Dispatches from the Fury Road: Lynch

I firmly believe great artists teach you.

I first encountered David Lynch’s work when a high school pal found a copy of the Twin Peaks movie that was released for European market. This film was released before the series became a global phenomenon. It’s made up of the first two episodes of the original series, and an ending that was filmed for this specific project. We’d heard rumours about Twin Peaks through the film magazines of the time, and we were curious to see what the fuss was all about.

Suffice to say, we were immediately hooked.

I’d never seen anything like it. There’s only been a few moments in my life where I can categorically declare that I’ve experienced a moment that left an indelible imprint on my psyche. The Singing Detective TV series was one such moment. Seeing David Bowie in 1983 for the first time was another. The experience of watching Twin Peaks is right up there in the top tier of mind blowing events for young Juzzy Hamilton.

I became a Lynch devotee immediately. I loved all things Dale Cooper, the Log Lady, and weepy Deputy Andy Brennan. I was haunted by the image of Laura Palmer, blue, wrapped in plastic. I dreamt about The Black Lodge and all those who lived there, often waking in the early morning of the day to embrace the blessed relief of no longer being trapped there,,,and wondering if the waking part was in fact the dream.

From here I embraced Lynch’s earlier movies. I was transfixed by Blue Velvet, saddened by The Elephant Man, bamboozled by Dune, and left shellshocked by Eraserhead. I saw Wild at Heart the week it was released, and with my pal Jen quoted Sailor and Lula’s lines to each other. To this day one of my all-time favourite movie quotes comes when Nicholas Cage says, “This is a snakeskin jacket! And for me it's a symbol of my individuality, and my belief... in personal freedom”. It almost made me want to own a snakeskin jacket.

Almost.

I stuck with Twin Peaks all the way through the middle of the second season when it lost focus under the guidance of different writers and producers. When Lynch returned to finish season 2 and left us on THAT cliffhanger, I couldn’t wait for season 3. Then it was axed, and I was devastated. There was no way you could leave the story there.

Eventually it was announced a movie was going to be released. Great. Lynch would tie up the story, and we would have closure. More Dale Cooper. David Bowie was announced as having a role in the film as Agent Phillip Jeffries. Most of the cast were returning. This was going to be the movie event of the year.

Then I saw the film…and I was bummed out. It didn’t answer anything. It set up mysteries and failed to follow through with an explanation. We were witness to the final week of Laura Palmer’s life but what was the point of that? We knew her fate. Where’s the dramatic tension? Bowie was barely in the film. More importantly Dale Cooper was still trapped in The Black Lodge. I couldn’t believe how disappointed I was leaving the cinema.

This didn’t stop me from loving Lynch. “Nobody bats a hundred,” as my American friends like to say. When Lost Highway was announced, I still saw it in the cinema. I loved it. I love it more than most people. It is possibly my favourite Lynch film, the first “horror” movie of the new millennium, released in the death throes of the previous century. I had moved on from Twin Peaks. I still embraced my fond memories but I had little interest in returning to a story that failed to give me an ending.

Many, many years later there is the announcement that a new series, “Twin Peaks: The Return”, was being produced. Finally, an end to the original story! In preparation I returned to the original series. When it was time to rewatch Fire Walk with Me, I initially baulked at the idea, but figured what the hey, let’s give it another go.

Something amazing happened this time around. I loved it. I loved it so much I couldn’t remember why it initially disappointed me when it was first released. I thought about this for days afterwards, and to my delight, I came to a conclusion. My palette had broadened. It had matured. I finally realised that Lynch was so far ahead of me that I had failed to understand his intentions. He wanted to flesh out the character of Laura. He wanted to transform her from an icon to a person. He wanted us to care about Laurna not because of the town’s relationship to her, but because of who she was, who she’d been, and how she came to be.

Finally it made sense…in that David Lynch way of course.

This set me up for the joy of the new series, and thank goodness that it did. I might have missed the David Lynch brilliance if I hadn’t returned to that specific film. When the ending to Twin Peaks: The Return dropped, I laughed out loud at what Lynch had given us. I appreciated it more than ever. Most men think about Rome on a regular basis but personally I’m too busy thinking about my interpretation of that final scene to even contemplate sandals, swords, and sand. I love Twin Peaks now more than I did as a kid, peering deep into the layers that were beyond my sight, now revealed in bright, beautiful colours.

So what did Lynch teach me? That great art sometimes remains hidden until you’re mature enough to discover it. You might be looking straight at an object, but until you understand how to move around and see it from different angles, you fail to perceive the facets that make it beautiful to behold. I’ve been lucky enough to return to art and entertainment that initially left me cold, but as I’ve grown with experience, has eventually left me breathless.

I didn’t love the album Young Americans until I had an appreciation of soul and disco.

I didn’t love 2001: A Space Odyssey until I had a greater appreciation of cinema and science fiction.

I didn’t love The Age of Innocence until I appreciated boundaries and what it means to push against them.

And I finally fell in love with Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me when I was emotionally mature enough to receive the story Lynch was telling us.

I feel lucky to have learned that lesson.

Justin Hamilton

19th of January, 2025

Surry Hills, NSW, Australia