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Michael wrote:But for Lost Highway, the buildup is just as slow but it's still so creepy and riveting every time. The directing of Lost Highway is very wonderfully, brilliantly tight. For those of you whose memories of Lost Highway have faded, I suggest you to revisit its highway very much.

I really dig LH but for me the presence of Balthazar Getty is the film's weakest element. He just looks lost and completely out of place in the film whereas everyone else seems really in sync with the vibe and mood of the film. However, everything that comes before his first on-screen appearance is incredible - like the shots of Bill Pullman's character disappearing down a darkened corridor which always reminds me of certain shots in Eraserhead.

My next favorite is Fire Walk With Me. God, that film bursts with incredible empathy - so boundless that makes Mulholland and INLAND (just as much the story of a woman in trouble as FWWM) seem more constrained.

After Blue Velvet, this is my all-time fave Lynch film for the reasons you mentioned and for the just incredible marriage of sound design and imagery. The film has textures and really sucks you into its world right from the opening shot of an extreme closeup of a TV screen on a snowy channel.

I agree with Fletch on everything except the Balthazar Getty comment. I think Getty is perfect for the very reason Fletch points out--he does appear progressively more and more at sea and that really works to position his experience within the narrative. Lost Highway is such a hard film to talk about as so little is spelled out and so much is meant to be left intentionally ambiguous but it seems to me that at least part of the point is that Pete is initially conceived as cool and winning, a renewed opportunity for vitality and relationship success. Renee is imagined differently too but the fact that Pete falls into much the same trap as Fred suggests a lot as to what is and is not possible for certain personality types and, perhaps, for everyone to some extent (the whole "Is that you? Are both of them you?" scene is one of the most powerful moments in Lynch's cinema as it connects his carefully attuned, sensitive aesthetic power of sound/image and surrealist nomenclature to subterranean currents of deep and undeterminable anguish).

The nascent intimations of ownership and control work to undue Pete's chances. The fact that he seems at sea is an indicator that Pete/Fred recognizes his slipping grasp or else is troubled by insurgent aspects of his own character he thought he could manage better. I like it because it speaks to pet themes of my own regarding the ability or not to find balance and truth within a lived, though fully assumed or appropriated idea of identity.

You completely hit the nail on Balthazar Getty, John!

Fletch, Balthazar is a reflection (can't think of a better word) of Fred who always appear in a lost, melancholy trance with murderous anger cracking through and Balthazar carries this trance throughout because no matter what, he can't escape from the reality, Fred's reality that is.

And why is that "reflection" is of a younger man? I don't know. Maybe that's how Fred wants to imagine himself - a young horny stud that he no longer is.

Does anyone get the impression that Fred gets fried (electric chair) when his face swells, splits, splatters in the end?

Michael wrote:Does anyone get the impression that Fred gets fried (electric chair) when his face swells, splits, splatters in the end?

That's interesting, but I didn't take it that away. I thought the ending was a lot less conclusive.

Michael wrote:And why is that "reflection" is of a younger man? I don't know. Maybe that's how Fred wants to imagine himself - a young horny stud that he no longer is.

Inner child maybe? But I like your interpretation and the electric chair suggestion Michael. I sometimes think it is a road rage film in that there's this cool exterior shell containing a raging maniac. It is the film for anyone who has felt or seen people's anger come to a head in this more socially acceptable manner - for anyone who has witnessed the buttoned-up middle aged executive give full vent to his emotions once it becomes apparent he's not transformed into a cool James Dean style stud by his automobile (unless we are thinking post-car crash!)

To take your "360 degrees of Blue Velvet" comment, perhaps Lost Highway is a film best thought of as a quick glance at a 90 degree angle through the side window of the car you are driving, seeing occasional characters or grotesque sights by the roadside illuminated by your lights, sometimes getting overtaken by maniac drivers who somehow look familiar and always with the chance that if you drive too fast you'll end up running into your (past/future/inner?) self with dire consequences.

I also like the ironic Richard Pryor cameo that lasts all of thirty seconds - seeming to prefigure Robert Forster appearing for the same amount of time (maybe shorter) in Mulholland Drive! The slightest of concessions to narrative conventions of characters having bosses or detectives working the case?

