Recently around “Twin Peaks” there is a certain hype: famous observers rushed to write retro reviews, everyone remembers the years of his youth, and even childhood, when this series was on TV. The explanation is simple – Lynch and Frost this spring announced their intention to shoot a third season – 25 years later, as Laura Palmer promised to Agent Cooper.
But interestingly, I decided to watch this series without knowing the news. Just decided to close the gap in knowledge — too many recently I came across comparisons with “Twin Peaks” of the TV series that I watched: from “X-files” to “May Holiday” and “Les Revenants”. And recently (and repeatedly!) I passed the domestic arthouse computer game "Tuk-Tuk-Tuk-Tuk", according to reviews, abounds in references to the creation of Lynch. In general, I decided, it’s a shame not to see such a classic thing, especially since the genre is definitely “my” – a mystical thriller with a slight touch of surrealism.
I have no regrets at all!
Telling about the plot is meaningless - it is well known. In the town of Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of high school student Laura Palmer arrives FBI agent Dale Cooper. And then... anything can happen, because the town is trying to divide several wealthy adventurers and mafia clans, it operates an underground brothel with a gambling dens, the concentration of people with mental disabilities exceeds all statistically permissible limits, and the forests near Twin Peaks as their habitat chose ancient Evil. And even owls are not what they seem - let alone people.
Mysticism and detective – it would seem, a paradoxical combination. But the fact is that “Twin Peaks” is an extremely paradoxical phenomenon. The only way to survive in a crazy world is to go crazy, and Agent Cooper uses Tibetan divination as his method of investigation. No, there will be an investigation - but it gradually fades into the background, because Laura's death is only one of the many mysteries of the town lost in the forests.
The atmosphere of the series is its well-known advantage, but it should be clarified that it is not only a competently pumped suspense. No, "Twin Peaks" isn't always intimidating - but always enigmatic. It’s not the icy paranoia of The X-Files or Silent Hill’s industrial-surreal depression: Twin Peaks is like those forests that have beautiful trees, wonderful birds... and eerie spirits from unfathomable regions of the universe. This series is saturated with a special kind of madness: you can never guess what it will turn out in the next second, a horror movie or a sitcom, a bloody tragedy or wild buffoonery. The old-fashioned theatrical manner of acting, exalted characters, strange situations - all this, together with the entourage of provincial America, creates Twin Peaks. Cozy and frightening at the same time, patriarchal-wooden (remember the interiors of Great Northern and Reading Room) and as if ingrown into the forest.
Yes, Lynch and Frost managed to create a city that seems to be better to go by a long road - but in fact, you are drawn to stay in it forever. After all, there is something in it, real, mythological, fabulous, in a city standing on the edge of the forest, between reality and sleep.
We can talk about characters endlessly. All of them were amazingly colorful and memorable. And strange to fit the whole story. Where else will you see such FBI agents - esoteric, transvestite, pacifist, and finally just deaf? It is no coincidence that the leitmotif of the series was the phrase “owls are not what they seem.” This applies not only to the notorious owls, but to everything in Twin Peaks. Each hero, each image has its inside out, each can at any moment turn into its opposite. There is no clear division between positive and negative: predators and victims are constantly changing places.
If we talk about the characters and actors more specifically, the most striking should be called Dale Cooper (Kayle McLaughlan, who else), Sheriff Gary Truman (Michael Ontkin), Audrey Horn (Sherilyn Fenn) and her father Benjamin Horn (Richard Beymer), “Man from another place” (Michael Jay Anderson), Major Briggs (Don S. Davis, also noted in “The X-Files”) and, of course, the sinister BOB (Frank Silva, who happened to be a few years after the series after a few years of work). Good and brutal Leo, and the overwhelming brutality of his cool Hank, and charismatic sheriff's deputies, and Nadine with her sad husband, and Lady with Pauline, and the Martels family in full, and the brother of the elder Horn Jerry, and the Mafia clan Renault, and the Giant ... There are, however, setbacks - despite Lara Flynn Boyle's good performance, Donna, as a character, is continually irritating instead of supposed sympathy. James and even worse - here and the actor too overdone in the image of a pathetic whiner, and the hero turned out to be very strange and annoying.
Yes, despite the fact that in general "Twin Peaks" is very good, a spoonful of tar in the review will still be. Season two. Thank you, of course. But from the point of view of the plot and composition, it is extremely absurd. Some series are empty and similar to an unsuccessful parody, a number of storylines do not lead anywhere, separately annoying is the story of James’ misadventures in the estate of a certain treacherous lady (which is a template classic thriller, 100% predictable). At first, the television crews did not want to stop, then did not want to continue - in general, the series became more and more murky and hulking. However, the ending successfully pulls it - David Lynch, who returned to the project, managed, if not untie, then at least beautifully cut the formed knot.
Result: what to say here - "Twin Peaks" you need to watch. From this series grew "The X-Files", the game universe Silent Hill and a bunch of other projects. Its influence is hard to overestimate - it has already become a kind of archetype. But still, nothing can give a complete picture of this series, except watching it. And, getting used to this film, feeling its world, you can not remain the same. 9 out of 10
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