Customer Reviews

David Lynch's Wild at Heart [VHS]

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Wild at Heart is less a movie and more a psychological journey. It's hard for me to judge it the way I judge other movies; it simply can't be put under the same standards. Most movies are about entertainment and telling a story; this movie (like Blue Velvet before it) is about intense emotions, the darker side of the soul, and the warped mind of director David Lynch. David Lynch is one of the few directors left who still expresses himself through his work; he is one of the last true film artists. He indulges himself here, perhaps to an extreme. I'm not even sure I can say that this movie "entertained" me in the usual sense; but I relished the experience. His obsessions with Elvis, (impersonated or channeled by Nicholas Cage in an inspired performance) The Wizard of Oz, (the movie repeatedly references the classic both concretely and in symbolism) his desire to opress/victimize women, and the evil inside us all take center stage here; the story becomes secondary. The story itself is about a couple whose love borders on an unhealthy obsession, and seems to be founded in pleasure more than spirit. It is a "road picture" if you boil it down superficially. But this movie is about Lynch's twisted desires and his desire to twist us as well. The scene where Willem Dafoe's evil, animalistic character seduces Laura Dern verbally is one of the most powerful scenes in film. In my mind the release of this movie and the premiere of "Twin Peaks" on television were the events that started the 90's, at least in an artistic sense. Watch this movie; it is an intense roller coaster, a visual dream, and an unfiltered look into Lynch's mind and the American psyche.

I only saw it once, in the theater and was a liberating, thrilling experience because of the emotion and depth of it's creator's mind came through so completely. This is art. If you are offended by it's treatment of women or racial distortions, you miss it's point entirely. Life is not fair. It's both sweet and primal, brutal and dazzaling, crude and enlightening, depending on the road you take, in various mixtures of each. Much like this film. I forever looked at the world differently; thru Lynch's eyes, a brief glimps of his soul and the metaphores his charactors represent. I could identify with each, and in some ways see myself in all of them... but if anything, I think it encouraged me to hang a little bit looser and attempt to enjoy more thouroghly because that's what life should be. If you haven't loved someone obsessively, you haven't really lived. If you haven't let loose and really partied, you missed something. If you've denied your dark shadow self your entire life, you don't really know who you are. I've been waiting years for this to come out on DVD and it looks like the wait will be over soon.

Maybe there's something to the theory that Europeans "get" Lynch more than the average American does. Not sure about that, but I love this film just as much as Blue Velvet, Fire Walk With Me, Mulholland Drive etc, and it surprises me that many have such a low opinion of it. Most Lynch films seem to explore the connection between romance (or at least lust) and darker impulses such as obsession, murder and dementia. Here the division is very clear; it's a full blown Romantic Epic, with Cage and Dern as the hopelessly-in-love couple on the run. The classic romance paradigm is done in a very tongue-in-cheek manner here, and Lynch and the actors have a great deal of fun portraying the characters in a cheesy, over-the-top manner. This is where some people seem to have a problem with the movie: the exaggerated acting of Cage & Dern. Personally, I think they do a great job-it is meant to be humorous, and it works as a perfectly good counterpoint to the increasingly sinister obstacles they must overcome. Here is where the movie really shines: Lynch lets his imagination run wild in his depiction of a bizarre and dangerous underworld of criminal activity. Willem Dafoe is pitch-perfect as the sleazy hitman, and the scene where he tries to seduce Laura Dern in the hotel room is one of the most disturbing moments of sexual tension ever caught on film. As with most David Lynch films, there are so many small details, so much humor and intelligence (as opposed to your average Hollywood hit) that it can be enjoyed over and over again. All in all, this is an extremely imaginative and fun movie, and not to be missed!

The original Australian theatrical release of "Wild at heart" stated with a short scene where Nicholas Cage is seen having sex with Laura Dern's mother in a toilet cubicle. This scene has been excised from the Region 4 DVD and instead the film starts with an unsubstantiated accusation of this, just before the fight.

If your copy is missing this scene, it is cut.

