Northwest Passage: A Twin Peaks Fanedit

Second time watching through the original series for me, quite a different perspective when one has prior knowledge. This is an interesting take on the material, a very accomplished distillation of Laura Palmer's story but not without the occasional issues that other reviewers have mentioned (mainly orphaned references that could confuse new viewers). A few favourite moments of mine are lost, but that is hardly a valid complaint when considering the stated aim of the project.

Something that also occurred to me is that, in tone and focus at least, the edit more resembles Fire Walk with Me. With each part similar in runtime to the theatrical cut, one could almost consider the works as a trilogy with two main parts followed by a prologue, barring the few elements in the prequel (most noticeably Annie) that were introduced in the second half of Season 2.

Well-deserved wins for Q2, thank you for going to all the trouble putting this together!

QUALITY

Quality is decent. The cropping to 16:9 naturally means a reduced resolution.


VISUAL EDITING

The conversion to 16:9 generally works really well. Occasionally shots look a little tight, but it never felt intrusive or like it detracted from my enjoyment. It was nice to experience the series in this aspect ratio and it definitely helped in conveying a more cinematic feel.

In terms of cuts, I found a fair amount of shots to be too quick, mainly establishing shots and mostly in the first half. 1:20:20 of Part 1 I remember being especially abrupt. There's also a frame jump at 2:14:34 in Part 2 (probably a misplaced keyframe from cropping). The end credit scene has very obviously had the aspect ratio stretched and doesn't look great.


AUDIO EDITING

No doubt there were numerous cuts and trims that went by unnoticed. I did notice quite a few audio transitions though; nothing jarring, but some obvious crossfades. Again, more in the first half than the second. A minor thing, but there is also a relatively loud audio pop during the credits.


NARRATIVE

First thing's first, this is being presented as a 5-hour movie, which seems like a crazy idea. Looking at it like that, it's way too long. However, perhaps it is best viewed as a 2-part TV movie of sorts? It is presented in two 2.5 hour chunks, and this mitigates the excessive runtime considerably. Being able to view it in two screenings of a reasonable length works well, the pacing is generally good and it never feels episodic.

Unfortunately, there are narrative problems, as others have noted. There are minor(ish) things, like characters referencing something that no longer exists in this cut (Lucy mentioning seeing Bobby's parents, Donna mentioning Howard's letter), Audrey makes a single appearance that has no relevance to the plot, and then never makes another appearance again; Big Ed (a civilian) randomly tags along to a police bust (which the audience have no context for since there's no introduction to the bookhouse boys here).

And then there are more significant things, like having Doc's heart attack and Leo's shooting offscreen. If these characters were entirely relegated to the background, that could work at a push, but because this edit isn't 100% focused on the perspective of the police and FBI, and we do have deviations where we focus on these minor characters, it feels odd to have something so massive happen to them and then only get the info dropped in with a single line of dialogue. We also have no context for why Doc has his heart attack, nor is anything ever said about him having the other half of the heart necklace, in spite of it still being emphasised on camera when he's listening to Laura's tapes. Plus, to have a murder, a heart attack and two other attempted murders all on the same night is crazy - the series acknowledges this and has an explanation; this edit does not. I could keep the list going, but I don't want to labour the point. Suffice to say, the narrative is far from perfect here.

On a related note, there are some general effects that an edit like this has on the feel and flow, which are really just a byproduct of the concept and can't be helped. The first part of the edit feels very dry overall, since there is a lot of procedural stuff and info-driven dialogue, without much of the quirky character moments to break things apart and make it more digestible. There is also less of a mystery in one sense; since we spend less time and see less of the townsfolk, we're therefore limited to a smaller set of suspects, making it easy for the audience to put the pieces together and draw conclusions based on where the narrative is focusing. On the other hand, whereas the original series reveals to the audience who the killer is before their capture, Q2 decides to keep the audience in the dark with the police; I think this was a smart move and it worked well for the narrative.

