Who? But rather, Why? This film precedes the TV show, these are the last 7 days of Laura Palmer, and after watching this film, it is pretty apparent why Laura wanted to die, she lived in a world out of her grasp and control, she was desperately fighting what she was becoming, but realized that the forces that were pulling her down, were too strong for her to fight against… I knew someone like that once, and to be quite honest, it has changed the way I look at Laura Palmer. The first time I watched this film was in 1992 when it came out on VHS, I was 16 or 17 and I hated it. It wasn't Twin Peaks. It was horrible and violent and had none of the cuteness and quirkiness and lovable characters of the TV show, and I never watched it again. Watching it almost 15 years on, as an adult, I understand why I hated it so much when I was a kid. As a 16-17 year male, I had absolutely no concept or understanding of what it would be like to be Laura Palmer, completely unable to relate to her, and therefore completely unable to understand or sympathize. Completely unable to understand what it would mean to live in a world where everyone is in love with you, and how that would only make you hate yourself more, when you hate yourself so much already.

This is a really sad movie. It really puts you in to Laura Palmer's world, or what's left of it, briefly. Maybe too brief, but, you know, maybe I read too much in to films, or I get too close too them, but this film has changed Twin Peaks for me forever. And it's quite possible that it will do the same for you. Even though she was dead before the opening credits, I never realized until watching this film again that Laura was never freed, she was always in 'purgatory' if you will, always in the Red Room when we saw her, or seeing a flashback of her murder during the course of the TV show. Fire Walk With Me gives something to Laura Palmer that she had been denied on television.

Release.

For the most part, this film was not made for the fans, nor was it made for the money, Lynch made this film for Laura palmer. His love of her is what inspired him to breathe life into her character on the big screen, after taking it away on the small. This is his dance, first and final, with Laura Palmer. It is not ours to be involved with, it is ours only to watch the romance between character and director evolve and be burnt too soon. It is ours only to witness, not too understand or judge, not to ask or question.

From the opening shot, a television with no reception, which is quickly obliterated by an Axe, it is quite clear that this ain't no TV show, and if the symbolism of the TV being smashed isn't enough to tell you that, then the opening scene will. This is the part of Twin Peaks that simply never would have made it to TV. The real Twin Peaks, if you will, the dark, tortured, seedy underbelly of a town with too few people, and too many secrets, the sort of place that exists almost everywhere in the world (with the exception of Cicely, Alaska).

Not Lynch at his best(that would be Blue Velvet, though personal favourite is The Elephant Man), it is a very good film and should please fans of the TV series, even if darker in tone and lacking the show's humour. Lynch's films may be strange, unconventional and not always easy to understand for some, but all of them are visually striking, dynamically scored and with great performances, atmosphere and direction as well as working amazingly as mood pieces and being among the most unique films in existence- the only film of his that I didn't care for was Dune, was mixed on Inland Empire too but that still had a lot of the above components.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me may not be as good as the TV series but did not deserve the negative reception it got at the time. The few flaws it has has nothing to do with being darker and lacking the show's humour, they are not even flaws. David Bowie did stick out like a sore thumb and to me was embarrassingly bad(though a lot of it was to do with how his character was written) but the film's biggest flaw was that you could tell that it was originally written as a much longer film, with so much truncated there were parts where things felt under-explained and incomplete, a longer length would have helped(personal opinion of course and not one other people will share).

Coming onto however what was good about Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, the film does everything else right. As said before, Lynch's films are always visually great, and to say that Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me looks great visually is not enough. The film in fact has wonderfully moody cinematography and lovingly designed sets, while the surreal imagery looks so mesmerising that regardless of whether the story confuses you you cannot possibly look away. Lynch's direction as ever is impeccable, his style unmistakable and the haunting soundtrack draws you in effortlessly. The story won't be everyone's cup of tea, I did find myself completely engrossed and found it along with Sophie Scholl: The Final Days one of the most powerful films personally seen in a while. Sure, it did feel under-explained and incomplete in parts but it never bored me and like every other Lynch film as a mood piece it's amazing. Parts were incredibly intense and shocking(the most intense parts making for one of the most disturbing films there is) but others were genuinely emotional as well. Regarding individual scenes in a film where one hypnotic scene follows another, the strobe-lit disco degradation stuck out in particular.

Apart from Bowie, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is very well-acted, Sheryl Lee is superb and at times heart-breaking as an easy-to-root-for character while Ray Wise is just terrifying as one of the scariest father figures on film. Harry Dean Stanton, Kiefer Sutherland and Kyle MacLauchlan are on fun form too. In conclusion, a very under-appreciated film and undeservedly so. 8/10 Bethany Cox