Fire Walk With Me Should Have Been Made - and was, Thank God!
For any Twin Peaks fans out there, I found a really cool blog today. The guy went to where they filmed Twin Peaks and shot photos of lots of locations - including the Double R, the Great Northern, the Palmer house, etc. (Didn't get the high school, though, to my mild disappointment.)
Anyway, this really brings back a lot of memories. My dad had to twist my arm to get me to watch that show, but after one episode I was hooked for life. (With a few notable exceptions, most of the stuff that my dad twists my arm to watch has been first-rate. I wouldn't, for example, have ever seen Robert Altman's A Wedding - a truly great movie - if he hadn't insisted. The list goes on.) TV has never seen anything quite like it since (though I agree with the Wikipedia article that notes that almost every show since it aired is cinematically influenced in some way. It definitely changed TV - for the definite better.). As icing on the cake, the blog author's Blogger profile says he's a a 31-year-old Cancer - meaning roughly the same age as me (a 31-year-old Aries). He talks about watching Twin Peaks "As a teenager." MAN that brings back memories! During the second season, my friends and I had frequent costume parties (I was always Dr. Jacobi) where we ate cherry pie, drank black coffee (which I hated at the time but now love) and watched the show.
One gripe. At the bottom of the blog page is a link to www.firewalkwithmeshouldnothavebeenmade.com. There's no content yet (aside from a pic and banner), but the URL is self-explanatory.
I would just like to say unequivocally that I LOVED Fire Walk With Me - the "prequel" movie that hit theaters about a year after the show was cancelled. I admit - I thought it was a bit weird when it came out and was hugely disappointed that it wasn't just a big-screen episode of the series. But it got stuck in my head, and that summer (1992) I had the opportunity to see Lynch's Industrial Symphony no. 1, which started me thinking seriously about Fire Walk With Me. I watched it again sometime in the summer of 1998 and have seen it several times since. I now think it's a brilliant film - one of my favorites by Lynch or anyone. Maybe a bit of an acquired taste (what Lynch film isn't, though?), but very rewarding once you get into it. The trick isn't to think of it as separate from Twin Peaks - it's not. But if all you ever liked about Twin Peaks was the quirky humor, this film is lost on you. If you got in to the darker, spiritual side of the show at all, though, give this a second watch. It'll definitely be worth it.
posted by Joshua @ 5:20 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Hi Joshua. This is Charles, The guy who created intwinpeaks.blogspot.com. I just wanted to say thank you for the compliments you paid to my site. I can't express to you enough how much it warms my heart to know that fans of the show enjoy my labors. I love working on it so much. So much.
My only gripe, however, regards your gripe about the anti-FWWM site. While I absolutely agree with you that the fans who strictly enjoyed the quirkiness and soapy aspects of Twin Peaks should probably steer clear of the prequel,(or any Lynch film for that matter) I cannot defend it as you do. My own problem with the film stems from what I perceive to be its inability to deal with the dark "spiritual" matters of those woods, which I always felt spawned BOB, Leland's possessor and Laura's tormentor. Instead, we're asked to shirk this rich riddle and see it mainly as the all too terrestrial matter of familial abuse. I felt that it lacked the mystery and darkness that we were treated so artfully to in the show (notably in the Lynch episodes.) The whole Theresa Banks mystery and Bob phenomenon reduced to a molesting fathers shame, a daughter's denial and a blackmail plot??!!!? I found this explanation believable in a psychological sense,(not to mention a plot advancing sense) but ultimately simplistic and narrow. What Twin Peaks made me feel then, and what it has left with me for these 17 years after the Pilot aired, is the deep impression that there IS something dark and unknown out in those woods--something that is more incomprehensible and profound than the easy answers Lynch gave us in Fire Walk With Me ---and don't get me started on the casting of Moira Kelly as Donna Hayward....WHAT??!!
At any rate, I appreciate the various interpretations of this or any work of art...and seeing a Twin Peaks film that wasn't just an extended TV episode. I do love many, many things about FWWM, but each time I see it, I'm left feeling that it explained too much and in such a manner that leaves me feeling cheated.
In more agreeable news, I plan on getting the High School shot from the series on my upcoming trip--and more! I do have lots of pics from the FWWM high school and the Palmer house from FWWM. If you'd like to see them just contact me and I'll be happy to share them with you.
Best,
Charles
P.S. I too remember how raw I was seeing the show for the first time...it was incredible and I miss it too.
I think FWWM is a disgrace to the original series. There's nothing Twin Peaks about it!
And they made Sheryl Lee wear that awful wig!
Thanks for your comments, Charles.
I see your point about FWWM - about how focus was switched away from the haunted woods and into more mundane human psychological matters. You're right, of course.
But... Well, I started this out as just a comment response, but I had so much to say that I'm going to expand it into a full blog entry.
Anyway - I appreciate the offer for sending photos, and OF COURSE I'll take you up on it! I don't really have the chance to go to Washington (at least, not any time soon), but I have, for some reason, always been interested in seeing the high school. If you make it back and take pics, I'd definitely be interested in them, yes.
I'll send you an email. Thanks again for writing!
Great, and yes, send me an e-mail so that I can send you those photos. I've done some research and have found that the high school used in the series, Mt. Si High School, has undergone some major renovations since '89...so, though I will photograph the exterior shot that they used in the series, it may not have the same feel. Oh, and I've heard that they painted over all the red stripes in the hallways and got rid of the old lockers. Damn. I suppose that's why they used a different school for the the film. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see.
Post a Comment
<< Home