Lynch II: Peaks

Blue Velvet is a great movie with the criminal intrigues and filmmaking style that now characterizes David Lynch, the ambience is magnifically achieved and the characters are unique. This is his first collaboration of with musician Angelo Badalamenti, whom's soundtrack mesh greatly with Lynch's style. Ambiented in a tranquil little town, the movie plot starts in its usual minute 10 when young Jeffrey, played by Kyle MacLachlan (who debuted in Dune), finds a cut ear in the grass, curiosity ignites the plot. Nothing is what it seems. Magnific interpretation of Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern and Isabella Rosselini, a magnific actress who had things very difficult after the incredible succes of her parents.

We see Laura Dern again with Nicholas Cage in Wild at Heart, one of my favourite Lynch's movies (that recieved the Palme D'Or at Cannes 1990). A true love story about Sailor and Lula, now cult characters, difficulted by the evil witch of her mother. Lots of refferences to the wizzard of Oz. You'll find great David Lynch mythology signs, look for the details. I don't have much to talk about this movie, it's just a great film with great plot. Something you've never seen before.

And now comes the most expected, his greatest work and only one at the "25 frames per second" realm, a TV series where the story, the characters and the settings subjugated all other TV shows changing the way series are made. This is Twin Peaks, work of David Lynch and TV veteran Mark Frost, with the now famous music of Angelo Badalamenti. The series cover the day by day investigation of the murder of an highschool girl, Laura Palmer with a continuity never seen after and the best climaxes I ever lived; characters like FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (played by Kyle Maclachlan), Sherif Harry S. Thruman, James, Bobby, Dr. Jacoby and Audrey Horne started a new school, and if you are going to see the series don't tell anybody, people love to spoil endings (and I know it).

The series are not only great for their continuity, climaxes and characters. The small town rural setting could be only portrayed by someone who lived in them, those settings are very common in Lynch's work. The symbologies are very important. Rivers are death but water is good, forests are the unknown, oil is evil and fire the devil. Also are signs the moon, the owls, the rings... The famous evil poem was written by Lynch himself.

Lynch showed us Laura Palmer alive in a prequel that usually has bad reviews, and although it's not the best of his works, I enjoyed it very much. Besides the plot and the actors (not all), Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me doesn't have any relation with the stethics and general ambience of the series. The movie shows the investigation of a previous similar murder and the last days of Laura Palmer. I enjoyed very much the first part with the awesome character of Special Agent Chester Desmond (played by Chris Isaak) and the soundtrack, as you guessed, by Badalamenti. Some parts of the movie become a bit bizarre, but nothing extreme if you read my previous post. The movie last 2 hours, but there are another two hours of deleted scenes that were never screened and things point that we'll never see them, not even in the DVDs; Those are the last unseen footages of Twin Peaks.

Interesting sites about Twin Peaks (but heavy spoilers):
http://www.geocities.com/fwwmfight/
http://www.sheepproductions.com/tps/
http://www.glastonberrygrove.net/
http://davidlynch.de