Directed by:
David LynchScreenplay:
David LynchCinematography:
Frederick ElmesComposer:
Angelo BadalamentiCast:
Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, J.E. Freeman, Crispin Glover, Diane Ladd, Calvin Lockhart, Isabella Rossellini, Harry Dean Stanton, Grace Zabriskie (more)Plots(1)
WILD AT HEART follows the troubled romance of Sailor (Nicolas Cage) and Lula (Laura Dern), two lovers who struggle to remain together even when fate seems intent on keeping them apart. In this case, fate is Lula's mother, Marietta Fortune (Diane Ladd), a desperate woman who hates Sailor and will do anything to keep him away from her daughter. After Sailor is released from prison for murdering a man--albeit in self-defense--he and Lula embark on a sex-filled, rocking road trip, aware that they are being hunted by one of Marietta's cronies. When they pull off the road in order to hide out in a small trailer park, Sailor befriends Bobby Peru (Willem Dafoe), an incredibly intense war veteran with a rotten set of teeth. Bobby convinces Sailor to help him rob a bank, much to Lula's objections (for she has discovered that she is pregnant). Sailor must decide if he wants to go straight and be there for his child or remain under Bobby's influence and risk returning to jail. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (8)
"Fuck Me. Fuck Me," or the pleading of the wonderfully slimy Willem Dafoe in one of the memorable scenes in a typical showcase of madness by Lynch – you can think what you want about it, but you can't take your eyes off it. Three stars for Lynch’s poetics and one star for Dafoe’s rotten teeth and blown off head.
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The most insane romance I’ve ever seen. Even though it has plenty of Lynch’s abnormality, Wild At heart was missing something that would make it not just weird, but unforgettably weird. That said, Cage, Dern and especially Defoe deliver remarkable creations that help the film to get somewhere just below the summit of the audience’s refined tastes (in the good sense). 7/10
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"A genuinely wacky romance directed by David Lynch with one really great head shot and numerous references to The Wizard of Oz. As the years go by, I find that Lynch's films mature like wine with each viewing, and I appreciate Wild at Heart more and more." That's what I wrote here about the film exactly ten years ago, and today, after several more viewings, including one on a big screen, I can only add that it is simply a unique achievement, both in David Lynch's filmography and in world cinema in general. [KVIFF 2022]
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Wild at Heart is kind of like Indiana Jones in Lynch's style. The director took a trashy literary motif and turned it into an intelligent parody of the genre. Additionally, he added his classic ingredients, such as perversion, craziness, and the madness of his characters, so that a viewer who has seen, for example, Blue Velvet, essentially gets the same thing, but much stronger, like a punch to the face. It's a subtle parody, where the director intentionally exaggerates his characters into caricatures. The film is interesting in how it mixes insane music into romantic or dark thriller situations. It uses his favorite actors, such as Laura Dern, who know well what kind of weirdo Lynch is and can meet him halfway. At the same time, Lynch doesn't go into purely hallucinogenic territory here and the film is consumable for a wider audience. Overall impression: 80%.
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An incredibly raw film that builds up to the moment of a bank heist, where Lynch manages to stun you with just one scene. If you thought it was intense up until then, you’re in for quite the shock. He can incredibly construct a film, choose the right actors for every role, and direct them in a perfect spirit. No, it's not a normal film; it's still Lynch, but his parallel with "The Wizard of Oz" is excellent. I haven't read the source material, but I'm convinced that the screenplay differs significantly from it. And if not, then there are two Lynches.
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