FWWM:

WARNING:
If you have not seen all of the "Twin Peaks" television episodesand the movie "Fire Walk With Me", be warned that there are MAJOR SPOILERScontained below. If you have not seen the series and do not want any plot informationrevealed, do not read any further!

What is "Fire Walk With Me"?

FWWM is the TP theatrical movie, released after the broadcast of the TVepisodes. The film covers the events of the Teresa Banks murder, and thelast week of Laura Palmer's life before she was murdered. As such, it is a"prequel" to the TV series.

Even though the movie covers events which happen prior to the events in theTV series, one should watch the TV series before watching the movie (if youwant to experience TP as originally presented and not have the series plotpoints revealed prematurely). Watching the movie first can be extremelyconfusing, and might even turn you off from watching the TV series(although many "movie first" viewers became big TP fans as well).

Why did Lynch do a prequel?

When the TV series was canceled and ended in the summer of 1991, Lynch wentalmost immediately to work on the film, saying he was not yet ready to leaveTwin Peaks and its characters behind.

FWWM co-writer Robert Engels revealed that storylines for several possiblemovies were developed to varying degrees. As the first of what was hoped tobe a series of TP movies, it probably made the most sense to "fill in" themissing details of Laura Palmer's life and death.

While fans were no doubt more eager to have the cliffhanger plot elements ofthe last TV episode resolved, Lynch seems to be in no hurry to give any patanswers.

Why did critics almost universally pan the movie?

As Douglas Pratt said in his (enthusiastic) review of FWWM in the August '93issue of the "Laserdisc Newsletter":

"Appealing only to a subset of a subset of 'Twin Peaks' and David Lynch fans,the film is a narrative disaster, constantly introducing and referring tocharacters who are then never seen or heard from again."

In short:

anyone expecting a "regular" movie was disappointed and/or angry
anyone expecting a horror or "slasher" film (as the distributor publicized it for the teen market) was disappointed
anyone expecting a rehash or resolution of the TV series was disappointed
anyone looking for the humor of the TV series was disappointed
anyone not very familiar with the TV series was confused

Part of the reason for this, of course, is that it is typical David Lynchmaterial. Part of the reason is that the film had to be severely cut, bothfrom the published shooting script and from what wasactually shot. Many of the scenes shot (some being the only occurrence inthe movie of certain series characters) were removed.

Forced to cut the film to a "commercially viable" length, many thingsrelevant to understanding other scenes were left out. Thus most critics, whohad little or no understanding of the TP story, utterly panned the movie(although one or two did credit Sheryl Lee's performance as a plus).

The best way to approach the film is not as another episode in the series,but more as a very stark examination of the dark side of Twin Peaks.

What was left out?

A lot! After viewing the film, one should read the scenes from the shootingscript missing from the film. The "missing scenes" files, compiled by JimPellmann (see address at top of file) are posted periodically to thealt.tv.t-p newsgroup and are available from the TP anonymous FTP site.

Although the shooting script is not necessarily the "gospel" of what Lynchintended and he is known for changing the script on the fly when shooting, wecan be reasonably sure that most of what is in the script was actually shot,based on accounts from TP fans who visited the Snoqualmie area during thefilming.

Is there a "director's cut"?

Not yet, but it's certainly been discussed (but not by Lynch).

We have this information from Bob Engels, one of the FWWM co-writers (notethat Mark Frost had no involvement with FWWM):

From: hagstrop@oberon.mathcs.carleton.edu (Paul Hagstrom)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks
Subject: Robert Engels at the Mpls premiere of FWWM
Date: 1 Sep 92 00:32:39 GMT
Interesting -- apparently nobody on this group was one of the people who wasfortunate enough to attend the screening in Mpls at which Robert Engels(co-author of FWWM, for those who don't recognize the name, which I may havemisspelled, but I don't think so) spoke. He did clear up a few things thatpeople have wondered about since our Internet connection went down, so I'lltry to fill y'all in on what he said:
First, the movie was, in uncut form, about 3:40, in contrast to the measly2:14 that it pulled in at in the theatres. He said that they expect todistribute the uncut version eventually on laserdisc, but the folks incharge wouldn't let them get away with a movie that long, apparently. Whothe "folks in charge" are, exactly, I'm not sure, but it wasn't RobertEngels, anyway.
...
Anyway, all in all, I'm very much looking forward to seeing that 3:40version.
...

