Fire Walk With Me
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''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' is a 1992 American
surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
psychological
mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, i ...
film directed by David Lynch and written by Lynch and Robert Engels. It serves as a prequel to the television series ''
Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 for ...
'' (1990–1991), created by
Mark Frost Mark Frost (born November 25, 1953) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film-and-television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and was a writer and executive story ...
and Lynch, who were also executive producers. It revolves around the investigation into the murder of Teresa Banks (
Pamela Gidley Pamela Catherine Gidley (June 11, 1965 – April 16, 2018) was an American actress and model. She began her career as an actress in 1986, debuting in the film ''Thrashin, before appearing in a number of films, including '' Dudes'' (1987), ''Ch ...
) and the last seven days in the life of Laura Palmer (
Sheryl Lee Sheryl Lynn Lee (born April 22, 1967) is a German-born American film, stage, and television actress. After studying acting in college, Lee relocated to Seattle, Washington to work in theater, where she was cast by David Lynch as Laura Palmer and ...
), a popular high school student in the fictional
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
town of Twin Peaks. Unlike the series, which was an
uncanny The uncanny is the psychological experience of something as not simply mysterious, but creepy, often in a strangely familiar way. It may describe incidents where a familiar thing or event is encountered in an unsettling, eerie, or taboo context. ...
blend of detective fiction, horror, the supernatural, offbeat humor, and soap opera tropes, the film has a much darker, less humorous tone. Most of the television cast reprised their roles, though the majority of their scenes were cut. A few notable cast members, including
Lara Flynn Boyle Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Donna Hayward in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991). After portraying Stacy in Penelope Spheeris's comedy ''Wayne's World'' (1992), ...
,
Sherilyn Fenn Sherilyn Fenn (born Sheryl Ann Fenn; February 1, 1965) is an American actress and author. She came to attention for her performance as Audrey Horne on the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) for which she was nominated for a Go ...
, and
Richard Beymer George Richard Beymer Jr. (born February 20, 1938) is an American actor, filmmaker and artist who played the roles of Tony in the film version of ''West Side Story'' (1961), Peter in ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959), and Ben Horne on the telev ...
, did not reappear for various reasons. Boyle's character
Donna Hayward Donna Marie Hayward is a fictional character in the ''Twin Peaks'' franchise. She was portrayed by Lara Flynn Boyle in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991) and by Moira Kelly in the film '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me'' (1992) an ...
was recast with
Moira Kelly Moira Kelly (born on March 6, 1968 in Queens, New York) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Kate Moseley in the 1992 film ''The Cutting Edge'' as well as single mother Karen Roe on the teen drama '' One Tree Hill''. She is also k ...
.
Kyle MacLachlan Kyle Merritt MacLachlan (; ' McLachlan, February 22, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dale Cooper in '' Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992), as well as roles ...
, who starred as Special Agent
Dale Cooper Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper, portrayed by Kyle MacLachlan, is a fictional character who is the protagonist of ABC's and Showtime's television series ''Twin Peaks''. He also plays a supporting role in ...
in the series, was reluctant to return out of fear of being typecast, which resulted in a smaller presence in the film than originally planned. Two planned sequels never came to fruition, but 91 minutes worth of deleted scenes were released in 2014 through the compilation '' Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces'', and the story's narrative continued through the 2017 miniseries '' Twin Peaks: The Return''. ''Fire Walk With Me'' premiered at the
1992 Cannes Film Festival The 45th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 May 1992. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Den goda viljan'' by Bille August. The festival opened with ''Basic Instinct'', directed by Paul Verhoeven and closed with ''Far and Away'', directed by R ...
, where it was nominated for the
Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
. It has long been reported that the film was booed and jeered by the audience there, though co-writer Robert Engels denies this happened. Upon release, the film received polarized reviews from critics in the United States and was a
box office failure A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
domestically, although it fared much better in Japan. The film has been positively re-evaluated in the 21st century, and it is now widely regarded as one of Lynch's major works and one of the greatest films of the 1990s. "Fire Walk With Me was Twin Peaks’ missing head, and perhaps the cinemagoers of 1992 weren’t quite prepared to find it in the fridge, beside the fruit juice. But time has passed, and its brilliance is gradually coming into focus, just as Lynch hoped it would."


