Worthiest Missing Piece?

[BlackMoonLilith]

Not what was the best, but what one deserved to be in the final cut the most? (Unless you think it's none.) I'm sure some will say the precursor to the later wash your hands scene, the one with the Norwegian names; others might pick the Hayward message to Laura that foreshadows the end of the flick. A case could be made that the fight was a necessary catharsis to the FBI/police set-up in Deer Meadow. I was considering the creepy as hell stare Leland gives Laura as my choice.

But I'm picking Bob communicating with Laura in the fan and the Sarah bit afterwards. Part of it is is used in the final film as an abstract image in a transition to Cooper talking to Albert about the future case, but I'd restore the full bit to the morning after the drug deal, immediately after Laura sees James (same red sweater). Laura's "Joker" smile is just awesome and the Sarah Palmer bit afterwards is heartbreaking, such a strong moment between those two characters.

Your pick?

[garrett8250]

I actually would say the scene with the muffins at the Hayward's house. That scene was absolutely incredible. Although I don't consider any of the missing pieces to be dispensable.

[mtsi]

Laura's smile...def. So scary. So awesome.

[N. Needleman]

If it was up to me, I'd put back in the Hayward house and the scene under the fan. And possibly Desmond's fight with Cable, which is incredibly well-shot and pays that little subplot off, and perhaps Coop's brief scene with Sam Stanley.

Maybe I'd put the Norwegian dinner scene back in. I'm on the fence. It does give a different kind of introduction to Leland. Isn't it before Laura finds the pages have been torn out? I'd also debate putting back in the extended convenience store sequence, which I think is absolutely incredible and spellbinding, but in the end I find that within the context of the film itself the final cut's version works better. I frankly would not be shocked to see elements of that sequence turn up in the new series, partially as a farewell to Frank Silva. (There's also a precedent for it - it's what they did to the European pilot ending.)

I can't remember everything, but I think that's all. The rest is either extraneous, or IMO, not relevant. The stuff with the townsfolk, all beautiful, wonderful scenes, especially Peggy Lipton's stuff, but do they belong in Laura's movie - I say no.

[David Locke]

Without a doubt, the scene of Leland staring at Laura in the bushes before she rides off with James at night. It's so brief yet so damn chilling (the face Wise gives is evil incarnate), I really don't see why it was left out of the film -- especially as the cut in the film from Laura in the bushes to Laura getting on James' bike always struck me as slightly awkward.

The only other one I might choose is the beautiful Doc Hayward/prescription scene, but the rest of the MP are pretty unnecessary in context of FWWM and Laura's story.

And yet now that I think about it, maybe the way that Leland is introduced in the film is a little too oblique -- at least for non-TP viewers? So I can see the argument to put the Norwegian scene in there and have Leland more properly established as Laura's father, before having the house of cards come tumbling down as we soon see he is anything but a jovial, loving father. I know most people who see the film already know/love the series, but I like the film having the ability to stand on its own, too.

[N. Needleman]

I love the scene of Laura in the bushes, I adore it. I just worry that beat might break the flow of the film, which is really clicking along at that point. It's followed immediately in the script by Laura and James on the bike and Leland watching them, isn't it? It just seems like the same note twice, and you can't necessarily take out Leland at the window. I should watch it again, though.

[Ped]

I actually liked the epilogue sequence with the nurse stealing Annie's ring and Cooper post mirror crash. It would have linked the series and movie better.

[Shloogorgh]

So my worthiest inclusion would actually be just a piece of a Missing Piece. I never liked the way the Agent Jeffries sequence ended in the film, with random static-filled shots of Jeffries smash cut together and then a shot of an empty chair. It screamed of a sequence cobbled together in editing and so when the missing pieces showed a more natural ending, I felt more satisfied.

I'd keep the whole Jeffries/convenience store sequence as is, until the flashes of Jeffries start at the end, and then use the portion with Jeffries and his head on the desk when the lights start flickering.

"Am I talking to myself here?"

