Apologies if this is on another thread (I did do a fairly extensive search, but, you know... "first post" and all that...). I wondered if anyone had watched "Laura" (1944) since the series ended?
The film has been cited as an influence on the first series, most notably through the name, but it's essentially about a young woman called Laura murdered by an obsessive but trusted father figure, and a handsome young police detective, Det. Lt. Mark McPherson, who kinda falls for the supposed victim based on a picture of her. It also features characters called Diane, Waldo Lydecker, and Jacoby, a murderer with a white horse statue in his living room, and the detective wears pretty much the same odd striped tie and raincoat as Cooper, at least at the start... when things are still real...
Watching it again, a couple of things leap out as potential influences on the recent return/revisits by Lynch:
1) The story is very unclear as to whether it's a dream or not. Apparently it was going to be a dream at some point in production, but the director made it more ambiguous. Essentially, half way through the detective falls asleep in an armchair under the picture in Laura's apartment believing she's dead, and wakes to find she's stood in front of him; but it's not really clear he is awake, and the second half could well be him dreaming of saving her. It doesn't help that, like another film referenced by Lynch, the beginning is narrated by a man who dies in the second half. The film ends with the murderer suddenly turning up at Laura's home, while giving a radio broadcast "by electrical transcription" which ends with this quote from decadent poet Ernest Dowson:
They are not long, the weeping and the laughter // Love and desire and hate // I think they have no portion in us after // We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses // Out of a misty dream // Our path emerges for a while, then closes // Within a dream.
2) When the detective awakens from the chair, Laura is concerned by him, a strange man, in her house. The querying ends with:
"I'm going to call the police."
"I *am* the police."
Given all this, personally, I'm thinking the year is 1944, and the whole thing is in the head of the still-Laura-dreaming Mark McPherson; that's who I think that is there... 😉
Definitely interesting parallels. It sounds worth a look too, thanks.
Wow.
Yeah... this is really, really good stuff. This along with all the references to Sunset Boulevard and all the mentions of dreams are just some of the obvious in-your-face clues given to us by Lynch & Frost telling us that Richard is one messed-up delusional guy... not to mention serial killer. I'm still believing that Richard's delusions are his way of saving Laura Palmer, the girl he murdered.
The book and the film was never supposed to be ambiguous about it being a dream. Making it a dream was something they tried as a cool idea that nobody liked when it was released so they redid it with no ambiguity about it possibly being a dream. Just showing that even in 1944 "it was just a dream" was a stupid idea. Too many people see this type of thing as being lied to and wasting their time watching something which never occurred and react strongly to it.
I watched this a couple of months ago. Really good film done by Otto Preminger who did Man With The Golden Arm and Anatomy of a Murder also really good films.
Just showing that even in 1944 "it was just a dream" was a stupid idea. Too many people see this type of thing as being lied to and wasting their time watching something which never occurred and react strongly to it.
I never really understood why people react like that when everyone knows it's a fictional construct to begin with. I know we all relate to some characters in one way or another and possibly some people grow very attached to some of these fictional people but it's all make-believe... People can choose their own adventure.
I do this with Star Wars for example, because I don't like any of the modern films except Episode III, so in my brain I just remember the stuff I like. I feel like being mad about Jar Jar or whatever would be a waste of energy so I just put it out of mind.
The parallels are fascinating. Film noir, Hitchcock, unreliable narrators, all seem like great reference points.
I'm not sure the certainty about Richard/Cooper being a delusional serial killer stands up as an obvious conclusion to draw from all that--just doesn't seem like enough internal evidence to be sure of that, although it's a possibility. Too much framework jumping maybe.
Just because it's a dream, that doesn't mean it isn't real...
Yes, the Bobby Ewing option would be terrible. But I think the idea with Twin Peaks, such as it is possible to articulate, is more a combination of shamanic dreaming and the idea that dreams are both interfaces between alternative universes, and integral to their very being.
The idea that strong emotions, for example, can puncture the veil of normality and reveal the dreamstate hidden behind and within the everyday, dates in Lynch's work at least as far back as:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtjiVTSs8pc
And let's not forget that a belief in a unified state merging the dream world and normality "into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality" stretches back at least to André Breton, if not further.
I've no idea when Lynch first saw Laura, which is certainly ambiguous enough that I spotted it without initially knowing the history, but it's interesting, given the clear influence on earlier seasons, that both cover similar themes, and leave the absolute state of the world similarly in the air; albeit in Laura's case with a good deal less complexity. Even as a straight movie though (which it largely is), I'd recommend it to anyone -- it's a great film. 🙂
Also had a rewatch of Double Indemnity, which is where the old hotel guy with the bowtie in the original series seems to have come from. It's about a ex-boxer (at least he seems to be from his decor) who works for an insurance company.
Check out "Road House" with Ida Lupino and Richard Widmark.
Northern Woodsy Noir vibe with many Lynchian overtones.
You will love Widmark after seeing this film...
proto-Twin Peaks!
Oh this rabbit hole is getting deep!
Oo. Looks good! Thanks!
Apologies if this is on another thread (I did do a fairly extensive search, but, you know... "first post" and all that...). I wondered if anyone had watched "Laura" (1944) since the series ended?
The film has been cited as an influence on the first series, most notably through the name, but it's essentially about a young woman called Laura murdered by an obsessive but trusted father figure, and a handsome young police detective, Det. Lt. Mark McPherson, who kinda falls for the supposed victim based on a picture of her. It also features characters called Diane, Waldo Lydecker, and Jacoby, a murderer with a white horse statue in his living room, and the detective wears pretty much the same odd striped tie and raincoat as Cooper, at least at the start... when things are still real...
Watching it again, a couple of things leap out as potential influences on the recent return/revisits by Lynch:
1) The story is very unclear as to whether it's a dream or not. Apparently it was going to be a dream at some point in production, but the director made it more ambiguous. Essentially, half way through the detective falls asleep in an armchair under the picture in Laura's apartment believing she's dead, and wakes to find she's stood in front of him; but it's not really clear he is awake, and the second half could well be him dreaming of saving her. It doesn't help that, like another film referenced by Lynch, the beginning is narrated by a man who dies in the second half. The film ends with the murderer suddenly turning up at Laura's home, while giving a radio broadcast "by electrical transcription" which ends with this quote from decadent poet Ernest Dowson:
They are not long, the weeping and the laughter // Love and desire and hate // I think they have no portion in us after // We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses // Out of a misty dream // Our path emerges for a while, then closes // Within a dream.
2) When the detective awakens from the chair, Laura is concerned by him, a strange man, in her house. The querying ends with:
"I'm going to call the police."
"I *am* the police."
Given all this, personally, I'm thinking the year is 1944, and the whole thing is in the head of the still-Laura-dreaming Mark McPherson; that's who I think that is there... 😉
Just watched this, and definite links to aspects of Twin Peaks. Enjoyable yarn.
Fire walk with