Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

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).

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.

Whilst the film is by no means a masterpiece, it has some great moments. The first 30 minutes, in which special agent Chet Desmond (Chris Isaak) and partner (Kiefer Surherland) investigate the murder of the first victim, Theresa Banks, are irrelevant to the rest of the film as that plot thread completely disappears. I believe the intention was to creare a series of films but as that didn't go ahead, skip the first 30 minutes (which are the closest to the tone of Twin Peaks in that they are surreal, some offbeat humour as well as the horror of the murder). David Bowie's cameo is miniscule.

The film really centres on the last week of Laura Palmer's life. Although the plot points aren't new to anyone who's watched Twin Peaks- they might even be used as flashbacks in the TV show were the content turned down- it is interesting to explore Laura's life through her eyes. In Twin Peaks the series, Laura is seen through different people's eyes so that they each have their 'version' of her, but here we get to see the nightmare, even darker than the show and the same level of surrealness. It's very Lynchian- i.e. Dreamlike/nightmarish with more nudity and violence than could ever have been shown on the TV show.

Moira Kelly is a good recast as Donna and it was great to see their friendship, perhaps the only real light in Laura's life.

As for Kyle MacLachlan as Dale Cooper, he's in it for a small amount in the first 30 minutes and then the final shot, so really the main draw is whether you want to see Laura's experience depicted on screen. Sheryl Lee as Laura gives a powerful performance that reflects the magnetic power Laura held over Twin Peaks residents.

Do not watch this film if you haven't watched the TV show as major plot points are revealed; if you have already watched the show, you won't get any more clues as to meaning. It's just a very powerful character study with some shocking moments even though we know who the killer is, and a woozy nightclub scene which feels dreamlike and nightmarish.

If you were not a fan of the Twin Peaks television series you would not want to bother watching this film. Fire Walk with Me pretty much requires the viewer to have already seen every episode of the television show. If you haven't you will be well and truly lost as you watch this film unfold in the bizarre Twin Peaks universe. Assuming you have the requisite working knowledge of all things Twin Peaks heading in you'll at least be able to understand the film. Whether you'll like the film is an iffy proposition at best.

Fire Walk with Me is a prequel to the television series which means Laura Palmer is alive. But before we can get to Laura there's a thirty-minute or so prologue (a prequel within a prequel?) about the investigation into the murder of Teresa Banks, whom all the Twin Peaks die-hards know was the first victim of the killer who would eventually murder Laura. After what any fan of the television show will see as some typical weirdness, and not much in the way of resolution, the prologue ends and we move forward in time, jumping into the final week of Laura Palmer's life. It's nice to see Laura alive for the first time. The television show had already established Laura was not the sweet, innocent homecoming queen she seemed but her demons were, for the most part, only hinted at on TV. In Fire Walk with Me those demons are on full display. Where the television show was subtle, the movie is in your face. A little too much in your face some might say as David Lynch takes full advantage of all the opportunities provided by producing an R-rated movie. Certainly nothing is held back here as we watch Laura Palmer spiral downward towards her sad end.

In the rather brutal telling of the story of Laura Palmer's final days all the charm of the television series has been lost. For all the terrible things that occurred in the series the show always had that small-town, quirky charm. Not here. For the Twin Peaks fan it's nice to see those familiar characters again. And the film does add a lot to the Laura Palmer story and allows you to get to know her much better. But you may come away wishing you hadn't gotten to know her quite so well. Perhaps some things are better left unspoken and unseen. There were two sides of Laura Palmer and this film shows you much too much of the dark side. There was a lot of good in her, watching this film makes it hard to remember that even as you can't help but sympathize with the way she is being taken advantage of and the way she will meet her ultimate fate.

If you're a real Twin Peaks fan you really do have to see the movie. There is a lot to like about it. The story is captivating as ever, if decidedly less charming in this go-around. And the performances from the cast are mostly very good, most notably from Sheryl Lee who finally gets to play a living, breathing Laura Palmer after having been introduced to the world dead and wrapped in plastic. And Ray Wise as Laura's father Leland also does fine work in portraying a disturbing and complicated character. We never got to see Leland and Laura interact in the series and their relationship is fascinating to watch. Fascinating and also more than a little creepy as the movie's Leland is a constantly ominous, threatening presence. You'll miss Lara Flynn Boyle who for the film has been replaced in the role of Donna by Moira Kelly. Kelly fails to bring the same spark to the character that Boyle did. And while many of the characters from the show return you'll miss those who notably don't. Audrey and Benjamin Horne, Sheriff Truman, Deputies Andy and Hawk, Doc Hayward and Pete Martell and Big Ed...would have been nice to see them and some others one last time if even just briefly. It is nice to have the opportunity to go back to the Twin Peaks universe. Unfortunately it's not quite the universe you remember. This is a much darker, sinister and decidedly less enjoyable Twin Peaks. Sometimes you can't go home again.

This remains my favorite of Lynch's "difficult" films of the last decade, which include "Lost Highway" and "Mulholland Dr." Absolutely no one can establish a mood of dread like Lynch, and this film is superlative in this respect. Images, sound design, and Sheryl Lee's near-miraculous performance all contribute to something much closer to a Horror Film than the genre with the actual namesake.

It seems that many fans of the Twin Peaks TV series were very disappointed with this film. I read over and over how "peakies" feel the movie lacks the "quirky, off-beat, kinda funny" tone of the TV series. Well, step back and consider something: the central themes of the movie AND the TV show are 1.) father-daughter incest, 2.) drug addiction, and 3.) murder. I guess we're all pretty desensitized, what with TV shows like "Law and Order" and Jerry Bruckheimer movies all purporting to give us action and thrills that are gritty and hard-bitten.

Lemme tell ya, that stuff ain't gritty and hard-bitten. Rape victims on TV shows are paper-thin stereotypes compared to the Laura Palmer of "Fire Walk With Me." Why? Because Lynch shows us the HORROR, the inescapable, fenced-into-a-corner hysterical inevitableness of a young girl who can't cope with her father's abuse of her, who then turns to drugs and increasingly can't cope with those either, and who finally sees the true tragedy of her life before it's even finished playing out. The wings disappear from the picture.

What "Fire Walk" offers in its portrait of evil and abuse is the full gamut of emotions, not just fear and anger (though there is plenty of that), but also aching, aching sadness, loneliness, abandonment. Lynch did a fairly good job of conveying this within the confines of a TV show with commercials (remember how the first half hour of the pilot was just people crying?), but in the movie he really gets to go town.

Incest and drug abuse are absolutely devastating. This movie is absolutely devastating, and so touches the truth.