Plot


Deer Meadow prologue

In 1988, in the small town of Deer Meadow,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
teenage drifter Teresa Banks' body floats down a river, wrapped in plastic.
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole sends agents
Chester Desmond The following is a list of characters from the television series ''Twin Peaks'', the film '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'', and the 2017 revival. Overview Concepts Bob Frank Silva was a set decorator who worked on the pilot episode. ...
and Sam Stanley to investigate. While examining Teresa's body, the agents notice that a ring is missing from her finger, and find a small piece of paper with the letter "T" inserted under the fingernail. A local waitress later tells them that Teresa's arm went numb before she died. At Teresa's trailer, Desmond notices a photo of her wearing a strange ring. At dusk, Desmond finds the ring on a mound under a trailer. He reaches out to take it. At FBI headquarters in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, Agent
Dale Cooper Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper, portrayed by Kyle MacLachlan, is a fictional character who is the protagonist of ABC's and Showtime's television series ''Twin Peaks''. He also plays a supporting role in ...
tells Cole of his foreboding dream. Their long-lost colleague, Agent Phillip Jeffries, materializes and insanely rants about a meeting he witnessed involving mysterious spirits. A vision of these spirits—the Jumping Man, the Man from Another Place,
Killer BOB Bob (sometimes known as BOB or Killer BOB) is a fictional character in the ABC television series ''Twin Peaks,'' played by Frank Silva. He is an interdimensional entity who feeds on pain and sorrow. An inhabiting spirit, he possesses human b ...
, and Mrs. Chalfont and her grandson—appears briefly before Jeffries vanishes. Sitting nearby, Agent Albert Rosenfield reports that Jeffries was never there and Desmond has disappeared. To search for Desmond, Cooper is sent to Deer Meadow, but he learns nothing.


The Last Seven Days of Laura Palmer

One year later in Twin Peaks, high school homecoming queen Laura Palmer uses
cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...
and cheats on her boyfriend
Bobby Briggs The following is a list of characters from the television series ''Twin Peaks'', the film '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'', and the 2017 revival. Overview Concepts Bob Frank Silva was a set decorator who worked on the pilot episode. ...
with biker
James Hurley James Hurley may refer to: * James Hurley (Twin Peaks), a fictional character from the television show ''Twin Peaks'' * James Francis Hurley (born 1962), English murderer * James R. Hurley (born 1932), Southern New Jersey politician and gambling ...
. She discovers that pages are missing from her secret diary, and gives the rest of it to her
agoraphobic Agoraphobia is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no easy way to escape. These situations can ...
friend Harold Smith for safekeeping. Mrs. Chalfont and her grandson later appear to Laura. They present a small framed picture for her wall, and warn her that the "man behind the mask" is in her bedroom. Laura runs home and sees BOB behind her dresser. She rushes outside in terror and sees her father, Leland, emerge from the house. That evening, Leland accusingly questions Laura about her romances and screams at her to wash her hands. At bedtime, he offers her a tearful apology. After hanging the picture on her wall, Laura dreams about entering the
Lodge Lodge is originally a term for a relatively small building, often associated with a larger one. Lodge or The Lodge may refer to: Buildings and structures Specific * The Lodge (Australia), the official Canberra residence of the Prime Ministe ...
. There, she sees Cooper and the Man from Another Place, who identifies himself as the arm and offers Teresa's ring to Laura. Cooper tells her not to take it. Laura sees
Annie Blackburn The following is a list of characters from the television series ''Twin Peaks'', the film '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'', and the 2017 revival. Overview Concepts Bob Frank Silva was a set decorator who worked on the pilot episode ...
next to her in bed, covered in blood. Annie tells Laura to write in her diary that "the good Dale is in the Lodge and cannot leave" and then disappears. Laura sees the ring in her hand, but when she wakes up, it is gone. That night, Laura goes to the Roadhouse, a bar where she works as an
underage In law, a minor is someone under a certain age, usually the age of majority, which demarcates an underage individual from legal adulthood. The age of majority depends upon jurisdiction and application, but it is commonly 18. ''Minor'' may also ...
prostitute. From there, Laura and her pimp Jacques Renault, along with two of their clients, relocate to another bar just over the border in Canada.
Donna Hayward Donna Marie Hayward is a fictional character in the ''Twin Peaks'' franchise. She was portrayed by Lara Flynn Boyle in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991) and by Moira Kelly in the film '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me'' (1992) an ...
, Laura's best friend, is naive to prostitution and hard drug use. She follows Laura there and crashes the group. After seeing a drugged and topless Donna making out with her "John", Laura drags her off. She begs Donna not to become like her. The next morning, Philip Gerard, the one-armed man possessed by the spirit
MIKE Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...
, approaches Leland and Laura. He shows Teresa's ring to Laura while accosting Leland about canned corn. Leland remembers his affair with Teresa. He had asked Teresa to set up a foursome with her friends but fled after glimpsing Laura among them. Teresa realized who he was and plotted to blackmail him, so Leland murdered her. While Leland and MIKE yell, Laura becomes greatly disturbed and screams at them to stop. MIKE quickly drives away. That night in a forest, Bobby and Laura wait for Jacques's drug contact. They are approached by Deputy Cliff, who produces a package of white powder. He fumbles to draw a gun, but Bobby shoots first, killing Cliff. The next night, while she is high on cocaine, BOB comes through Laura's window and rapes her. She asks, "Who are you?" and sees that BOB is her father. Laura attends school in distress. Deciding she is using him for cocaine access, Bobby breaks up with her. Laura is increasingly erratic and disturbed. At night, she ends her relationship with James, jumps off his motorcycle and escapes to a cabin in the woods, where Jacques, Leo Johnson, and underage prostitute Ronette Pulaski are waiting. The four take cocaine and have sex. During it, Jacques ties Laura up and rapes her. Leland shows up and beats Jacques unconscious while Leo flees. Leland takes Laura and Ronette to an abandoned train car. Laura asks him if he is going to kill her. BOB tells her that he wants to be her. BOB pummels Ronette unconscious. MIKE, having tracked Leland there, rescues Ronette and tosses Teresa's ring into the train car. Laura wears it. Enraged, BOB kills Laura and sends her body, wrapped in plastic, floating down a river. He then passes into the Red Room, encountering MIKE and the Man from Another Place. Together, they demand their "garmonbozia" (translated on-screen as "pain and sorrow") from BOB, as a separated Leland floats beside, unaware.