The police running after Fred could mean that the police come to fetch him from his prison to lead him to the electric chair. The electrifying panic we sense from Fred. His face explodes and that's the end of him. What's after? The empty night road his soul continues riding.

Michael wrote:You completely hit the nail on Balthazar Getty, John!

Fletch, Balthazar is a reflection (can't think of a better word) of Fred who always appear in a lost, melancholy trance with murderous anger cracking through and Balthazar carries this trance throughout because no matter what, he can't escape from the reality, Fred's reality that is.

I understand where you and John are coming from but I dunno... it still seems to me that Getty just isn't up to the material and it "looks" like he's acting. It has been awhile since I've seen LH and with the new DVD out I think its time for a re-view/reassessment.

As for the film's ending. I could see how you would interpret it being Fred getting fried on the electric chair and that a good chunk of the film is taking place in his head just before he dies and the final image is of him forever trapped on the "lost highway" doomed to repeat this loop over and over again.

Michael wrote:Does anyone get the impression that Fred gets fried (electric chair) when his face swells, splits, splatters in the end?

Maybe. But electricity has always been (signified) a gateway into another world/dimension/plane of consciousness in Lynch's films. For example, right before the wild dancing ends and the shot of the bed begins in Mulholland Drive, the picture of Betty/Diane crackles and pops with electricity. See also: the red lamp in Inland Empire.

Which is all to say, you could be right, but there is another, convincing, metaphysical (rather than physical) explanation for the electricity, one based on Lynch's repeated use of the trope.

Michael wrote:I just ended my personal David Lynch marathon, concluding with the just released DVD of Lost Highway, something I never did before with that director.

Did you rewatch The Straight Story? If so, in the context of the marathon, did it not become a very Lynchian movie in a manner you might miss if you were seeing it at a distance from Lynch's other films? Did you catch its mysterious floating quality?

I actually just watched The Straight Story and absolutely loved it. In fact, it may now be my favorite Lynch right up there with Eraserhead. It was unlike anything that I've seen by Lynch but there were so many Lynchian flourishes that it couldn't have been made by anyone else. Staying on the Lost Highway theme, I loved the way he showed the pavement and yellow lines on the road in what looked like slow motion from the lawn mower compared to a racing automobile. Great little stuff like that made this such a treat.

Mr_sausage wrote:Did you rewatch The Straight Story? If so, in the context of the marathon, did it not become a very Lynchian movie in a manner you might miss if you were seeing it at a distance from Lynch's other films? Did you catch its mysterious floating quality?

Yes, I did but I've always thought of the film as being very Lynchian. It may not have flickering lights or distorted faces but its themes are very Lynchian. Every Lynch film is pretty much a "road pic", each itself is a journey of the protaganist (and of course the viewers). I was very moved by the exchange between the old man and a female runaway and there's something so incredibly Lynchian about this meeting - all this coming from the middle of nowhere somehow ended up being a very profound purpose. The Straight Story is a lovely film, I love it but I of course prefer Lynch's full blast ot style complete with flickering lights and distorted faces.

Lynch is interviewed in the New York Observer.

My fave bit:

Interviewer: Sounds good. Anything else to add?

Lynch: Just tell people to get rid of the stress, and do their thing, and boogie!

I'm about halfway through the process of watching all of Lynch's movies in one fell swoop. Lost Highway tonight. I just finished a week long marathon of Twin Peaks which I had never seen before. Totally mesmerised through episode 16. Once the Laura Palmer murder was resolved the series lost focus and meandered, although I loved the characters and still found it entertaining.

The last 20 minutes of episode 14 I found as emotionally powerful as anything I have encountered, ranking up there with the last part of Vertigo. Great filmmaking, crosscutting between Maddy's horrible murder and the restaurant, with Lara Flynn Boyle inconsolable from causing the suicide of her friend she betrayed, the giant on stage warning of the impending evil, finally mute, and the priceless look on Cooper's face, unable to read the clues at the crucial moment, all bolstered by Badalementi's eerie music.

Firewalk is very long wait on Netflix, I may have to purchase.

Mr Sheldrake wrote:The last 20 minutes of episode 14 I found as emotionally powerful as anything I have encountered, ranking up there with the last part of Vertigo.