[See the FWWM "missing scenes" files for the completeaccount of Engels' comments.]

In Tim Lucas' excellent cover article on the film in the March/April '93issue of "Video Watchdog", he reports that editor MarySweeney's (Lynch's current wife) first cut was five hours long! He alsosuggests that a cable TV miniseries or expanded home video release of theoriginal cut could someday be made.

When asked about the possibility, the Bravo cable channel (currentlyrebroadcasting the series) said they do not currently havethe rights to broadcast the film in any form, but are considering it. Giventheir relationship with Lynch and the special Log Lady introductions Lynchhas written for Bravo, anything is possible (we hope).

And there is a movement going to get the complete version released:

From: Bkursar@qedbbs.com
Date: Wed, 17 Aug 94 18:21:13 EDT
Twin Peaks FWWM Director's Cut Movement
This is a worldwide movement started on the Internet, dedicated to bringingabout the 3:40 version of "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me".
We are sending letters to try and get the Director's Cut released. Allletters will be forwarded to David Lynch, and will be unopened until theyreach Lynch. Video Watchdog magazine has graciously said that they would takethe letters and forward them to David Lynch.
The address to write is:
David Lynch
c/o Video Watchdog
PO Box 5283
Cincinnati, OH 45205-0283
To help with the movement, send e-mail to: Bkursar@qedbbs.com

Bruce Phillips provided this update after the '94 TP Festival in Snoqualmie:

From: k12_phillips@emuvax.emich.edu
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks
Subject: FWWM DIRECTOR'S CUT UPDATE
Date: 18 Aug 94 20:13:02 EST
Trying to get most accurate info on FWWM director's cut. I spoke withcast members attending the Fest, one of whom called Lynch directly andtold me the following. At this time there is no plan to releaseadditional footage, however, it has been confirmed that more footage isavailable but not in a releasable form. New Line Cinema owns the rightsto this material, and it's up to them what they'll do with it. You maywant to direct your inquiries to them or contact Brian Kursar,Bkursar@aol.com, who has started a petition drive for the release. It willbe up to New Line to contact Lynch to put a director's cut together.
Bruce Phillips

The February '95 issue of the Laser Disc Newsletter (influential in gettingfan requests listened to) lists this address to write letters asking for theFWWM director's cut:

Laserdisc Preview
c/o Image Entertainment
9333 Oso Avenue
Chatsworth, CA 91311

What were Lynch's special instructions for the soundtrack?

Lynch has always had a keen interest in the sound effects and soundtracks ofhis films. One need only read one of the accounts of the lengths to which heand Alan Splet went to devise and record the sound effects on "Eraserhead".

It thus comes as no surprise that Lynch is listed in the FWWM credits asSound Designer, or that he would include special instructions with the printsof the film:

From: chrisc@kether.webo.dg.com (Chris Campbell)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks
Subject: FWWM projectionist trivia
Date: 2 Sep 92 12:52:52 GMT
Organization: NSDD, Data General Corp.
The movie is playing at the theatre where I fill in occasionallyas projectionist. Enclosed with the film print was this memo fromNew Line Distribution:
To: Theatre Projectionists
Re: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
David Lynch, the director of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me has asked me to contact you regarding the sound level of his motion picture. Mr. Lynch has put a lot of effort into the soundtrack of Twin Peaks, and feels that the best reproduction of sound will be achieved by increasing the volume 2 decibels above normal. Your efforts to accommodate Mr. Lynch will surely result in greater audience enjoyment of the film and, therefore, greater box office sales.
Thank you.
Thought a couple of you might find this mildly interesting.
-----
Chris

And of course those who pay close attention to the soundtrack get to hearsome of Lynch's specially-added details.