Some have noted the absence of the black lodge plot, and while I like that plot and am sad it couldn't be included, it wouldn't have worked for a filmic narrative and would have made things feel far more episodic. Unfortunately, its absence does make one of the giant's clues superfluous: "the owls are not what they seem". It is worth bearing in mind that Q2 makes the interesting decision to include part of the trippy stuff related to the black lodge and insert it within the climax of the edit. I thought this was well-executed, although I'm not sure what value it added to the narrative, personally.


ENJOYMENT

Issues aside, across its 5-hour runtime the edit nicely condenses the main initial narrative thrust of the series, with a few tweaks to make the experience a little different this time around. I really enjoyed being able to re-consume the series in a much shorter amount of time.

There is some talk in the reviews as to who this is aimed at, and I also saw someone treating this as their first experience of the series. It seems to me that Q2's intent was an alternative spin in a cinematic format for those already familiar with the material. Because of narrative issues and the absence of some great material, I would strongly recommend people not let this be their first experience, but I think it's a good option for a revisit. I also disagree with people who think all the Lynchian-ness has been stripped away... plenty of the weirdness is left. Most of what Lynch directed of the series were climactic episodes, which are naturally retained. Plenty of opportunity was here to trim some of the awkward, drawn-out dreams and visions, but these mostly remain intact. I think any hardcore Lynch fan is probably also the sort of person to frown on any kind of edit, full stop. If one wants to speculate on the meaning of Twin Peaks and bask in the mind of Lynch, then naturally anything unsupervised by him is not going to be the way to go. But if you simply want to enjoy a different take on the material, this is a fun ride.

Disclaimer: I'm not a fan of Twin Peaks, and I've only previously managed to get through the pilot. However, this is a very well made edit. Cutting down 16 hours of content down to 5 hours is very impressive. And despite a lot being cut, the pace is not high. It still feels like a TV series. I mostly followed the plot (as much as is possible when Lynch is directing), although it is convoluted, and I started to lose track of things towards the end. I do believe even more content could have been cut at certain points to further streamline the narrative and place the focus on more essential points (although I respect that this has already been done to a great degree).

Editing-wise, the cuts were superb, the only thing I noticed were occasional quick music fades that are unavoidable when making TV-to-Film edits. I wish that some of the loud background music had been removed when characters were speaking, although this is no fault of the editor. Cutting the footage from 4:3 to 16:9 was a great idea, looked great on the TV. A/V quality was excellent.

In conclusion, this is a high quality edit, but Lynch is still a nutjob. I think fans of the series should definitely give this a watch, but non-fans are unlikely to be converted.

For those like myself who enjoy the absurdist murder mystery of Twin Peaks but who have less patience for the soap operatics that make up the balance of the show, this edit is a godsend. It saves the viewer the chore of watching the entire show, and lays the groundwork for the superior (and not coincidentally, more Lynch-controlled) Fire Walk With Me and The Return. The only criticism I have is, as others have pointed out, the re-framing of the Black Lodge sequences from the end of the series and therefore the truncation of Cooper's ultimate fate, which sets the stage for The Return. So a word to the wise: you may want to partake of the series finale even after watching this edit. Aside from that, a fine achievement, renewing my interest in the hermetic small town with the damn fine coffee.

I finally got around to watching this, and WOW! I'm not a huge David Lynch fan; I get it, but it's not usually for me. As such, I never sat down to watch Twin Peaks, so this is my first exposure. The short version: I loved it! It starts of engaging and a little odd, and then when the season two stuff starts happening, it just gets nuttier and nuttier. The pacing of this thing is a wonder, considering how much was cut. I had no problem following the plot, nothing necessary to my understanding of the narrative as crafted here appeared to be missing, and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. There did seem to be some stuff that could be further cut as a few side characters come off as underwritten to the point of being superfluous, but as a Twin Peaks neophyte, I can't say for sure what impact that would further have on the end result. Either way, I enjoyed all of it, and I actually want to sit down now and watch the whole series!