Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me: Teresa Banks and the Last Seven Days of Laura Palmer - Q2
I am NOT a Lynch fan. I watched S01 when it initially aired 20+ years ago, and was infuriated with Lynch because he did not (or could not) deliver the promised resolution. S02 was longer and messier, which led all but the hard core to believe his concept was rudderless. Ratings dipped, show was canceled, and the subsequent Fire Walk With Me was judged incomprehensible.
Later, internet forums offered explanations for everything, Twin Peaks reputation not only survives, but stubbornly ascends.
Q2 has refashioned FWWM with deleted scenes, outtakes, to better follow Lynch’s vision. Maybe. With Lynch, one never knows.
Video editing really good here. Jump cuts and fades. Some material was never remastered, so do not judge against that.
Audio - Anything by Lynch is worth “listening” to. No exception here. Sound design in FWWM is dazzling. From tiny sounds to noise to the hypnotic roadhouse band. Also solid editing. No quick fade-outs or mid drops. Masterful use of layering music to link new material. I listened on headphones, I cranked the main speakers. Both ways - great.
Narrative - What in the hell …
I am convinced there is a tight story in here, but an extended version just pumps more fog into the confusion. FBI subplots seem meaningless to the plot. Just Lynch ridiculing the Feds. I would have dropped references to all agents. Blasphemy, yes, but keep the focus on Laura. Weave the Lodge, especially BOB.
The extended narrative wanders aimlessly for over an hour, then it locks in and grows inspired. The sound mix, the brooding tone, the fatalistic dread. A one-way Noir ticket to Hell.
End of the film, there was more here I liked than disliked. I will also be the first to admit hard core Twin Peaks fans will revel in this extended edition.
Did I enjoy this? No. Did I watch it repeatedly? Yes, twice already, and I may rewatch again.
Do I like Lynch’s work in general? No. Aside from Mulholland Drive, not at all. His whole ouvre is baffling, incomprehensible, self-indulgent, and seems lost in a thicket of brilliant ideas yet incapable of reining them into cohesion. Of course this also helps to explain its enduring popularity.
On the other hand, I watch, and rewatch his movies.
Should you watch Q2’s edit? Absolutely! This is a must!
Yet it you have never watched any season of Twin Peaks, do yourself a favor and watch those first.
Rest assured, if you get confused there are piles of websites and boards to offer answers or suggestions to any questions or puzzles. Maybe. With Twin Peaks, nothing is certain, nothing is as it appears.
One way or another, we are still adrift.