[LostInTheMovies]

I love the scene of Laura in the bushes, I adore it. I just worry that beat might break the flow of the film, which is really clicking along at that point. It's followed immediately in the script by Laura and James on the bike and Leland watching them, isn't it? It just seems like the same note twice, and you can't necessarily take out Leland at the window. I should watch it again, though.

Yup, that's the only reason I can think that they removed it. Because unlike most of the Pieces, it mostly seems to fit what the film was going for. But I guess it just felt redundant.

I would love to read an interview with Mary Sweeney where she talks about the decision-making process of editing Fire Walk With Me, but John Thorne said he spoke to her once for Wrapped in Plastic and (unsurprisingly) she wasn't much more forthcoming than Lynch.

Nonetheless, I'm bummed to see that the old interview with her on the Mulholland Drive UK DVD (which I've never seen) has not been included on the new Criterion.

[Jonah]

Going to have to vote for the Doc Hayward scene with Laura where angels are mentioned as the worthiest. Second to that, the fan scene with Laura. Both of those put back into the film would still keep it to Laura's story - and all the extended Red Room/convenience store scenes too - but arguably strengthen the narrative.

If I was to choose the worthiest scene that branched away from Laura's story, then IMO the one with Ed and Norma in the truck is perfect! Also, I love those final scenes in the Great Northern and with Annie, which, as someone else pointed out, would have connected the movie well to the last episode of the series - but arguably might have given a confused thread to the narrative for those who hadn't seen the show and maybe given a "too left open"/inconclusive feeling too.

Whether sticking to Laura's story or not, I don't think the sheriff station scenes add much at all, though it was nice to see the old gang - Andy/Lucy/Truman/Hawk -again.

I sort of like the Josie/Pete one, too, it's the happiest I ever saw Josie - but also don't think it adds much.

[LostInTheMovies]

Isn't it before Laura finds the pages have been torn out?

In the script it's after that, but before she sees Bob in her room & her dad coming out of the house.

That scene is an interesting case. It would have to be cut differently to fit the movie (I wonder if Lynch shot a fair amount of coverage or if he rushed it mostly as a relief/release for the actors, maybe after they shot the hand-washing scene). And I can see why they left it out, to give viewers a relentlessly bleak depiction of Leland (saving that one nice moment for AFTER one of his worst moments, rather than introducing him on a fun/goofy note). Also, in the movie, the dichotomy seems to be more between serious-seeming ordinary middle-class father vs. vicious manipulative abuser than it does between wacky-but-lovable Leland of the show vs. criminally insane demon. So maybe the goofiness of the Norwegian stuff just seemed too out of character for the side of Leland they wanted to depict onscreen.

I would actually be interested in hearing from anyone who saw the movie first on this subject - maybe I'll start another thread. Was the shock of having Leland be Laura's abuser lessened by the fact that he is actually introduced in this context, rather than set up as a loving, fun father before having the rug pulled out from under you? Certainly watching the series first that shock was pretty palpable, and I'm not sure one scene in a film could have reproduced it but it's a thought.

I'd also debate putting back in the extended convenience store sequence, which I think is absolutely incredible and spellbinding, but in the end I find that within the context of the film itself the final cut's version works better. I frankly would not be shocked to see elements of that sequence turn up in the new series, partially as a farewell to Frank Silva. (There's also a precedent for it - it's what they did to the European pilot ending.)

Although in that case, especially at a time when there was no internet like there is today, the European ending remained largely unseen so the Red Room dream could come as a surprise to most viewers. I feel that if they do that with any Silva footage, it will have to be something we haven't seen at all yet. There are apparently some missing pieces still missing (nothing with Silva that I know of, though) so it's possible. And of course there's the deleted footage from the finale which they used for the recent Showtime promo.

[N. Needleman]

I think the general public is generally unaware of that extended sequence - they're not gonna go look at it and be like, 'pshaw! He reused that material.' I also don't think those in the know would care or mind; they'd either see it as a final testament to the late Frank Silva, or a creative re-use of existing materials a la the European pilot, or both. More than that, I can see Lynch doing it (and recutting it the way he did the elements of the scene in FWWM) as some sort of re-introduction to the spirits of the Lodge and those concepts. It could also just as easily be presented as, "this is what Philip Jeffries saw in FWWM, now you know."