Epilogue

Laura's dead body is discovered by the residents of Twin Peaks. Agent Cooper comforts her in the Red Room. She sees her angel floating above and cries tears of joy.


Cast

The following actors and characters appear in scenes cut from the theatrical version but later compiled in '' Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces''. After the Cannes showing, Lynch commented on having to cut characters from the theatrical version: "It was a little bit of a sadness, ..You'd like to have everybody there, but their characters didn't have a bearing on the life of her aura Palmer":


Production

Aaron Spelling Productions wanted to produce a third season of ''Twin Peaks'', but ABC cancelled the series due to declining ratings and high production cost. Lynch and Spelling Productions decided to conclude the series as a film trilogy, quickly securing a $75 million three-film deal with the French company Ciby 2000 and announcing the first film just a month after the series' cancellation. Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost, whose relationship soured during the second season, disagreed on whether to make the project a conventional sequel or a non-linear prequel. Frost ultimately left and directed his own film '' Storyville''. Lynch wanted to make a ''Twin Peaks'' film because, as he claimed in an interview, "I couldn't get myself to leave the world of ''Twin Peaks''. I was in love with the character of Laura Palmer and her contradictions: radiant on the surface but dying inside. I wanted to see her live, move and talk. I was in love with that world and I hadn't finished with it. But making the movie wasn't just to hold onto it; it seemed that there was more stuff that could be done", and that he was "not yet finished with the material". Actress Sheryl Lee, who played Laura Palmer, echoed these sentiments. "I never got to be Laura alive, just in flashbacks; it allowed me to come full circle with the character." According to Lynch, the movie is about "the loneliness, shame, guilt, confusion and devastation of the victim of incest. It also dealt with the torment of the father – the war within him." The film was originally going to begin filming in August 1991. But on July 11, 1991, Ken Scherer, CEO of Lynch/Frost productions, announced that the film was not going to be made because series star
Kyle MacLachlan Kyle Merritt MacLachlan (; ' McLachlan, February 22, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dale Cooper in '' Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992), as well as roles ...
did not want to reprise his role of Special Agent
Dale Cooper Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper, portrayed by Kyle MacLachlan, is a fictional character who is the protagonist of ABC's and Showtime's television series ''Twin Peaks''. He also plays a supporting role in ...
to avoid
typecasting In film, television, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character, one or more particular roles, or characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ...
. MacLachlan's reluctance was also caused by a decline of quality in the second season of the show. He said "David and Mark
rost Rost may refer to: People: * Andrea Rost (born 1962), Hungarian lyric soprano *Burkhard Rost (born 1961), German scientist - computational biologists * Christina Rost (born 1952), German former women's team handball player * Clarence Rost (born 19 ...
were only around for the first season... I think we all felt a little abandoned. So I was fairly resentful when the film, ''Fire Walk with Me'', came around." A month later, MacLachlan agreed to appear and pre-production resumed. As a compromise MacLachlan demanded a smaller role, only appearing for five days of shooting. Lynch and co-writer Robert Engels rewrote the screenplay so that Teresa Banks's murder was investigated by Agent Chester Desmond and not by Cooper as originally planned. The film was made without ''Twin Peaks'' series regulars
Lara Flynn Boyle Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Donna Hayward in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991). After portraying Stacy in Penelope Spheeris's comedy ''Wayne's World'' (1992), ...
,
Sherilyn Fenn Sherilyn Fenn (born Sheryl Ann Fenn; February 1, 1965) is an American actress and author. She came to attention for her performance as Audrey Horne on the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) for which she was nominated for a Go ...
, and
Richard Beymer George Richard Beymer Jr. (born February 20, 1938) is an American actor, filmmaker and artist who played the roles of Tony in the film version of ''West Side Story'' (1961), Peter in ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959), and Ben Horne on the telev ...
. At the time, these absences were attributed to scheduling conflicts, but in a 1995 interview, Fenn said that her real reason was that she "was extremely disappointed in the way the second season got off track. As far as ''Fire Walk with Me'', it was something that I chose not to be a part of." In a 2014 interview, however, Fenn said that it was a scheduling conflict with ''
Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job o ...
'' that prevented her from committing to the film. In a September 2007 interview, Beymer claimed that he did not appear in any scenes shot for the film, although his character, Benjamin Horne, appeared in the script. Fenn's character was cut from the script,
Moira Kelly Moira Kelly (born on March 6, 1968 in Queens, New York) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Kate Moseley in the 1992 film ''The Cutting Edge'' as well as single mother Karen Roe on the teen drama '' One Tree Hill''. She is also k ...
was cast as Donna, and Beymer's scenes were not filmed.
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began on September 5, 1991 in Snoqualmie,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, and lasted until October of the same year, with four weeks dedicated to locations in Washington and another four weeks of interiors and additional locations in Los Angeles, California. When shooting went over schedule in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington, Laura's death in the train car had to be shot in Los Angeles on soundstage during the last day of shooting, October 31. The production progressed very quickly.
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
expressed disappointment with his role in the film, saying "They crammed me. I did all my scenes in four or five days, because I was in rehearsals for the 1991 Tin Machine tour. I was there for only a few days." Several ''Twin Peaks'' regulars filmed scenes but were cut from the final version. These actors included
Michael Ontkean Michael Leonard Ontkean (born 24 January 1946) is a retired Canadian actor. Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Ontkean relocated to the United States to attend the University of New Hampshire on a hockey scholarship before pursuing ...
(Harry S. Truman),
Warren Frost Warren Frost (June 5, 1925 – February 17, 2017) was an American actor. His work was mainly in theater, but he worked in films and television sporadically from 1958. He is known for television roles on '' Matlock'' and ''Seinfeld'', and p ...
(Will Hayward),
Mary Jo Deschanel Mary Jo Deschanel (née Weir; born November 25, 1945) is an American actress. She is known for roles in the film '' The Right Stuff'' and the television series ''Twin Peaks''. Life and career Deschanel was born as Mary Josephine Weir. Her ancest ...
(Eileen Hayward),
Everett McGill Everett McGill (born Charles Everett McGill III, October 21, 1945) is an American actor, who rose to prominence for his portrayal of a caveman in '' Quest for Fire'' (1981). He went on to have prominent roles in the films ''Dune'' (1984), '' Si ...
(Ed Hurley),
Wendy Robie Wendy Robie is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Nadine Hurley in David Lynch's television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991) and the prequel film '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992). She also starred in two of Wes Cr ...
(Nadine Hurley),
Jack Nance Marvin John Nance (December 21, 1943 – December 30, 1996), known professionally as Jack Nance, was an American actor. A longtime collaborator of filmmaker David Lynch, Nance portrayed the lead in Lynch's directorial film debut ''Eraserhead'' (1 ...
(Pete Martell),
Joan Chen Joan Chen (born April 26, 1961) is a Chinese-American actress and film director. In China, she performed in the 1979 film and came to the attention of American audiences for her performance in the 1987 film '' The Last Emperor''. She is also ...
(Jocelyn Packard),
Kimmy Robertson Kimmy Robertson is an American actress best known for her role as Lucy Moran in the TV series ''Twin Peaks'' and for the film '' The Last American Virgin''. Career Robertson's high-pitched voice has led to roles in animated series such as '' Bat ...
(Lucy Moran), Harry Goaz (Andy Brennan),
Michael Horse Michael Horse (born Michael James Heinrich; December 21, 1949) is an American actor known for his portrayals of Native American characters in film and television. Early life Horse was born Michael James Heinrich near Tucson, Arizona, on Decem ...
(Tommy "Hawk" Hill),
Russ Tamblyn Russell Irving Tamblyn, also known as Rusty Tamblyn (born December 30, 1934) is an American film and television actor and dancer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Tamblyn trained as a gymnast in his youth. He began his career as a child actor f ...
(Dr. Jacoby), Don S. Davis (Garland Briggs), and
Charlotte Stewart Charlotte Stewart (born February 27, 1941) is an American film and television actress. Biography Stewart is most famous for her role as the school teacher Miss Beadle on ''Little House on the Prairie'' and her work with director David Lynch. ...
(Betty Briggs). Their scenes are among ''The Missing Pieces'', included on the ''Twin Peaks'' Blu-ray box set. After the Cannes showing, Lynch said "It was a little bit of a sadness, ..You'd like to have everybody there, but their characters didn't have a bearing on the life of her aura Palmer.


