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Among all the works of David Lynch, the drama "Double Peaks" released in 1990 is undoubtedly the most fascinating. This drama, funded by ABC Television Network, is co-produced by Lynch and Mark Foster. It is the pinnacle of Lynch’s entertainment and authorship! As almost the only brand-new concept series in American television in the 1990s, Lynch and Foster's "Twin Peaks" can be said to lead a generation of TV pop culture trends. In this series, Lynch and Foster combine comedy, drama, supernatural, horror, suspense, murder, and American town culture. Many dramas of later generations such as "X-Files", "Desperate Housewives", "Murder" and the recently hit "True Detective" have been more or less affected by this drama, which can be said to have created the standard success of American dramas in the next few decades. model. "Double Peaks" premiered on April 8, 1990, and today is exactly the 30th birthday of the show! Let us also take this opportunity to return to the world of Twin Peaks once again.
The story of "Twin Peaks" begins when Peter Martell, a lumber factory worker, finds the naked body of a young girl wrapped in a plastic bag by the river. The town sheriff Harry Truman was ordered to investigate and found that the deceased was Laura Palmer, a beauty pageant in the town. As FBI agent Dell Cooper came to the town to investigate, Laura's death also affected everyone in the town. Her parents are desperate for life, and while her classmates help her hide secrets, they are also secretly investigating the real murderer. Pieces of truth hidden on the surface began to surface. It turns out that Laura has been living a double life, maintaining an ambiguous relationship with many people. Her boyfriend Bobby has been involved in drug trafficking, and she herself has sold her body. As the investigation progressed, Agent Cooper discovered that this murder case was very similar to another case he had taken over a year ago. And the secrets of other residents in the town began to surface one by one, but everything is not as happy as it seems on the surface...
In addition to the suspense of the small screen, the story of "Twin Peaks" starts in the 1980s. At that time, Mark Foster was just one of the screenwriters of the series "Mountain Street Blues". He has a small reputation in the television circle, but he has no representative works of his own. Through the introduction of a co-agent, he got acquainted with director David Lynch, who was in the ascendancy of his career. At that time, Lynch successfully established his own style by relying on the four films "Rubber Head", "The Elephant Man", "Dune" and "Blue Velvet". Its grotesque, black, and dream-filled stories have made many fans fascinated by its works.
The two then began to collaborate on writing scripts. At Warner’s request, they first wanted to try to write a movie about Marilyn Monroe’s life, "The Goddess," because Lynch’s story of this real character is taken from the world’s well-known. Not too cold, the final plan was also shelved by Warner. However, this cooperation has laid the foundation for the combination of Foster and Lynch to continue to create together in the future. Subsequently, the two co-wrote the comedy script "One Saliva Bubble", and wanted to be starred by Steve Martin, but this obviously did not conform to Lynch's usual path, and it was not made in the end.
At this time, the producer Tony Kranz contacted Lynch and suggested that he try to produce a TV series, hoping that this is a story that combines the blue velvet style with contemporary American life from Lynch’s perspective, Lin Qi then told Foster of this plan, which was later "Shuangfeng".
Lynch’s original idea was to expand the story of the series based on the special style of the Northwestern United States, introducing a mysterious story based on a small town. The death of a beauty queen reveals a series of secrets of the town. The original name of the script was "Northwest Traveler" because Lynch himself grew up in the western United States and is very familiar with the terrain and folklore of this generation, and has witnessed the mysteries in the boundless forest.
Subsequently, Lynch and Foster began to add various details to the script. Foster actually drew a detailed map of the town to determine the various geographic features in the script, and there were mountain peaks on the left and right sides of the map. The two decided to name the town "Shuangfeng", which later became the name of the series. The two spent three months discussing the story, and finally completed the pilot episode script in only 10 days.
In the American television circle in the late 1980s, the popular series was "Beach Guardian" which was simple and lively but lacked style. What Lynch and Foster did was a brand new American drama with high style and high artistic pursuit that no one dared to try at the time. No one dared to guarantee the success of the show, but the ABC TV network still holds confidence in Lynch’s consistent work, booked a pilot episode, and gave the two complete freedom of independent creation, without the need to accept the high level of the TV network. Instructions, decide Cass and the direction of the script independently. This shocked both Lynch and Foster, but at the same time they saw it as an opportunity to show their strength.
