Film Review: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)

David Lynch is one of the most talented, but also one of the most divisive film makers today. When he does film right, results are brilliant; when he doesn’t, results are complete dreck. Finding which is which has been subject of endless debates not only among critics, but, sometimes, even among his loyal fans. It happened with his most controversial film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.

The film represents prequel to Lynch’s best known and most popular work – short-lived but influential television series Twin Peaks. The plot begins roughly a year before the events depicted in the series, when FBI regional director Gordon Cole (played by Lynch) sends two of his agents – Chester Desmond (played by Chris Isaak) and Sam Stanley (played by Kiefer Sutherland) – to Deer Meadow, small town in Washington, to investigate murder of waitress Teresa Banks (played by Pamela Gidley). Agents, despite hostility from local law enforcement, begin to take clues but investigation abruptly ends when Desmond mysteriously disappears. A year later in town of Twin Peaks, popular teenager and high school homecoming queen Laura Palmer (played by Sheryl Lee) is leading a double life that involves abusing cocaine, cheating on her boyfriend Bobby Briggs (played by Dana Ashbrook) and working as underage prostitute in sleazy bar over the Canadian border. Laura’s secret are well-kept and even her best friend Donna Hayward (played by Moira Kelly) has trouble discovering Laura’s another side. Laura’s life begins to spiral out of control, partly due to her father Leland (played by Ray Wise) being possessed by evil entity called Bob (played by Frank Silva) and developing murderous intentions towards her.

Fire Walk with Me was made after the cancellation of the series, and Lynch originally intended to make trilogy of feature films that would resolve the cliffhanger at the series finale and fill some of the narrative gaps left in the series. Unfortunately, his relationship with series co-creator Mark Frost soured and Lynch was forced to make the film more or less by himself, aided only with co-writer Robert Engels. The result is Twin Peaks that is unmistakbly more Lynchian than the series and in which combination of cinematic talent and surrealism gives advantage to style over substance. Lynch has gathered many of the series cast, although some (like Sherilyn Fenn) were unable or unwilling to participate. Kyle Maclachan, fearing that his iconic role of FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper would make him typecast, insisted that his appearance be limited to what amounts to glorified cameo. Lara Flynn Boyle, who played Donna Hayward in the series, was replaced by Moira Kelly.

Fire Walk with Me was met by divided and often very hostile critics (with apocryphal tales of film being booed at Cannes Film Festival premiere), while the fans and general audience rejected it at the box office, ditching Lynch’s plans for new sequels. The film nevertheless found small but dedicated cult following and, as it happens with such films, cult members became more louder over the time, resulting in Fire Walk With Me often being hailed as Lynch’s misunderstood masterpiece. Most of today’s viewers, at least those who haven’t been exposed to Lynch’s cult, would probably be less enthusiastic. Fire Walk with Me displays great deal of production values, an interesting atmospheric score by Angelo Badalamenti, Sheryl Lee acts her heart out in the most iconic role of her career, while Lynch obviously enjoying portraying Twin Peaks on big screen with less censorship concerns, which resulted in plenty of scenes featuring nudity, sex and graphic violence. Yet, all of Lynch’s efforts are compromised with conceptual flaw. Fire Walk with Me was actually two different films artificially merged into one. The first, which deals with Teresa Banks case, is actually more Lynchian – it represents interesting blend of mystery, supernatural fantasy, quirky characters and black humour. Second segment, showing the last days in life of Laura Palmer, is dark, dour, humourless and often represents nothing more than fan service to the most masochistic of Twin Peaks fans. Failure to make new feature sequels also left too many plot holes (like the mystery concerning FBI agent played by David Bowie), making Fire Walk with Me look unfinished. Lynch considered the film a failure and it took him almost quarter of century to try to revive Twin Peaks again with more successful limited television series Twin Peaks: the Return.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

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