Release

''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' received a reaction quite the contrary to the television series. The film was entered into the
1992 Cannes Film Festival The 45th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 May 1992. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Den goda viljan'' by Bille August. The festival opened with ''Basic Instinct'', directed by Paul Verhoeven and closed with ''Far and Away'', directed by R ...
, where it was met with a polarized response. There is a persistent story that the film was met with boos and hisses from the Cannes audience, though co-writer Robert Engels denies that this event ever happened and a contemporary news report only says there were some "hoots and whistles" during a screening for critics and journalists. According to Roger Ebert from the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'', the film was met with two extremes, one side being overall positive, while the other side being the exact opposite. Filmmaker
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...
, who was also in attendance, said in a 1992 interview, "After I saw ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' at Cannes, David Lynch had disappeared so far up his own ass that I have no desire to see another David Lynch movie until I hear something different. And you know, I loved him. I ''loved'' him." According to Lynch, Francis Bouygues (then head of CIBY) was not well-liked in France and this only added to complications at the festival. U.S. distributor
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
released the film in America on August 28, 1992. It grossed a total of
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
1.8 million in 691 theaters in its opening weekend and went on to gross a total of $4.2 million in North America. Despite its mixed critical and poor commercial response, ''Fire Walk with Me'' gained attention at awards time. The film was nominated for five Saturn Awards and two Independent Spirit Awards, including Sheryl Lee being nominated for Best Actress. Angelo Badalamenti's musical score subsequently won a Spirit Award, a Saturn Award and a
Brit Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
.


Reception


Initial reviews

Upon its release, the film received polarized reviews from American critics. Among the negative reviews,
Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
from ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote, "Mr. Lynch's taste for brain-dead grotesque has lost its novelty". Fellow ''Times'' film critic
Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
concurred, "It's not the worst movie ever made; it just feels like it". In his review for ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' magazine, Todd McCarthy said, "Laura Palmer, after all the talk, is not a very interesting or compelling character and long before the climax has become a tiresome teenager". ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
'' gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it, "dark and depressing". ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' magazine's
Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
wrote, "though the movie ups the TV ante on nudity, language and violence, Lynch's control falters. But if inspiration is lacking, talent is not. Count Lynch down but never out". In her review for ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', Rita Kempley described the film as a "perversely moving, profoundly self-indulgent prequel". An exception among American reviews at the time of the film's release came from novelist
Steve Erickson Stephen Michael Erickson is an American novelist. The author of influential works such as ''Days Between Stations'', '' Tours of the Black Clock'' and '' Zeroville'', he is the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, the American Academy of Arts a ...
, who defended the film in the '' L.A. Weekly'' and challenged its reception; in 1998, critic
Manohla Dargis Manohla June Dargis () is an American film critic. She is one of the chief film critics for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Career Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', ...
, writing in the same publication, called his review "one of the bravest pieces of film criticism I've read." More positive reviews came from British film critics.
Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at ...
from the British magazine ''
Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
'' stated: "The film's many moments of horror ..demonstrate just how tidy, conventional and domesticated the generic horror movie of the 1980s and 1990s has become". However, not all British film critics were praising.
Barry Norman Barry Leslie Norman (21 August 1933 – 30 June 2017) was a British film critic, television presenter and journalist. He presented the BBC's cinema review programme, '' Film...'', from 1972 to 1998. Early life Born at St Thomas’s Hospital ...
declared it "baffling", whilst praising Lynch as "a very original filmmaker, and since there are so few of those about, we ought perhaps to give him the benefit of the doubt, and indulge him a little." On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, it has a approval rating based on reviews, with an average score of and a consensus: "For better or worse, ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me'' is every bit as strange and twisted as you'd expect from David Lynch." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