At that time, Lynch said to his queen editor Duven Duham, "ABC gave us $4 million to make this show, and they might not even broadcast it. Why don't we make it out and find something. Have fun?" It was with the mentality that he might as well give it a try, Lynch started the casting of the pilot episode of "Double Peaks". Casting director Joanna Ray sends a lot of photos to Lynch every day. After Lynch chooses actors, they will be invited to audition. For Lynch and Foster, "Twin Peaks" is their "Rebellion without a Cause", which requires a large number of young and potential actors who are not well-known to the audience to join. Sometimes, they even add roles to the script for the sake of a talented young actor. For example, Shirley, the young and beautiful restaurant waiter in the play, is added for the beautiful Meichen Amike.
Lynch’s audition does not allow actors to perform or read lines aloud, only to ask less relevant questions. For example, Shirley Lee, the actor who played Laura Palmer in the film, was asked by Lynch if he would mind being wrapped in a plastic bag for several hours in the film. Li replied that he wouldn't mind, and Lynch said, "Then it's settled." Li didn't know whether he was chosen, or whether Joanna Ray told her that he had already got the role.
In fact, at first, Lynch just wanted to find an actor in the local area to play a dead body, but unexpectedly found Li. In the end, Laura, played by Li, became the biggest symbol of the whole show, and was even rated as the sexiest corpse in TV history by many media. To this end, Lynch also increased Li's role, not only flashbacks, but also let her play Laura's cousin.
Kimmy Robertson, who plays Lucy, heard that he was going to be auditioned by Lynch, and made a list of plots that he didn’t understand when watching "Blue Velvet" and asked Lynch about this curiosity and thirst for knowledge. , Let her get the role of this weird elf. In addition, Richard Bemell, who once starred in "West Side Story", but who was unknown for nearly 30 years, was also added to the crew by Lin Qihui's eyes and played the role of Benjamin, the largest capitalist in Shuangfeng Town. He en.
Ray Weiss, who plays Laura's father Li Lan, initially auditioned for the role of Inspector Truman, but Lynch would prefer him to play Li Lan. Lei initially felt that Li Lan's role was spent almost in grief and crying throughout the show. The performance was too difficult. He didn't want to take the role, but was persuaded by Lynch. In the end, he also became a key role in the second season.
In the script, the most beautiful foreign girl in the town, Jiaoxi, is originally an Italian, a role tailored for Lynch’s old partner Isabella Rossellini. But the appearance of the glamorous Chinese actor Chen Chong changed Lynch's mind. His performance in "The Last Emperor" impressed Lynch. He modified the script and set the role as a Hong Kong native, which eventually led to Chen Chong joining the crew.
The leading actor, Agent Cooper, has played the role of Kyle McLachlan, a young actor who has previously worked with Lynch in "Dune" and "Blue Velvet". At first, Kyle felt that he was too young to play Agent Cooper, but Lynch relied on his instincts to portray Cooper into a popular character with a unique aura and played out Kyle's greatest potential. .
Although all the furnishings of the small town are written in the script, it is very difficult to find the actual scene of the small town that fits the description of the story. Lynch and Foster traveled west, and finally found two small towns, Snowqualmie and Issaquah, near Seattle, Washington. There are various restaurants, gas stations, and schools that fit the script description, and Snowqualmie even has one. A luxury hotel built on the Great Falls exactly as in the script. There are trees everywhere, and there is silence at night. After all the actors arrive here, they will have some weird dreams about the small town. It can be said that the real Shuangfeng Town reappears in the world.
Soon, the crew started filming the pilot episode. At that time, there were very few crews in Washington State making films. Choosing to choose this location also required more coordination between the crew and the local government. But at the same time, Lynch has also become one of Hollywood's pioneers to open up more locations. Almost the entire pilot episode was filmed in real scene, and the crew was also pulled here for nearly a month of work. When the crew was filming, it happened to coincide with the worst winter in Washington State in 20 years. The sun was often not seen for more than 20 days. Superstars had visited hail, blizzards, and heavy rain. In addition, the film was not enough. The crew could only speed up. The shooting progress completely followed Lynch’s feelings.
At the same time, because ABC hopes to release the videotape in Europe as a complete movie. ABC also requested that in addition to the pilot episode prepared for North American audiences, a separate European ending should be filmed. For this end, Lynch temporarily added settings such as a one-armed man, a little red house, and a dancing dwarf during the filming, which became an important intention for the later development of the plot of "Twin Peaks". Among them, the dwarf actor Michael J. Anderson, speaking backwards in the little red room, and playing in the correct order, has also become one of the important intentions in this play. He has found an extraordinary space for this space beyond the dimension of the earth. Symbolic. Frank Silva, who played the murderer Bob, was originally just a scene maker for the crew. Lynch saw the furniture in his moving room during the filming. His image lingered in his mind for a long time and decided to add it to the play. He temporarily brought Frankla to play the most evil and mysterious killer Bob in "Twin Peaks". The pilot episode established the mysterious, humorous and slightly sad tone of the whole play, and received a moderate rating after being screened inside ABC. Immediately, the show won the seven-episode pre-order for the first season.