Firewalk is very long wait on Netflix, I may have to purchase.

The first 20-30 minutes of Firewalk is possibly my favorite of all of Lynch's career (and possibly some of the most bizarre). I would recommend purchasing if there were not rumors of a SE coming out eventually (I heard everything from 'Lynch is restoring the deleted scenes for inclusion on a DVD' to reports that a new documentary about the making of the film is in the works)

miless wrote:The first 20-30 minutes of Firewalk is possibly my favorite of all of Lynch's career (and possibly some of the most bizarre). I would recommend purchasing if there were not rumors of a SE coming out eventually (I heard everything from 'Lynch is restoring the deleted scenes for inclusion on a DVD' to reports that a new documentary about the making of the film is in the works)

I concur with the recommendation, Fire Walk With Me is brilliant. The first act is indeed amazing, scratch that the first hour is sublime. I didn't realise an SE was on it's way. Excited!

FSimeoni wrote:

miless wrote:The first 20-30 minutes of Firewalk is possibly my favorite of all of Lynch's career (and possibly some of the most bizarre). I would recommend purchasing if there were not rumors of a SE coming out eventually (I heard everything from 'Lynch is restoring the deleted scenes for inclusion on a DVD' to reports that a new documentary about the making of the film is in the works)

I concur with the recommendation, Fire Walk With Me is brilliant. The first act is indeed amazing, scratch that the first hour is sublime. I didn't realise an SE was on it's way. Excited!

Yeah, FWWM is my fave Lynch film right after Blue Velvet. It's the closest Lynch has ever come to doing a full-on, balls-out horror film. And Angelo Badalamenti's soundtrack is incredible... so textured and atmospheric.

FSimeoni wrote:I didn't realise an SE was on it's way. Excited!

these were rumors from about 7-8 months ago... and it could still be a year or two off... but I believe that it is inevitable.

Mk2 were the ones behind, but they went ahead and released their DVD bare bones, so its not likely anytime soon.

I say buy it. The disc is cheap enough, and it is one of his best and most beautiful works.

Don't forget that the Region 1 version FWWM does not have subtitles for the loud nightclub scene (Lynch wanted subtitles over the scene)

broadwayrock wrote:Don't forget that the Region 1 version FWWM does not have subtitles for the loud nightclub scene (Lynch wanted subtitles over the scene)

I recall subtitles....

yes, it does have subtitles... David Lynch decided they were necessary during post-production and they're even on film prints.

miless wrote:yes, it does have subtitles... David Lynch decided they were necessary during post-production and they're even on film prints.

Indeed, his rationale was that he hated potting out the music during dialogue scenes. So rather than reduce the overpowering sledgehammer effect of that nightmarish music, he just added subtitles so that there could be no...I was about to say "confusion," but that's hardly the right term. More like no inadvertant confusion.

not to mention that subtitles are quite in line with the whole aesthetic of the Twin Peaks universe... those backwards dream sequences were always subtitled (and there's something quite off-putting about seeing forced subtitles on English dialogue, especially on TV)

Am I the only one who finds the red room stuff from the final Twin Peaks episode astonishing?

Mr_sausage wrote:Am I the only one who finds the red room stuff from the final Twin Peaks episode astonishing?

I thinks its the best episode of the series, maybe the best "hour" of American network television ever. Its worth pulling through the 10+ episodes of crap leading up to it to just to see it. After seeing that episode, you really realize how much of a shame it is the show got canceled, even after jumping the shark in a bad way as it did during the second season.

And after seeing FWWM, you realize that it's not that a big of a deal that the show got cancelled; the REAL tragedy is Lynch not being able to finish the film trilogy.

Mr_sausage wrote:Am I the only one who finds the red room stuff from the final Twin Peaks episode astonishing?

I saw that episode for the first time two days ago and it totally creeped me out. Specifically, when the good Dale runs away and then from behind the curtain the bad Dale comes out. When he starts grinning and looks at BOB, I got chills. I haven't had that feeling in years, but that just did it.

Do yourself a favor and get that DVD now! FWWM is my favorite Lynch film and it's such a good movie. On its own it's good, but the fact that it's Lynch always blows me away with each viewing.