Why was there so little of Agent Cooper in the movie?

Partly because it didn't make sense to have him in the story: since FWWMdeals with the week preceding Laura's death, and he is not yet in Twin Peaks.Nonetheless his actions in the FBI office that week are shown, as is hisinvolvement in the Teresa Banks investigation.

Partly because of Kyle MacLachlan's reluctance to appear in the film: fearingbeing typecast as Agent Cooper for the rest of his career, he backed out ofthe film during pre-production. Despite early rumors that his backing outwould kill the entire film, Lynch went ahead with his plans and MacLachlaneventually agreed to participate. It's not clear how much larger his rolewould have been had he stayed in from the beginning.

Why was there a different actress playing Donna?

Both Lara Flynn Boyle (Donna) and Sherilyn Fenn (Audrey) were committed toother projects at the time of FWWM production. Lynch decided to go aheadwithout them, rather than trying to negotiate for a later shooting date.Although it was easy to exclude Audrey's character from the script (since shehad had little to do with Laura anyway), Donna's character was vital toLaura's story and so was recast with Moira Kelly.

Why wasn't <character> in the movie?

They were, originally. Nearly every main character from the TV series has ascene in the FWWM shooting script, and all the original cast members exceptLara Flynn Boyle and Sherilyn Fenn showed up andfilmed their scenes on location. Many of these scenes were cut, however, toreduce the running time of the film. Hopefully, thesescenes will someday be restored in a "director's cut" .

What about the discrepancies between the TV series / movie / books / tapes / cards?

As in most TV series, there are a number of chronological and continuityerrors and disjoint plot points between the movie and the series, orbetween the movie and other TP products. An effort is being made tocompile a list of these errors.

There is no question that some events in the movie contradict what is said ordone in the series episodes (and books, tape, card set, etc.), and that somethings shown in the series (particularly the pilot and first episodes) do notshow up in the movie. Some examples: no blood-written "Fire Walk With Me"note in the train car, last diary entries, last visit to Harold Smith.

In producing the movie, Lynch did hire editors to specifically look for thesetype of errors, and so made a reasonable attempt to be faithful to theseries. (We don't doubt that some of the TP fans with photographic memoriescould have done a better job :^)

Also note that some of the scenes in the shooting script meant to showcontinuity (phone call from Dr. Jacoby to Laura on her last night, Lelandpreparing for Norwegian businessmen's visit, Sheriff Truman seeing Josie)were cut from the film.

While finding these mismatches is an interesting exercise, they don'tdetract from Lynch's intention or vision of the film.

What was Gordon Cole's code all about?

While some thought this was Lynch's commentary on TP fanatics trying to readmeaning into every detail of the series, and Tim Lucas' article in VideoWatchdog suggests that Lynch is telling us the whole filmcan be similarly decoded, the shooting script reveals a more mundane reason.

Part of the scene where Agent Desmond decodes Cole's message that wascut out:

           (Chet and Sam are driving down the road.)           DESMOND: Gordon said you were good.  The tailored dress is our                    code for drugs.  Did you notice what was pinned to it?           STANLEY: A blue rose.           DESMOND: Very good, but I can't tell you about that.           Stanley rides along quietly for a while.MISSING DIALOGUE:           STANLEY: What did Gordon's tie mean?           DESMOND: What?  That's just Gordon's bad taste.           STANLEY: Why couldn't he have just told you all these things?           DESMOND: He talks loud.  And he loves his code.           STANLEY: I see.  He DOES talk loud.           DESMOND: Gordon would not have sent us to Deer Meadow without                    thinking it was a high priority situation.           STANLEY: It MUST be a high priority situation.END OF MISSING DIALOGUE

What happened to Chet Desmond (Chris Isaak)?

