Distinguishing Fire Walk With Me from The Missing Pieces

[BlackMoonLilith]

I think the fan edit is a pretty cool experiment. I'm a big supporter of fan interactivity and participation in art. Dune: Third Stage Edition is a marvel. But of course, I'm going to respect the artist and watch it his way first. I'd seen FWWM a zillion times over the years, and then when the Blu-Ray set came out, I bought it and watched The Missing Pieces twice. When I showed the series to my girlfriend, I did the same order of show -> film -> deleted scenes with her, and then after TMP, we watched the Q2 fan edit for the first time. In that context, I thought the fan edit was a neat "what if."

To be honest, and I admit part of this is being aware what was in TMP for years via the script and photo stills and website information, while I totally understand that Lynch's attempt was to make the deleted scenes feel like its own separate thing, I think he failed in that, for me at least. It never doesn't feel like bits that were cut out of a movie to me, and I always feel like they're kinda sterile without a context to put it around. I wish I could see it as a short story collection, but they watch like footnotes to FWWM's novel. Now, the theatrical cut is outstanding and it doesn't need cutaways to Andy and Hauk telling Truman about the Renault brothers, or Ed and Nadine in the diner when the focus needs to be on Laura and her encounter with the Tremonds, or lots of other tangential stuff. In that respect, I found the fan edit to really bring down and neuter the theatrical cut's material by having the stuff around it, so as a version of Laura's story and Lynch's intentions for the t-cut, it sucks... but as a way to watch The Missing Pieces, it's not bad because by the same token that TMP drags FWWM down, FWWM drags TMP up. Having important scenes of the theatrical cut elevates some of the deleted scenes that relied heavily on their use of information, stuff like Teresa calling Jacques and blackmailing feels more complete if we just saw Leland turn Teresa and her "friends" down, or Laura teasing Bobby about killing someone if we just saw Bobby kill someone, etc. So I liked it as an interesting one-off, one I'll probably never watch again (because c'mon it's 3 and a half hours!), which isn't a patch on the fantastic FWWM but one I found ultimately more enjoyable than TMP.

As an aside, I've considered putting together a *slightly* longer theatrical cut for my own personal use, with a couple of added scenes that I think enhanced the overall experience instead of detracting from it, specifically the fight (cause it feels like a "conclusion" to all the Deer Meadow under the surface aggression in the t-cut) and a couple of the scenes featuring Laura (first Palmer dinner because it's a great light-to-dark parallel with the NEXT Palmer dinner, "Wash your hands;" the Haywards scene, even if it is a bit slow, for the angel message; Leland staring at Laura as she leaves the house because it's fucking creepy, probably Laura smiling under the fan for the same reason). Those, I think, are close enough to the film's center of gravity to be positive additions.

[OK,Bob]

I think the fan edit is a pretty cool experiment. I'm a big supporter of fan interactivity and participation in art.

I honestly tend to loathe fan art. On the other hand, I'll confess to really, really enjoying the second of Q2's extended FWWM edits. I don't feel the additional footage detracts from Laura's tale at all. I enjoy the expanded and contrasting context, and the additional scenes with the Palmers and Haywards bolster Laura's tale, in my opinion.