Twin Peaks - Der Film: Die letzten 7 Tage im Leben der Laura Palmer

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.

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).

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.

This was one of the most critically panned movies of the decade, but only because the world's film critics are too full of their own self-importance to bother watching a masterful TV series like Twin Peaks. All Twin Peaks fans know that this movie is monumental enough to transcend criticism, sure it makes no sense to those who have never seen the TV series, but those people have never lived anyway. Twin Peaks: FWWM, brings a genuine sense of tragic martyrdom to the death of Laura Palmer, as well as being one of the scariest, most surreal and atmospheric movies ever made. Never seen Twin Peaks? Watch the TV series on video first, and then see this incredible prequel.