Slightly imperfect as it may have been (owing to issues with the second season), David Lynch's 'Twin Peaks' is a brilliant, creative TV series that surely remains one of the best series ever made. 1992 full-length prequel 'Fire walk with me,' incredibly, is in my opinion better still, and for that matter possibly the best thing Lynch has ever done, as it weaves together a fraction of the vibe of the series with the ferocious foundation of a psychological horror-thriller. It's gratifying that in all the time since we saw in 2017 a third season revival of the series, but for those who can't get enough of Lynch, or of his greatest claim to fame, this 2014 assemblage is very much worth checking out as well. I'm not someone who usually spends time with bonus features on DVDs, or deleted or extended scenes, yet even to read of 'The missing pieces' sights unseen it's clear that there was an effort to make it as reasonably cohesive as it could be as a collection of odds and ends from the 1992 movie. To watch, there is no mistaking that this lacks the foremost narrative unity of what came before - yet especially given the filmmaker's penchant for disjointed, non-linear storytelling that bucks convention, somehow the sum total nevertheless feels right in line with all else the man has ever given us. I don't think this picture is necessarily as captivating or essential as its more famous siblings, but if one is interested and does have the opportunity to watch, it's well worth exploring both on its own merits and as another piece of the puzzle.
'Fire walk with me' shared the feel of the preceding series primarily in those portions that focused not on Laura Palmer, but on the FBI agents and/or their investigation into the murder of Teresa Banks. For those who missed in the former the more lighthearted airs and surrealism of the latter, it's worth observing that we get more of both in this sideways compilation. The violence and grim atmosphere of the 1992 picture also remains, certainly, though without the same major cohesiveness of storytelling the feelings aren't as strong. Other benefits of the project, put together by Lynch himself, are that some relatively rough edges of the man's seminal cinematic splendor are rounded out with additional details (for example, with several more minutes of David Bowie's character); and we see more of the characters we love from 'Twin Peaks,' many of whom were left out of the prequel for lack of substantial involvement in the immediate plot. The additional or extended scenes within the namesake town also help to supply some of the offbeat comedy and soap opera melodrama that we loved so much in the series, likewise all but absent from the movie, and there's no denying that after the ugliness of that saga it's welcome to again see a tad more gentleness. To whatever degree 'The missing pieces' might have its own rough edges as the included scenes flit back and forth between many disparate characters and moods, the viewer's understanding of the construction helps to wash over the marginal inelegance, not to mention the inherent joy of seeing more of Ed, Norma, Donna, Pete, Josie, Harry, and the rest.
What we have, then, is a feature where the name could scarcely be more appropriate. The scenes herein do not in and of themselves comprise a single, complete image, yet they help to fill in some gaps, and finalize and polish our conception of the course of events and the lives of these figures. Some bits are much more meaningful than others; some, in keeping with the broad tenor of Lynch's oeuvre, are decidedly more strange and abstruse; some are very funny, others are dourly tragic, and others are plainly disturbing, just like much of the full-length film from which they come. It's a grab bag, in some measure, but for those who appreciate the filmmaker and above all these settings and characters, it's very worthwhile as another taste of 'Twin Peaks.' I wouldn't put 'The missing pieces' on the same pedestal as its companion works, neither in terms of overall quality nor importance, but if one has the opportunity to watch and is already invested in what it represents, this very much deserves to be checked out.
'Fire walk with me' shared the feel of the preceding series primarily in those portions that focused not on Laura Palmer, but on the FBI agents and/or their investigation into the murder of Teresa Banks. For those who missed in the former the more lighthearted airs and surrealism of the latter, it's worth observing that we get more of both in this sideways compilation. The violence and grim atmosphere of the 1992 picture also remains, certainly, though without the same major cohesiveness of storytelling the feelings aren't as strong. Other benefits of the project, put together by Lynch himself, are that some relatively rough edges of the man's seminal cinematic splendor are rounded out with additional details (for example, with several more minutes of David Bowie's character); and we see more of the characters we love from 'Twin Peaks,' many of whom were left out of the prequel for lack of substantial involvement in the immediate plot. The additional or extended scenes within the namesake town also help to supply some of the offbeat comedy and soap opera melodrama that we loved so much in the series, likewise all but absent from the movie, and there's no denying that after the ugliness of that saga it's welcome to again see a tad more gentleness. To whatever degree 'The missing pieces' might have its own rough edges as the included scenes flit back and forth between many disparate characters and moods, the viewer's understanding of the construction helps to wash over the marginal inelegance, not to mention the inherent joy of seeing more of Ed, Norma, Donna, Pete, Josie, Harry, and the rest.
What we have, then, is a feature where the name could scarcely be more appropriate. The scenes herein do not in and of themselves comprise a single, complete image, yet they help to fill in some gaps, and finalize and polish our conception of the course of events and the lives of these figures. Some bits are much more meaningful than others; some, in keeping with the broad tenor of Lynch's oeuvre, are decidedly more strange and abstruse; some are very funny, others are dourly tragic, and others are plainly disturbing, just like much of the full-length film from which they come. It's a grab bag, in some measure, but for those who appreciate the filmmaker and above all these settings and characters, it's very worthwhile as another taste of 'Twin Peaks.' I wouldn't put 'The missing pieces' on the same pedestal as its companion works, neither in terms of overall quality nor importance, but if one has the opportunity to watch and is already invested in what it represents, this very much deserves to be checked out.