The shooting script says:

Desmond walks to that trailer. He knocks on the door but no one answers. He looks under the trailer and sees a mound of dirt with a small indentation at the top. In the indentation is Teresa Banks' ring. As he reaches out and touches it, he disappears.

which doesn't help us much. When Cooper later finds the words "Let's rock"on Desmond's car, this is clearly meant to be an indication that the Lodgeinhabitants are involved, and in particular, the Little Man From AnotherPlace who says the same thing in Cooper's dream in episode 2.

Most likely the scene is meant to demonstrate two things:

the ring has special power
Agent Jeffries (David Bowie) is not only the FBI agent to disappear

Who did Bobby kill during the drug deal?

Although some were confused about the identity of the man delivering thedrugs to Bobby and Laura, both the shooting script and the film (if youwatch carefully) identify him as Cliff Howard, the deputy whose nose AgentDesmond tweaks in the Deer Meadow sheriff's office.

Laura, in her drunken/high state, is not sure who Bobby has shot, but seesDeputy Cliff's blond hair and guesses that it's Bobby's friend, Mike Nelson,which is why she taunts Bobby with "you killed Mike".

[Incidentally, Cliff Howard lives in the same trailer park as Teresa Banks.This is revealed in a scene cut from the film (see the "missing scenes" filesfor details). Without this scene, the one where Agent Desmond returns to thetrailer park and the manager directs him to Deputy Cliff's trailer doesn'tmake a lot of sense.]

What was David Bowie's character all about?

Bowie plays Agent Phillip Jeffries, whom Gordon Cole introduces to Cooper as"long lost". The shooting script reveals that Jeffries has been missing fortwo years, but also that moments before stepping off the elevator in thePhiladelphia FBI offices, he was checking into a Buenos Aires hotel. TheBuenos Aires scene was cut from the film.

In the FBI office scene:

Jeffries says: "I'm not going to talk about Judy. In fact, we're not going to talk about Judy at all. We're going to keep her out of this." (despite later mentioning Judy)
Jeffries points at Cooper and says: "Who do you think this is there?"
Jeffries says: "I sure as hell want to tell you everything, but I don't have a lot to go on." (In the script, but not audible in the movie: "But I'll tell you one thing: Judy is positive about this.")

(From this point on, his comments are interspersed with the "conveniencestore" scene.)

He continues: "I've been to one of their meetings. It was above a convenience store." and later "It was a dream ... We live inside a dream."
Then: "I found something ... " (In script only: "... in Seattle at Judy's ...") " ... And then, there they were ..."
He cries out: "The ring ... ring ..."
A bit in the script but missing from the movie has Gordon Cole trying to summon someone on his intercom, but all he gets is static, so he yells "MAYDAY!" into it, which causes Jeffries to look at the calendar on the wall and say: "May? 1989?" before he disappears.

Also missing from the movie is a scene back at the hotel in Buenos Aireswhere Jeffries is "suddenly standing in the second story hallway of thehotel" (while he was just in the lobby) with the wall behind him "searedblack and smoking" and a terrified bellhop asking him where he went.

While any of these items can be and has been discussed extensively onthe net, the following are some popular net theories:

With his later description of seeing "one of their meetings" involving BOB and the MFAP, "Who do you think that is?" implies he knows something of Cooper's future (past?) association with BOB and/or the Black Lodge.
The convenience store comment and "It was in a dream" could be meant to tie into Cooper's dream in episode 2. ("We live inside a dream" has been widely speculated on.)
The "something" he found at Judy's in Seattle may have been the ring.
His surprise at the year on the calendar supports the theory that time does not progress normally in the lodge(s)--see also Annie's appearance in Laura's bed, and Cooper's and the MFAP's dialogues in the Red Room.

And finally, from this cryptic scene comes one theory proposed on thenet: the references to Judy, the ring, and "I found something" leadto the following possible scenario:

Jeffries' association with Judy may have led him to the ring, and the ring to the lodge(s). Jeffries has been missing three years. No known association between Judy and Leland/BOB.
Desmond's investigation of Teresa Banks led him to the ring, and the ring to his disappearance. Desmond has been missing one year. Teresa killed by Leland/BOB.
Cooper's investigation of Laura Palmer led him to the lodge(s). No known association with the ring (except in Laura's dream). Cooper is sort-of missing. Laura killed by Leland/BOB.
The MFAP's line from the "convenience store" scene in the script, but not in the movie: "And everything will proceed cyclically."

