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By
WAYNE KLEIN
"Wild at Heart" represents
the weird, strange world of David Lynch at its
peak. Lynch's films can be an acquired taste.
"Wild at Heart" even more so than some of Lynch's
more conventional films (e.g. "The Elephant Man")
mixes the extremes that interest Lynch (although
it isn't anywhere near as bizarre as, say,
"Eraserhead").
Winner of the Palme d' Or at the Cannes
International Film Festival, "Wild at Heart" is
every bit as distinctive as "Blue Velvet" or "Lost
Highway," mixing a variety of different tones from
violent to comic, all within a few seconds of each
other. As the film opens we meet Sailor (Nicholas
Cage) in Cape Fear where he brutally beats up a
man hired by Lula's (Laura Dern) mother Marietta
(Diane Ladd) to kill him because he refused to
have sex with Marietta in the men's room of a
theater. After being released from prison, Lula
and Sailor take off in hopes of escaping Marietta
and establishing their own life together. Since
this is a David Lynch film none of this works out
that way, of course.
With a winning performances by Cage, Dern, Ladd,
Willem Dafoe, Isabella Rossellini, Harry Dean
Stanton and a cameo appearance by Sheryl Lee as
Glenda the Good Witch from "The Wizard of Oz,"
"Wild at Heart" will not be everyone's cup of tea.
The tone of the film varies from explicit violence
to the surreal conclusion of Cage doing his Elvis
impersonation, singing "Love Me Tender." Although
the plot for "Wild at Heart" sounds simple,
nothing in Lynchland ever is as it appears.
With a marvelous DVD transfer personally
supervised by David Lynch, "Wild at Heart" is a
huge improvement over the version released by
Universal and available as an import only a couple
of years ago. The rich, golden look of the
cinematography is captured perfectly here. The
exaggerated sound effects of the film and unusual
use of music throughout have never sounded better.
The 5.1 mix (again, personally supervised by
Lynch) improves on the original stereo soundtrack
that was a highlight of the film when it premiered
nearly 15 years ago.
Featuring a marvelous retrospective documentary
entitled "Love, Death and Elvis," Lynch, Cage,
Bern, Ladd and others appear in new interviews
discussing the making of the film. Lynch doesn't
exactly clarify its meaning or his cinematic
choices, but we do get interesting insights into
his working methods as a director. We also get the
original featurette from when the film was first
produced. "David Lynch on the DVD Process" allows
Lynch to explain how he supervised the transfer to
DVD. He also gives plenty of credit to the
technicians that did the transfer. Evidently,
Lynch began the process over a year before its
release. When he saw flaws in the print chosen for
the transfer, MGM went back to the vault and
sprung for a new print from the original negative
so that the colors would look correct and with the
proper amount of grain. "Dell's Lunch Counter"
features the various actors discussing their work
on the film and how Lynch works with his actors.
There are also extended interviews with Lynch,
Cage, Ladd, Lee and Dern. "Specific Spontaneity:
Focus on Lynch" features Lynch's collaborators
from Willem Dafoe to cinematographer Frederick
Elmes discussing Lynch's working method as a
director, the atmosphere he generated on the set
and how he inspired the performers to give their
best. His casting director points out some very
funny moments from "Twin Peaks," that seemed
bizarre to the cast and crew at the time but
worked within the context of the scene showing how
well Lynch has worked out the details out in
advance. Little is left to chance although he is
willing to allow his actors a lot of latitude.
Lynch has been very shy about providing commentary
tracks for his films, preferring to appear in
featurettes, interviews and documentaries. No
doubt part of this is due to the fact that he
feels that too much information might spoil the
experience but the other side of the coin suggests
that Lynch likes to let his films speak (even if
it is in a dialect we don't understand) for
themselves. Lynch evidently hates to try and
define his work because, perhaps, he doesn't
really want to know what is at the heart of his
inspiration.
"The way your head works is God's own private
mystery," Sailor comments to Lula about her
imagination. Much the same could be said of Lynch
and his films particularly "Wild at Heart." It's a
bizarre cinematic rollercoaster ride with many
unexpected twists and turns. One collaborator
comments that Lynch is "…one of a kind." I
couldn't put it any better myself. |