It seems to me that this is the best role Nicolas Cage ever played. His character is funny, over the top. It would be a shame if MGM would not release this movie on DVD. The whole movie it`s a comedy, even in its violent parts. Without a doubt the best film Lynch ever directed, after "Blue Velvet".

I love this movie, it should be released on DVD.

Wild at heart is one of David Lynchs absolutely greatest works, a masterpiece of surrealism and right on target scenes. Nicholas Cage as "Sailor" makes a character colorful as seldom seen on a screen, it's definitely one of mr Cages absolutely best actings ever. This fabulous movie is one of the best in it's genre. The story never seems to wanna let go on you and you never want to leave it either. This is a film that could've been 5 hrs in length and still I would've been stucked in my chair smiling.

I just want to know when I can buy this film on DVD. I saw "Wild At Heart" in Europe on "ARTE" in its widescreen edition. Here, in Canada I could`t find this video to buy except on VSH tape in LONG PLAY format. A shame. I hope that the film will be released on DVD, otherwise I tend to believe that America has no taste in art.

Yes, the other guy was right. This movie should be released on DVD. But my question is how? How everybody who loves the movie can express themselves clearly on this point? I don`t know but I do love this movie, the acting is great. It won "Golden Palm" at Cannes Film Festival ten years ago.

If you've seen one or more films by director David Lynch, such as BLUE VELVET or LOST HIGHWAY, you'll know what to expect in WILD AT HEART. Lynch has certain trademarks, mostly visual images, that occur in his films; Images of fire (like the house burning in LOST HIGHWAY or the numerous close-ups of cigarettes, also in LOST HIGWAY), close-ups of insects (BLUE VELVET), or shots of factory chimneys or other tower-like constructions (the sawmill in the title sequence of TWIN PEAKS and the silo in THE STRAIGHT STORY), and the continual use of provocative sexual images (like Frank Both and his oxygene mask in BLUE VELVET), plus, lastly, the numerous shots of roads and cars (LOST HIGHWAY). A film by David Lynch is not as much about the narrative, as it is about the visuals. You have to appreciate the visuals if you're going to appreciate a Lynchian experience. Take the "red room" in TWIN PEAKS; It hardly makes any sense, but it's so fascinating that you can't help being enthralled by it. I guess most directors have a story to begin with, and then they search for the visual means to illustrate it with, whilst David Lynch has the visuals but is always in search of a story to go with them.

WILD AT HEART won David Lynch the "best picture" award in Cannes (in 1990, if I'm not mistaking). It's not my favourite film of his, but a lot of Lynch fans will claim that it's certainly theirs; Critically, WILD AT HEART is often mentioned as a peak in David Lynch's career. The story is about two starstruck lovers, Sailor Ripley (Nicholas Cage as an Elvis incarnation) and Lula Fortune (Laura Dern as Dorothy Gale), and their flight from the Wicked Witch Of The West, or in this case Lula's mother, Marietta Pace Fortune (Diane Ladd; Real-life mother of Laura Dern). Lula's mother doesn't really share her daughter's affection for Sailor Ripley, and she has enlisted the aid of a private detective to track the pair down, and a hitman to kill Sailor Ripley. What follows is a Lynchian journey a long the yellow brick road, or just your average Amerian highway, in search of a wizard of Oz, that's not really there; Basically, we see Sailor and Luna jump from one deranged world into an even more psychotic one. I believe that two quotes from the film sums up what all this is about; "The whole world is wild at heart and weird on top," and "Too bad there's no wizard of Oz we can all go to for good advice".

The film is, as I've attempted to hint at, full of references to THE WIZARD OF OZ, and it's not a bad idea having seen that film before watching WILD AT HEART. You can thoroughly enjoy the latter without having seen the former, don't get me wrong, but a lot of things in the film will seem strange and ridicilous; For instance, there's a scene at the end which involves the Good Witch Of The North, and you can't really understand how wonderful that scene is if you have no knowledge of THE WIZARD OF OZ. But in any case, WILD AT HEART is a hearty recommandation, just don't expect your average Hollywood movie; This is a David Lynch film, and his films are strange and weird and deranged, and they don't always make sense, but I've never seen a film of his that hasn't fascinated me (even DUNE had its moments).