What is the significance of the mask?

Not many answers on this (no masks are mentioned anywhere in the script),just some random comments from the net:

"When Mrs. Tremond's grandson tells Laura: 'The man behind the mask is looking for the book with the pages torn out. He is approaching the hiding place. He is under the fan now.' he's obviously talking about BOB."
I'm still not sure if Mrs. Tremond's grandson was saying that BOB is the man behind the mask, and Leland is the mask; or that Leland is the man behind the mask, and BOB is the mask.
"One aspect of the white mask which I'm surprised to see hasn't been discussed, to my knowledge, is that it doesn't have any eyeholes; thus, one is unable to see when wearing the mask. If the grandson is the Magician [listed in the credits], is this what is meant by 'In the darkness of future past/The Magician longs to see'?
"Come to think of it, could there be a connection between this white mask and the white mask (which I presume was Caroline's death mask) that Windom Earle sent to Cooper?"
"You know something I just realized, Pierre Tremond and David Bowie, and a couple of other people in the above-the-convenience-store meeting were wearing OWL masks... I thought they were cute little witch masks... but I think they were stylized owls"
"The grandson wears a mask with suggestive phallic tendencies and says "Watch out for the man behind the mask". I interpret his comments to be about Leland - murderer/incest committer."

What is the significance of the humming electrical sound?

Because the references to electricity abound in both the "lodge world" and inthe "physical" TP world, it's next to impossible to list all the occurrencesin the movie, or their possible connection and significance.

Here are a few from the "lodge world":

person (seen from inside the mouth) saying "e - lec - tri - city" in the convenience room scene
Laura hearing static and seeing flashed in her bedroom
static during Jeffries' description of the convenience room
credit at the end of the movie for "The Electrician" (from the convenience room scene?)

Here are a few from the "physical" TP world:

static on the TV at the beginning of the movie (when Leland kills Teresa)
shots of power poles and lines in the trailer park
Cooper's experience with the security camera and its images
Jeffries' appearance from the elevator and the scorched wall when he returns to Buenos Aires
Gordon Cole's nonfunctioning intercom
the ceiling fan
the traffic light(s)

Some have speculated that electricity is the medium that lodge inhabitants useto enter the physical world, while others only go as far as saying thatelectricity, like owls, are an indication that lodge inhabitants are nearby.

Discussion continues on this one as well.

What is the significance of the Indian whooping sound?

Another aspect, like electricity, for which there aremany theories, but not much conclusive information.

The MFAP says "I am the arm, and I sound like this" before making thesound. We also hear it faintly in the background when Cooper is lookingaround at the trailer park, and when the one-armed man is racing upbehind Leland and Laura in his truck.

Like the burning oil smell in the series, this is somekind of indication that Lodge inhabitants are nearby.

What is the significance of the ring?

Much has been written and speculated about Teresa's ring. While it seemsto have a sort of teleportational power for Agent Desmond and perhapsLaura (in the train car), we do not know why it did not have similarpower for Teresa Banks. Because it appears in Laura's dream, held by theMFAP and warned against by Cooper (and possibly for real in her hand) andon the hand of the one-armed man, we know it is somehow connected to theLodges.

Interestingly, Teresa's ring in FWWM is not seen in the series. WhileCooper temporarily loses *a* ring to the Giant, it is not the one we seein FWWM with the owl cave symbol on it. We don't know if it was meant tobe the same ring, though.

A ring also figures into Cooper's autobiography.

This continues to be one of the most discussed topics in the alt.tv.t-pnewsgroup.

What is "garmonbozia"?

This generates discussion on two fronts:

How does garmonbozia fit into the workings of the lodges?
What is the origin of the word "garmonbozia"?