Reappraisal

Later retrospective analysis of the film has trended positive, with critic Mark Kermode writing in 2007 that many have come to consider the film a "masterpiece". In a 2002 review, Ed Gonzalez of '' Slant Magazine'' gave the film four out of four stars, and the following year, the publication included it in their list of "100 Essential Films". The film is also listed at #11 on the publication’s list of "The 100 Best Films of the 1990s" and at #18 on the
IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
list of "The 100 Best Movies of the ‘90s". The film is also ranked #76 on
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
’s list of "The 100 Best Horror Films of All Time". In 2013, ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'' wrote of the film, “In its own singular way, ''Fire Walk With Me'' is David Lynch’s masterpiece,” while further stating, “'' Blue Velvet'', devised as a kind of distorted TV soap, dug up a small town’s sordid secrets, suggesting that all seemingly good things have a dark side. But ''Fire Walk With Me'' taps into something considerably more terrifying: not only the evil buried somewhere in the quintessential middle-class family, but the evil buried somewhere in all of us, and our capacity for it.” In his review for '' Time Out'', Tom Huddleston gave the film five stars out of five and writes, “There's nothing so dark and demented as ''Fire Walk With Me'', the simplest, strangest, saddest and arguably greatest of all his (''Lynch’s'') films. The critics sneered, the fans balked and the public stayed away in droves. It's their loss: this was a beautiful new kind of madness, terrifying, exhausting and exhilarating in equal measure.” The film is subsequently ranked #31 on ''Time Out’s'' list of “The 50 best 90s movies.” Film critic Robbie Collin, writing for ''
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'', calls the film “a widely misunderstood masterpiece,” stating, “it restores ''Twin Peaks'' to writhing, screaming life...Far from cheating viewers, this fresh perspective offered them a new way to decode the entire ''Twin Peaks'' mythos, with Sheryl Lee’s extraordinary, soul-tearing performance shaking the franchise out of its cherry-pie-munching reverie...Time has passed, and its brilliance is gradually coming into focus, just as Lynch hoped it would.” Appearing on the podcast ''The Cinephiliacs'' in 2015, filmmaker James Gray called it "an incredible film", "a masterpiece", and "a classic example of how the critics get it wrong." Further speaking of the film, he said, "I've never seen a movie that's been made in the last 30 years ..in America, which so asks us to understand and be in the shoes of a person suffering so profoundly. It's a thing of beauty." Filmmaker
Gregg Araki Gregg Araki (born December 17, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is noted for his heavy involvement with the New Queer Cinema movement. His film '' Kaboom'' (2010) was the first winner of the Cannes Film Festival Queer Palm. Early life and e ...
has also stated, “Sheryl Lee’s performance in this movie is, I think seriously, one of the greatest performances in the history of cinema.” Araki subsequently included the film in his personal ''Top 10'' list of the greatest films of all time during the 2012 ''
Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
'' directors’ poll. In the book ''Lynch on Lynch'', Chris Rodley described the film as "brilliant but excoriating", writing that "by the time Lynch unveiled ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me'' in 1992, critical reaction had become hostile, and only now is the movie enjoying a degree of cautious but sympathetic critical re-evaluation. It is, undoubtedly, one of Lynch's cruellest, bleakest neighbourhood visions, and even managed to displease die-hard fans of the series. ..In exposing the very heart of the television series, Lynch was forced to accept that he was unlikely to return to the town of Twin Peaks again." Lindsay Hallam, the author of a book about the film, attributes the initial negative reaction as being due to the following: "Lynch does not let he audienceoff the hook – we are taken so far into Laura's experience, without any respite and with none of the humour associated with the series". In an article for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' published in 2017, critic Martyn Conterio wrote of the film's reappraisal: “''Fire Walk With Me'' is not just an artistic triumph in its own right, it’s the key to the entire Twin Peaks universe. A quarter of a century on, the film is being rightly rediscovered by fans and critics as Lynch's unsung masterwork. It took a long time, and it took its toll on its maker, but ''Fire Walk With Me'' has finally come in from the cold." In 2019, the film was ranked the 4th best film of the 1990s by the ''
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
''.


