For John Thorne, Mulholland Drive has not only been a vital experience in its own right but also -forgive the expression - a key to David Lynch's other work, particularly Twin Peaks. Many of John's theories and interpretations of Peaks borrow from a structure Lynch most notably deployed to tie two worlds together: the characters and stories conceived for an ABC TV pilot (the first two-thirds of Mulholland Drive, with some subtle but significant changes) and the more time-constrained but also thematically and stylistically grander possibilities of a theatrically-released feature film (sealed by the final third of Mulholland Drive, shot a year and a half after the other material). Not only does Mulholland inform John's notions of dreaming and identity shifts in Peaks, it also feeds his fascination with process - the outside conditions that, well, condition Lynch's creative responses. We began to dwell on this subject in our previous discussion (itself following Twin Peaks Conversations episodes in 2021 and 2022). Since then, John wrote and published the absorbing and deeply compelling Devious Dreams: Reimagining David Lynch's Twin Peaks (which includes history of the production, analysis of the pilot and film, and original interviews with the central cast). Naturally, we had to schedule a reunion to focus on this new book.
The resulting episode premieres exactly twelve hours from this announcement and runs nearly four hours in total, with about an hour and a half public on YouTube and the remaining two and half hours for the $5/month tier on Patreon. We explore many rabbit holes, including what a Mulholland Drive series might have looked like (and how that phenomenon would compare to Twin Peaks), what was in the closed ending Lynch shot for the pilot even before expanding it into a film, the significance of the man behind Winkie's Diner, how John's exposure to a version of the pilot before the 2001 Mulholland Drive premiere shaped his perspective, and the way that the film's release (nearly a decade into Wrapped in Plastic's run) changed John's work on the magazine. And that's just in the first part of the conversation!
PART 1 on YouTube premieres at 8pm EST
Listen to...
(also premieres at 8pm EST)
Like my Halloween conversation with John, my April/May conversation with Cameron Cloutier and Josh Eisenstadt, and my December conversation with Rob King, this is a bonus episode of the Twin Peaks Conversations podcast (which ended its monthly run halfway through 2023). Bonuses will continue over the next few years, at least as long as I'm working on the three big Twin Peaks projects (Journey Through Twin Peaks videos, the written character series, and the second season of the Lost in Twin Peaks podcast). In fact, I'm currently planning to have a first-time guest to discuss a new Peaks-related documentary in the spring. Stay tuned.
Purchase John's new book Devious Dreams: Reimagining David Lynch's Mulholland Drive
Purchase John's earlier books Ominous Whoosh: A Wandering Mind Returns to Twin Peaks & The Essential Wrapped in Plastic: Pathways to Twin Peaks
Five years ago, we discussed the pilot versions w/ Twin Peaks Unwrapped
Prior to our Twin Peaks Conversations episodes, I spoke to John over three print interviews in 2014 (about Wrapped in Plastic, The Missing Pieces, and the announcement of The Return), again when he published his 2016 book, and then over four Patreon podcasts in 2019 (first, second, third, and fourth).
Listen to his podcast In Our House Now
Check out back issues of his more recent magazine The Blue Rose
My video essay David Lynch & Mary Sweeney: Dream Souls
(the chapter w/ the four sequences including "From Monster to Ingenue" can be watched in isolation)
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