I am curious what's still missing that is either unrecoverable or was not chosen. As for the finale, I wonder what was cut beyond maybe some coverage of Silva and MJA in the strobes, and perhaps the Josie sequence (with Chen's double).

[LostInTheMovies]

Here's a new spin on this question: what parts of the existing film SHOULD have been deleted?

There are a couple scenes from the film that I actually think could have been made missing pieces. One is Bobby calling Leo and Jacques. The other is Cooper talking to Albert. Both seem to detract (albeit in fairly minor ways) from the momentum of the film as it depicts Laura's downward trajectory.

I'm guessing the first scene was in there to establish why Laura and Donna went into the woods to kill Deputy Cliff that night (they even bring back Jacques' voiceover just before that scene). But frankly that never seemed necessary. Laura's coke habit, plus the scene where Bobby tells her they're gonna score big that night seems more than enough. And it didn't hurt that Lynch was finding ways to squeeze Madchen Amick in! Almost all the actors are cut, but she gets a few close-ups and throwaway lines that easily could have been lost haha.

I think also that that Bobby in the phone booth was meant to provide a "day" sequence between Laura's dream and her night out at the Roadhouse since the day/night theme is the only real structural conceit FWWM has to offer. Otherwise we would have cut directly from Laura removing her portrait in the morning to Donna arriving at her house that night, skipping an entire day (as the portrait scene, despite the daylight, thematically belongs to the night before, and is very brief). You can see a lot of scrambling done in the editing room, with scenes reshuffled given how, frankly, weak the script was on this front: providing a wealth of material to fill the 7 days and nights, but no real strong container to hold them in and with so much of that material disposable. I think Mary Sweeney worked wonders with the movie, and obviously I think it's a masterpiece, but to the extent it is a messy film, it is due to this factor.

The Coop/Albert scene may be there for a similar reason, to break up two sequences between which a lot of the connective material had been cut - Laura at Harold's and Laura at the RR. I guess maybe it was also meant to create some tentative link between Laura and Coop but, much as I'm fine with the scene on its own terms (and it's always nice to see Albert again), I wish it had been cut. I think and this scene feels like a refugee from the movie FWWM was originally intended to be rather than the film it ended up being. There's simply nothing else like it in the film (at least when Bobby calls Jacques, it's in Twin Peaks and it's involving characters that Laura is enmeshed with).

The Laura-under-the-fan montage is also shoved into this spot, probably for a similar reason of cloaking a gap in the material. And I always took it as being "that night" (I thought her red shirt was a pajama top and the blearly lighting makes it seem like maybe this is a dream or nighttime visitation). I suspect this is how I think it was meant to be taken, despite clearly being intended as a day scene originally, and a different day at that, given Laura's costume and the more extended sequence in the MP. However, this scene mostly works for me in the movie even if it's much more memorable in the Missing Pieces.

[N. Needleman]

I wouldn't cut anything.

[Shloogorgh]

I would actually be interested in hearing from anyone who saw the movie first on this subject - maybe I'll start another thread. Was the shock of having Leland be Laura's abuser lessened by the fact that he is actually introduced in this context, rather than set up as a loving, fun father before having the rug pulled out from under you? Certainly watching the series first that shock was pretty palpable, and I'm not sure one scene in a film could have reproduced it but it's a thought.

Let me see if I can conjure up those memories... It wasn't shocking, since we don't see the good side of Leland before the reveal, it felt more status quo, which is its own kind of horrible. Really fed into the oppressive atmosphere

Here's a new spin on this question: what parts of the existing film SHOULD have been deleted?

I feel like the scene with Annie in the bed should have been cut when all the other set-up-for-future-movies material was excised. The hypnotized info-dump she gives takes me out of the horror of the moment, and without the nurse scene as payoff at the end it's just an awkward non sequitur. Plus the fact that Laura has no reaction to the bloody girl who appears in her bed and seconds later screams her head off about the ring