Director: David Lynch
Screenplay: David Lynch
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, Crispin Glover, Diane Ladd, Isabella Rossellini, Harry Dean Stanton
Country: United States
Running Time: 125 minutes
Year: 1990
BBFC Certificate: 18
Legendary director David Lynch was clearly having a lot of fun working on the explosive 1990 neo-noir thriller Wild at Heart – and who wouldn’t with a cast headed by larger-than-life Nicolas Cage, who was entering the peak of his career, at this stage, and the equally commanding Laura Dern. The film is a romp but one of the weakest of Lynch’s offerings I have come across – it pales in comparison to great works like Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive.
Criterion is releasing a new 4K digital restoration of the unrated international version, supervised by director of photography Frederick Elmes and approved by the David Lynch Estate with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack.
They’ve also included an alternate 5.1 surround mix newly created from the original 35 mm tracks. The package comes with a 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the special features.
It includes a range of archival special features and a new introduction by film programmer and critic Dennis Lim. Archival extras include behind the scenes documentaries, deleted scenes and outtakes, a music video and an extensive audio interview with Lynch.
Criterion describes the plot as follows: ‘Laura Dern and Nicolas Cage are Lula and Sailor, outlaw lovers whose reckless passion sends them on the run through a menacing South, where their dream of freedom collides with a vortex of violence and depravity. Blending all-American iconography ranging from Elvis to The Wizard of Oz into a twisted southern-gothic soap opera.’
I had a lot of fun watching the film, but I couldn’t help cringing a little at the caricature performances of Cage and Dern. Their erotically charged performances are a lot of fun to watch but the sheer wackiness of the ‘white trash’ characters does tend to grow a little tiresome.
Dern’s real life mother Diane Ladd, who stars Lula’s overbearing mother Marietta, was delightfully psychotic. She stole every scene she was in and was just electric. Willem Dafoe, starring as criminal Bobby Peru, was slimiest I’ve ever seen him – which is no mean feat, considering his illustrious career mainly playing weirdos and psychopaths.
Picture wise, it starts out looking a little soft and washed out but as the film progresses the rich rosy hues of the era become more defined. There’s a recurring motif with flames igniting and exploding which send a high-contrast ripple of colour dazzling across the screen. There are many moments where film quickly changes tone, going from sizzling romance to either dreamstate or extreme violence which are highly complemented by the quality of the picture and sound.
This had an incredible soundtrack – not only do we get Cage belting his heart out to Elvis’ Love Me (Treat Me Like A Fool) and Love Me Tender but there’s also a wild and moody mix of heavy metal, classic rock and blues thundering through the speakers. The 5.1 mix was fantastic and it felt like there was a mix of noise, atmospheric sounds and that awesome soundtrack firing out of the rear speakers in almost every scene.
Film:
Special Features
- New introduction by film programmer and critic Dennis Lim
- Archival documentaries featuring interviews with members of the cast and crew
- Deleted scenes and outtakes, with a new 5.1 surround mix by Hurley
- Readings from Room to Dream, a 2018 book coauthored by Lynch and critic Kristine McKenna
- Segments from a 1988 episode of Cinéma, de notre temps featuring Lynch
- Music video directed by Lynch for Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game”
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An excerpted interview with Lynch from filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley’s book Lynch on Lynch, and a new introduction by Rodley
The breadth and depth of the archival features speak for themselves with hours of bonus footage, a highlight being a lengthy behind scenes documentary which shows Lynch at work directing Cage and Dern, who seem to be having a whale of a time.
So, I will focus on what’s new in these extras. Criterion has filmed a new 17-minute introduction with film programmer and critic Dennis Lim which I would advice should be watched after the movie as it spoils the ending. This isn’t Lim’s fault – it’s just confusing as to why Criterion have named it an introduction rather than an ‘interview’ or ‘video essay’.
Lim’s interview is a fantastic extra, giving a great bite-size insight into the themes of the movie. He contextualises the film in Lynch’s career, going from the original book to casting. He discusses the symbolism of Wizard of Oz and Elvis within the movie. He then delves into the tonal themes and comments on the film’s poor critical reception upon release.
Special Features:
Criterion releases Wild at Heart in 4K in the UK on 23 November.