The movies that inspired David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks’
Undoubtedly one of the greatest practitioners of surrealism in film history, David Lynch has immortalised his legacy through masterpieces like Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive. While his unique movies are usually the first to pop up during any discussions about Lynch’s craft, the American auteur also permanently changed the landscape of television. The project that redefined the medium was none other than Twin Peaks.
Starring the talented Kyle MacLachlan as FBI Agent Dale Cooper, Twin Peaks revolves around the strange murder investigation of a local girl. However, unlike conventional crime mysteries that have different concerns, Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost explore bizarre spiritual and psychological spheres while examining the human condition. In 2017, Lynch returned with a continuation of the 1990s series, which also received unanimous praise.
During a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker commented on the contemporary state of television: “The quality of the sound and picture is not as good as in the theatre, but it’s getting better all the time. And if people see it on a big screen in their house with the lights down and good sound, or if they see it with headphones, it’s possible to really get into that world. So it’s a hopeful time, and cable television is getting better all the time, and it’s a beautiful place for these things.”
Although Lynch’s vision is unambiguously unique, Twin Peaks also draws on vast cinematic traditions to construct its surreal spectacles. Ranging from the semiotic networks of Maya Deren’s experimental 1943 work Meshes of the Afternoon to the noir tropes of Otto Preminger’s Laura, the influences are hidden underneath the highly specific visual language that Lynch employs. But just paying a little bit more attention is enough to make the associations evident.
Alfred Hitchcock’s mysterious treatment of shifting individual identities in Vertigo is a recurring theme throughout Twin Peaks, just like the atmospheric folk horror of The Wicker Man. For fans of Twin Peaks who are always enthusiastic to learn more about the unsettling world that the show exists in, diving into this selection of influences is the perfect opportunity to get a better understanding of its cinematic origins.
Including the works of auteurs such as Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette, Twin Peaks is a fascinating achievement that draws from an eclectic mixture of movies and turns it into something completely different. While the films on the list have visual or narrative links to the central text, there are countless other references sprinkled throughout the show.
One perfect example of the latter is Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, which inspired the name of Lynch’s character Gordon Cole. The director said: “That’s where the name came from, for my character in Twin Peaks, from Sunset Boulevard. Billy Wilder worked at Paramount Studios. If you’re driving from the east toward the west, going to Paramount on Melrose, you’ll pass Gordon Street and Cole Street.”
Check out the full list below.
Movies that inspired David Lynch’s Twin Peaks:
- Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, 1943)
- Laura (Otto Preminger, 1944)
- Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947)
- Orphée (Jacques Cocteau, 1950)
- Peyton Place (Mark Robson, 1957)
- Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
- A Woman is a Woman (Jean-Luc Godard, 1961)
- One-Eyed Jacks (Marlon Brando, 1961)
- Out 1 (Jacques Rivette, 1971)
- The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973)