Legacy

According to cinematographer Ron Garcia, the film was popular in Japan, in particular with women, as Martha Nochimson wrote in her book on Lynch's work, "he surmises that the enthusiasm of the Japanese women comes from a gratification of seeing in Laura some acknowledgment of their suffering in a repressive society." Released under the title ''Twin Peaks: The Last Seven Days of Laura Palmer'', it was greeted with long lines of moviegoers at theaters. In retrospect, Lynch has said, "I feel bad that ''Fire Walk with Me'' did no business and that a lot of people hated the film. But I really like the film. But it had a lot of baggage with it. It's as free and as experimental as it could be within the dictates it had to follow."
Mary Sweeney Mary Sweeney is an American director, writer, film editor and film producer. She was briefly married to American film director David Lynch, whom she collaborated with for 20 years. Sweeney worked with Lynch on several films and television se ...
, the film's editor, said, "They so badly wanted it to be like the TV show, and it wasn't. It was a David Lynch feature. And people were very angry about it. They felt betrayed."
Sheryl Lee Sheryl Lynn Lee (born April 22, 1967) is a German-born American film, stage, and television actress. After studying acting in college, Lee relocated to Seattle, Washington to work in theater, where she was cast by David Lynch as Laura Palmer and ...
is very proud of the film, saying, "I have had many people, victims of incest, approach me since the film was released, so glad that it was made because it helped them to release a lot."


''Twin Peaks: The Return''

The film contains a dream sequence in which Annie says the line “The good Dale is in the lodge and can’t leave. Write it in your diary.” This was originally intended to set up two more films in which Laura's diary entry was discovered, continuing and then concluding the series' narrative in a non-linear style going across time. However, the two planned sequels were cancelled because of the poor performance of the film. By 2001, Lynch said that the ''Twin Peaks'' franchise is "dead as a doornail." In 2014, however, it was announced that the series would continue with Lynch involved. Lynch confirmed that ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' would be significant to the events of the miniseries. In 2017, '' Twin Peaks: The Return'' was released. It serves as the third season of the series and depicts events which happen 25 years after the conclusion of the second season, and uses many elements introduced in ''Fire Walk with Me''.


