WILD AT HEART (1990). Barry Gifford's neopulp novel inspired this controversial cult film from director David Lynch. A star-crossed couple on the lam (Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern) is in for the most gruesome ride of their lives when they encounter a handful of bizarre -- and perhaps murderous -- strangers (played by the likes of Sheryl Lee and Willem Dafoe). (124 mins)
Some of the themes:
Elvis as:
Rebellious prototype
Camp humor
Nostalgia for the 50’s
Baudrillard says of the 50’s “ the real high spot for the US (‘when things were going on’) and you can still feel the nostalgia for those years, for the ecstasy of power, when power still held power.”
Camp humor
Nostalgia for the 50’s
Baudrillard says of the 50’s “ the real high spot for the US (‘when things were going on’) and you can still feel the nostalgia for those years, for the ecstasy of power, when power still held power.”
“To ridicule and to celebrate are reversible and interchangeable”
Flame as symbol of rebellion (like Badlands)
Again there is the impetus to start a family (like True Romance), but on the road, they are actually sexy and sensual
Like other post-modern road films the journey gets diluted, restricted, circumscribed, and minimized.
Dream-like ending- surrealist strategy of not distinguishing between the dream world and the real world (making freams real)
In the end, the car is actually stuck in traffic- not moving.
Traditional family represents stasis and being on the run turns them into a dangerous, mobile pair.
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