At that time, all the directors in the television circle wanted to join the crew of "Double Peaks", and this well-produced American drama changed the tradition of filming and broadcasting of ordinary American dramas. Filming has already begun. In addition to continuing to shoot in Washington State, the crew also shot a large number of interior shots in Los Angeles, upgraded the production scale of the series, and more characters were added to the series one after another.
Lynch specially hired Angelo Badalamanti, the soundtrack master who had worked with "Blue Velvet" to produce the music for the show. Angelo and Lynch made music together, and Lynch described what he saw as "the dark forest has a gentle wind, the moon is rising, and there are animal calls in the background, and the calls of owls can be heard. I want to give it to him. My gentle and dark feeling." Angelo then began to play the piano, exactly what Lynch wanted. Lynch reproduced the scene in his mind, telling Angelo where to change the tone "In the Black Forest, there is a lonely girl, her name is Laura Palmer, she is very sad". Angelo played Laura's music. "She is getting closer and closer, towards the camera, I need some orgasms." Angelo immediately added a few accents and pitch shifts "That's it, this is the music I want. I love it so much, my heart is broken". "Listen, she is leaving, descending, and then back to the Black Forest, slowly. Quiet and mysterious." In Lynch's description, Angelo completed the most famous Laura theme music in the play. Lynch hugged him and said, "You did it. This is "Shuangfeng". Don't make any changes to the music. I have seen "Shuangfeng".
When the pilot episode was broadcast on the TV network, all viewers were stunned. This unprecedented and unparalleled work makes the audience who saw it for the first time believe that they have witnessed history. This made the drama's main creator and ABC executives unexpected. And who killed Laura Palmer has become a hot topic for fans of the show every week and the motivation to continue to follow the show. Even the Queen of England has become a fan of "Twin Peaks", in order to follow the drama, also canceled Paul McCartney's birthday special performance. In the end, the first season won 14 Emmy nominations, so that a group of unknown actors, for the first time, felt the attention of everyone on the red carpet. Kimmy Robertson even attended the awards in his own clothes. When the reporter asked her whose design it was, she could only say "I don't know, I just bought it from the mall", and didn't understand that she could actually borrow the designer's clothes to wear it. Although "Double Peaks" finally won only two technical Emmys, all members of the crew believe that the series has a bright future.
The seven short episodes of the first season ended quickly. After the episode entered the second season, the attention was greatly increased, and ABC began to put pressure on it, hoping that Lynch and Foster would end the story line of Laura’s murder as soon as possible. Has also become the top priority of the second season. Except for Lynch and Foster, almost no one in the crew knows who the real murderer is. Lynch’s daughter, Jennifer Lynch, is the only person besides the two who knows who the murderer is, because she was invited by Lynch to write Laura’s diary. And what she wrote partly came from her own real dreams. Each member of the crew only got a script with his own part. Foster also wrote a lot of fake scenes for the actors to perform in order to interfere with everyone and prevent them from knowing who the real murderer was, and told five of them in private. Actors, the murderer is among you, ask each of them to act as a murderer.
When filming the scene in which Laura's cousin Marty was killed by the murderer, the crew separately filmed the three roles of Bob, Li Lan and Ben, and no one knew which one was used in the film. In the end, Foster told Ray Weiss, who played Li Lan, "Ray, you are the murderer, you have always been you", which made Ray very frustrated. At that time, he had just had his own daughter, and knowing that he had killed the daughter in the play made him very painful. But in the end, he must also accept his role. In the middle of the second season, all the truth came to light, and Li Lan also ended his role. Lynch and Foster also arranged a very appropriate farewell for him.
In addition, David Lynch himself chose to join the universe of Twin Peaks and starred in the play as FBI Chief Gordon Cole. In fact, the name Gordon Cole originated from Billy Wilder's masterpiece "Sunset Boulevard" and is one of the minor supporting actors. One day, Lynch drove past the Paramount studio, and found that Gordon and Cole were actually the road names of the studio, and it suddenly dawned on the origin of the name. Therefore, he also used this name in his cameo role. In the third season, Lynch also returned to guest appearances. At first, Lynch didn't want to play this role, but just made a cameo appearance on the phone. But on the phone, he somehow spoke very loudly, because of this detail, he developed the role of Cole into a happy boss who needs to use a hearing aid and always speaks loudly. In the second half of the second season, Agent Cole was arranged to kiss the beauty Shirley played by Maychen Amick. At that time, the unfamous "X-Files" actor David Duchoni also played a transvestite drug detective in the second half of the second season, which was enough to surprise fans who liked him later.