Home media

''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me'' was released on VHS by New Line Home Video on January 6, 1993; a LaserDisc edition was also released that year. Lynch originally shot more than five hours of footage that was subsequently cut down to two hours and fourteen minutes. The footage nearly appeared on New Line Cinema's Special Edition DVD in February 2002, but was nixed over budgetary and running-time concerns. The film was released on DVD in several other regions in the early 2000s as well, including the United Kingdom (Region 2) in 2001 and Australia (Region 4) in 2005. Most of the deleted scenes feature additional characters from the television series who ultimately did not appear in the finished film. Lynch has said that "I had a limit on the running time of the picture. We shot many scenes that—for a regular feature—were too tangential to keep the main story progressing properly. We thought it might be good sometime to do a longer version with these other things in, because a lot of the characters that are missing in the finished movie had been filmed. They're part of the picture, they're just not necessary for the main story." According to Lynch, had the film included these scenes, it "wouldn't have been quite so dark. To me it obeyed the laws of ''Twin Peaks''. But a little bit of the goofiness had to be removed." In 2007, DVDrama.com reported that MK2 was in final negotiations with Lynch about a new two-disc special edition that would include seventeen deleted scenes hand-picked by the director himself. It had been tentatively scheduled for release on October 17, 2007, but MK2 subsequently opted instead to re-release a bare-bones edition of ''Fire Walk with Me'', citing a new version including the deleted scenes has been put on hold indefinitely. In November 2008, Lynch said the following regarding the deleted scenes:
''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' is owned by a company called MK2 in France. And I spoke to them a couple of months ago. ..I've spoke to them several times about this. ..I think it will happen, but maybe the financial crisis is ..affecting that in some way. I'm not sure what's going on. I'm pretty sure there's seventeen scenes in that at least but it's been a while since we've looked into that.
Paramount Pictures, which has DVD distribution rights to the TV series via
CBS Home Entertainment CBS Home Entertainment (formerly CBS Video Enterprises, Inc., MGM/CBS Home Video, CBS/Fox Video and CBS Video, currently branded as CBS DVD for DVD releases and CBS Blu-ray for Blu-ray releases) is a home entertainment company owned by Paramoun ...
, acquired the rights in Germany and most of the world excluding the US, UK, France and Canada. Paramount/CBS released their DVD in 2007. The DVD was a port straight from the MK2 French edition. ''Fire Walk with Me'' was released on Blu-ray in France on November 3, 2010 by MK2. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in Australia by
Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...
on February 8, 2012, marking the 20th anniversary of the film's theatrical release. The film was also released on Blu-ray on June 4, 2012 in the UK by Universal UK Home Video, although it has been reported that the release suffers from defects in the audio track. The film was released on Blu-ray in North America on July 29, 2014, as part of the ''Twin Peaks'' entire mystery Blu-ray collection, and contains more than 90 minutes of deleted and extended scenes from the film. The film premiered on
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
on March 1, 2017, in honor of the series continuation. The film was released as part of
the Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...
(whose parent company,
Janus Films Janus Films is an American film distribution company. The distributor is credited with introducing numerous films, now considered masterpieces of world cinema, to American audiences, including the films of Michelangelo Antonioni, Sergei Eisenstei ...
, currently owns the North American rights), on both DVD and Blu-Ray Disc, on October 17, 2017.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
' at Criterion.com
The Criterion version of the film was re-released as part of ''Twin Peaks: From Z to A'', a 21-disc limited edition Blu-ray box set, which aside from the film also includes all three television seasons in their entirety, ''The Missing Pieces'', previously released special features, six hours of new behind-the-scenes content, and 4K versions of the original pilot and episode 8 from ''The Return'', released on December 10, 2019. However, this collection lacks two Criterion-exclusive interviews that were on their release of the film.


Soundtrack

The soundtrack to ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' was released on
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
on August 11, 1992. It includes music by Angelo Badalamenti, who had composed and conducted the music on the television series and its
original soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of ...
. In addition to his instrumental compositions, ''Fire Walk with Me''s soundtrack features vocal accompaniment to Badalamenti's songs by jazz vocalist
Jimmy Scott James Victor Scott (July 17, 1925 – June 12, 2014), known professionally as Little Jimmy Scott or Jimmy Scott, was an American jazz vocalist known for his high natural contralto voice and his sensitivity on ballads and love songs. After ...
and dream pop singer
Julee Cruise Julee Ann Cruise (December 1, 1956 – June 9, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and actress, known for her collaborations with composer Angelo Badalamenti and film director David Lynch in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She released fo ...
. Badalamenti performs vocals on "A Real Indication" and "The Black Dog Runs at Night", two songs by the Thought Gang, a musical project between Badalamenti and David Lynch. Lynch wrote the lyrics for several of the soundtrack's songs, including "Sycamore Trees", "Questions in a World of Blue", "A Real Indication" and "The Black Dog Runs at Night", and was the soundtrack's producer alongside Badalamenti. Upon its release, ''Fire Walk with Me''s soundtrack charted in the United States, peaking at number 173 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It was nominated for, and later received, the
Best Music Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...
at the 1992 Saturn Awards and Best Original Score at the Independent Spirit Awards. In March 2011, British music publication ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' placed ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me''s soundtrack at number 1 on their list of the 50 Best Film soundtracks Ever, describing it as "combining plangent beauty with a kind of clanking evil jazz, this is one of those endlessly evocative soundtracks that takes up residence in your subconscious and never leaves".


Awards and nominations


References


Sources

*


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me Twin Peaks 1992 films 1992 horror films 1990s avant-garde and experimental films 1990s psychological horror films American avant-garde and experimental films American psychological horror films 1990s English-language films Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Filicide in fiction Films about dreams Films based on television series Films directed by David Lynch Films scored by Angelo Badalamenti Films set in 1988 Films set in 1989 Films set in Philadelphia Films set in Portland, Oregon Films set in Washington (state) Films shot in Washington (state) Films with screenplays by David Lynch French avant-garde and experimental films English-language French films French psychological horror films Incest in film New Line Cinema films Prequel films 1990s American films American prequel films French prequel films 1990s French films