Fortunately, Lynch provided a (presumed) definition for garmonbozia in one ofthe subtitles of the final Red Room scene in the movie. As "pain andsuffering" that is "consumed" (in the form of the MFAP eating creamed corn),garmonbozia seems to be either a food or type of "drug" for the lodgeinhabitants. This fits in well with various other comments in the TV seriesthat:

BOB "feeds on fear"
the entrance to the lodges is achieved through fear or love
that if one faces the Black Lodge with fear, one is vulnerable

This theory, though, brings up many other questions:

whether Mike (the one-armed man) is good (dissociating himself from the MFAP and trying to stop BOB, as it appears in the TV series) or evil (assisting the MFAP and BOB to gather garmonbozia, as it appears in the movie)?
how Leland has been involved in providing BOB with garmonbozia in the past?
how BOB transforms the blood from Leland (Laura's or his own?) to garmonbozia?

among others. Discussion continues in alt.tv.t-p.

As to the origin of the word "garmonbozia" itself, neither the word or any ofits parts seem to be derived from any known words in any language, althoughmany have tried to associate it with "maize" or other words for corn, sincecreamed corn seems to be the physical manifestation of garmonbozia.

One of the most plausible explanations is that it is derived from "ambrosia",not the fruity dessert, but the "food of the gods" in Greek and Romanmythology. This is merely speculation, but fits well with what is seen inFWWM.

Several people have claimed that the word, when recorded and played backwards,has various meanings. One very popular net rumor for a while was that playedbackwards, the word became "I am/was/saw Windom Earle", but this (and allother reported backwards translations) are highly subjective andunsubstantiated.

What did the monkey say?

A very subtle part of the soundtrack at the end of the film takes on extrasignificance because of Agent Jeffries' (David Bowie) scene in FBIheadquarters.

Towards the end of the film, after Laura dies and Leland enters the Red Room,there are a number of brief, strange shots, including a monkey face (similarto the monkey face seen behind the mask in the convenience store scene). Ifone turns up the sound during the shot of the monkey face, one can hear (veryfaintly) the monkey say "Judy"!

Most people are skeptical when they hear this, but trust us when we say thatthe word is definitely there on the soundtrack, no doubt one of the soundeffects placed by David Lynch. If you do not have a goodcopy of the movie, or poor sound on your television, you may have troublehearing it, but it is definitely there.

The significance of the monkey saying it is unknown (is it calling to Judy?is the monkey Judy?), but definitely links Agent Jeffries (somehow) to thelodges.

What is the significance of the angels?

Strangely enough, there is NO mention of angels anywhere in the FWWM shootingscript (not in the conversation between Laura and Donna, not the picture inLaura's room, not the appearance of the angel Ronette sees in the train car,and not the angel Laura sees at the end of the movie), so the angel conceptswere definitely a last-minute addition by Lynch.

It seems safe to assume that the disappearance of the angel from the picturein Laura's room signifies the hopelessness of her situation, that Ronette wassaved/watched over by her angel in the train car, and Laura was "redeemed" orescaped from her living hell at the end of the movie. Some on the net havesuggested that the appearance of the angel at the end signifies Laura has madeit to the White Lodge.

See also the (forthcoming) consolidated comments on FWWM from the time of itstheatrical release, being compiled by Jim Pellmann (see address at top offile).

Further discussion on the angels is ongoing in alt.tv.t-p.

What is the significance of the blue rose?

As the only part of Gordon Cole's code not explained by Desmond , we can only speculate that Cole uses that code for cases involvingsupernatural events. It is not made clear whether Cole has previouslyencountered the Lodges or their inhabitants.

Since there is no such thing as a blue rose in nature, it could representcases which cannot be rationally or scientifically explained, the "impossible"cases.

It could also be a reference to cases involving (or seemingly involving) UFOs,as part of "Project Bluebook" referred to by Major Briggs and Windom Earle.

It has also been suggested that it is another movie reference to one of theSteeve Reeves "Hercules" movies of the '60s, in which Hercules' task was toobtain a blue rose.

Last Modified on Saturday, March 22nd 1997