As the truth about the murder of Laura became clear, the episodes of the second half of the second season also took a turn for the worse. Although there are new villains on the scene, the "Double Peaks" without the mainstay has begun to become more and more loose, and the story continues to radiate freely. The audience no longer cared about the new story, and the ratings plummeted. Everyone started to get tired. Lynch and Foster were not very concerned about the drama, and turned more attention to the film works of their respective directors. Leading actors such as Chen Chong also gave up "Double Peaks" because of other projects. The episode will be difficult to continue. The new screenwriter even added some strange scenes in order to deliberately pursue the weird effects of the previous episode. ABC quickly put the series on the watch list to be cut, and then, due to a large number of series fans' joint letters to save, ABC decided to broadcast the final six episodes of the series, and then determine the future fate of the series. However, due to the influence of the Gulf War news broadcast, "Twin Peaks" changed from the original prime time of Thursday night to the garbage time of Saturday night (because if it is broadcast on Thursday, the audience can go to the unit to communicate with colleagues on Friday. There is no such effect on Saturday).
In the last few episodes, Lynch and Foster made some attempts to restore popularity, including adding a lover Anne for Agent Cooper, starred by Heather Granham, and directed by Lynch. The last episode was a big hit, leaving new suspense for the third season. But unfortunately, the series finally ended in the second season, and did not get the third season renewal.
In 1993, Bravo Television Network won the right to rebroadcast "Twin Peaks", which began in June for the whole season. Lynch was also invited to shoot a quote from Ms. Stake at the beginning of each episode. These are some wonderful words with mystery and prophetic nature, and they have also become classic elements in this replay version.
Many years later, Lynch expressed his regret, because the murder of Laura was solved prematurely at the request of ABC, which led to a decline in popularity, which is like "killing the goose that laid the golden egg". And Foster also believes that he and Lynch should work harder that year so that the series can change the storyline smoothly. After all, Laura's story makes new attempts in the future extremely difficult.
Soon after the end of the second season of "Twin Peaks", Lynch and Foster announced that there would be a movie version coming out with investment from French CIBY-2000.
The original script of the movie version revolved entirely around Agent Cooper played by Kyle. But because Kyle felt that the story of the second season had disappointed him a bit, he didn't want to return to the crew. In desperation, Lynch and Foster made changes to the script. Eventually, Agent Cooper's role was greatly reduced and became a guest role, and Kyle finally returned to play this role again, a friendly guest role.
Actors who have not returned to the movie version also include Richard Bemel and Shalyn Finn, who played Hoorn and his daughter, and Laura Flynn Bauer, who played Donna. In the end, He En and his daughter did not appear in the film, and the role of Donna was replaced by Moira Kelly.
In addition, the movie version also adds several new roles, such as Philip played by rock star David Bowie and FBI agent partners Chez and Sam played by Chris Isaac and Kiefer Sutherland.
The movie version is named "Twin Peaks: Walking with Fire" and the story can be regarded as the prequel to the series of "Twin Peaks". The film is composed of two parts. The first half tells about the murder of Laura. One year ago, two FBI agents were ordered by Gordon Cole to investigate the murder of the young girl Teresa Banks, but disappeared strangely. The final case Taken over by Agent Cooper. The second part records all the details of what happened one week before Laura's death and until the night of her death. Including how Laura trafficked drugs, betrayed her body, was raped by her demon-possessed father, and was eventually killed. And an angel came to the red room and took away Laura's soul. It can be regarded as the most colorful chapter in the series, a final confession.
David Lynch’s original film was a four-hour super-length film full of strange conjectures and incest plots, which obviously did not satisfy any publisher. The final film was released in less than one and a half hours. In the end, the film cost 10 million US dollars in exchange for only 4.78 million US dollars in the box office in North America.
Most of the critics also think that the film is a bit incomprehensible. Apart from fans of the series, few viewers can accept such an impermanent Lynch-style narrative rhythm. Now that after Lynch has achieved a very high position in film history, if fans look back at the film again, they will find the Lynch-style nightmare hidden in it, as well as a lot of traces of the author at will. Today, the film has 61% freshness on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a good result.
(Originally published in "Digital Entertainment DVD Guide" magazine)
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