Twin Peaks - Fire walk with me

, “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me” is a whirlwind of sensory overload. David Lynch’s artistic third eye is excessively prevalent throughout the depiction of this murder mystery. The film mainly stars, Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) and her relationship with her father, Leland Palmer (Ray Wise). After the television series “Twin Peaks” which lasted for a total of 30 episodes, David Lynch returns to the town of the same name and derails any understanding a general audience may believe is the proper way to watch a movie demanding a complete recalibration. For the casual viewer it will be an excruciating experience as they attempt to comprehend Lynch’s maze like plot that is full of twists and sudden transitions into characters and places of the unfamiliar.

Laura Palmer’s suffering is what Lynch attempts to make visual, and he does so in such a profound way that the entire film is a tightrope walk between traumatizing and nauseating. The terrifying stimuli that is pressured on the audience can be quite overwhelming for the most open minded individuals, and even fans of David Lynch. A rewatch may seem laborious if you cannot focus on the already cloudy and convoluted plot, yet if you make it to the end with a basic understanding of Laura’s experiences you will appreciate and possibly enjoy “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.” But do not enter the screening thinking you know what to expect unless you have previous knowledge of Lynch’s work, and yet you still may not be prepared.

Random characters seem to plop into the middle of scenes with no establishment beforehand, but by the end of the film a few issues are genuinely resolved in one way or another, while others are not. Lynch’s approach to filmmaking was definitely on the gallows during the original release for “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me,” and it is intuitively understandable as to why. Lynch’s visual and auditory assault on the senses is the kindest way to describe his film that veers so far off the mainstream track.

But if you would be so inclined to partake in a circus like acid trip into the strange and superficially incoherent vision of Lynch and Engel’s small town of Twin Peaks mayhem, this is the quintessential choice. Once uncovering the tragedy of Laura Palmer you will be horrified as well as intrigued into the how and when and why. Angelo Badalamenti creates the score for “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me,” and his additional musical contribution to Lynch’s visceral photography walks hand in hand happily into the sunset of Dante’s burning inferno, with you in the middle of their clenching grip. If you can make it through it’s entirety without pausing for bereavement from the unrelenting insanity you shall be rewarded by the start of the credits. Once for surviving, and the second time, for hopefully having a semblance of comprehension.

Usually a good movie might lead you along the way trying to convince you of it’s moral or ethical point of view, a great movie may have you solving the puzzles that cause you to question your own ethos but “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me,” kidnaps you, chloroforms you, and by its finale has you utterly and unconditionally enraptured with stockholm syndrome. You will be begging to understand deeper meanings and this makes for an inescapably intoxicating film experience. Overly dramatic acting teeters on becoming laughable but if you are well versed in the peculiar and a veteran of the unimaginable, you will be prepared and perhaps eager for Lynch’s unorthodox style.

Saw the 20th May 2017