Thirty-five years ago, legendary Director David Lynch released Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me as the prequel to the television series Twin Peaks two years after its cancellation. It was one of the most influential television series of all time, although its film adaptation did not receive nearly as much praise initially. The original production followed an FBI agent named Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) as he tried to unravel the mysterious murder of beloved 17-year-old Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), in the small town of Twin Peaks, Washington. Throughout its entire run in 1990, the character of Laura Palmer remained as mystifying as she was complex. Her story was told through flashbacks and the testimonies of other Twin Peaks residents. She is treated as a spectacle by both the viewers and the characters in the show, serving as a puzzle for them to solve in order to receive their own closure out of her death.
“I sort of fell in love with the idea of seeing Laura Palmer walking and talking . . . and I love the idea of, you know, visiting her in her last days.” Lynch said in an interview, a day after the Cannes Premiere, on why he had made the film.
The first 30 or so minutes of the movie starts off following FBI agent Chet Desmond (Chris Isaak) as he investigates the murder of Theresa Banks (Pamela Gidley), in the town of Dear Meadow, which neighbors Twin Peaks. The agent becomes certain that the key to solving her murder is finding a strange ring that disappeared from her body, and vanishes once he finally finds it. Agent Dale Cooper then enters the movie to solve the mystery of Theresa Banks and Chet Desmond, but is haunted by harrowing dreams of a high school girl in danger.
A year later, Laura Palmer is finally reintroduced to the audience. Not as a corpse, but instead a real, living and breathing young lady who is struggling with upholding the her double-life of a cheerful, kind, and lovable Homecoming queen, and a promiscuous drug addict who engages in harming, dangerous activities in order to cope with years of abuse at the hands of a mysterious, masculine figure she cannot determine the true identity of.
Kim Alt, a potential new fan of Twin Peaks that just began watching the series, said that, “I don’t really know what to think of Laura right now other then pitiful,” remarking that, “She is really like a ghost in this show.”
In Fire Walk With Me, the “innocent” perception of Laura Palmer previously established is torn apart. Instead, the viewers are left questioning what version of Laura is real throughout the film. She is shown being abused and mistreated by men, struggling with substance abuse and depression, and yet at the same time, she manipulates and pushes away the people who truly do care about her without any trace of guilt.
Laura’s father, Leland Palmer (Ray Wise), is also an extremely important character that would be impossible not to mention in any review. In order to avoid giving spoilers, he is, in simple terms, just as complex and confusing as Laura—shifting between a doting father and something much more sinister, whether or not he is in control of that version of himself. Depending on who one asks, Leland could either be a victim, perpetrator, or a disturbing mixture of both. David Lynch is famous for producing some of the most daring performances in cinema, and the actors of Twin Peaks are no exception to this fact.
Sheryl Lee’s portrayal is masterful and takes up the role of Laura as not simply a character, but a representation of an immeasurable number of real-life girls, who may or may not have survived their own circumstances. It is shocking to know that it is this film that supposedly “tanked” her career as an actress and was simultaneously dismissed as only a footnote in David Lynch’s own work. Many disliked its lack of whimsical humor that was so prominent in the television series, and the focus on Laura’s abuse and suffering was too disturbing, as well as dragged on.
Nonetheless, the story of Laura Palmer, her life, death, and perspective has caught the eye of individuals throughout the decades, resulting in much more appreciation for Fire Walk With Me in recent years. Laura Palmer’s Theme has gone viral on social media, and, ironically, in some circles, her whole character has been hijacked in order to appear as a one-dimensional, sad, abused girl that the entire prequel sought to destroy 35 years prior.
In classic Lynch fashion, whether or not Laura ever received the justice Dale Cooper so determinedly tries to get her is up to interpretation. The question of ‘Who Really Killed Laura Palmer’ is still being discussed, but the purpose of Twin Peaks was never to answer any questions, and instead to offer a view into the life of someone who was never truly known, and disrupted the mainstream view of how a victim should act, with more and more tragedy lingering underneath the surface.
