Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Publicity Photos from the Czech Republic

I regularly scour online auction sites looking for unique treasures for the ever-growing Twin Peaks archive. I recently stumbled upon three publicity photos from the 1992 release of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me in the Czech Republic. These three images include on-set photography by the late Lorey Sebastian and are something I’ve never seen in three decades of being a fan.

TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

The year 1992 was an interesting time for the Czech Republic. To understand why, we need to return to World War I. Following Austria-Hungary’s collapse, most of the region became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918. Czechoslovakia was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to remain a parliamentary democracy during the entirety of the interwar period.

Nazi Germany systematically took control over the Czech lands following the Munich Agreement of 1938. Once the Nazi regime fell in 1945, the country was restored  but became an Eastern Bloc communist state following a coup d’état in 1948. There was a brief moment the country almost broke free from communism during the Prague Spring of 1968. A Soviet-led invasion stopped that attempt to liberalize the government and economy. Decades later, the Velvet Revolution of 1989 (the same year Twin Peaks was being filmed in Washington state) ended communist rule and restored democracy. Four year later, the two countries that once made up Czechoslovakia – the Czech Republic and Slovakia – peacefully split into two independent countries on December 31, 1992.

Somewhere during that year, Lynch’s 1992 film was shown in theatres. I’ve been unable to locate a specific release date (though the release date in nearby Hungary was listed as December 31, 1992). I did, however, find a film’s poster on Posteritati.com which states it is from 1992. Interestingly, the film is only called “Twin Peaks” which would be similar to the French or German release titles, “Twin Peaks: The Film.”

In more recent times, Kino Aero, the leading repertory cinema in Prague, Czech Republic, has screened Lynch’s prequel. In 2023, they posted the film’s trailer with Czech subtitles on YouTube along with this description below:

V městečku Twin Peaks má každý svá tajemství, ale snad nejvíce jich má Laura Palmer. Tu David Lynch oživuje ve filmu Twin Peaks: ohni se mnou pojď, prequelu k přelomovému devadesátkovému seriálu, ikonickému svým mixem soap opery a hororové krimi. Snímek sleduje teenagerku týden před její vraždou a nalezením v plastové folii a odkrývá záhady spojené s jejím zabitím. Laura vede dvojí život. Ve dne je spořádaná školní královna, ale mimo školu se stále více propadá do temnoty, když krok po kroku odhaluje identitu tajemného násilníka, jenž ji po léta terorizuje. Lynch před diváky rozprostírá vizi noční můry, ve které je nevinná dívka rozsápána temnými silami. Zároveň se ale snímek dá vnímat jako jeden z autorových nejvíce lidských filmů, plný bolesti a soucitu vůči rozervané hrdince – postavě fascinující stejně tak zaživa jako po smrti.

Below is the English translation of the above paragraph.

In the town of Twin Peaks, everybody has their secrets – but no one more than Laura Palmer. In this prequel to his groundbreaking 1990s television series, David Lynch resurrects the teenager found wrapped in plastic at the beginning of the show, following her through the last week of her life and teasing out the enigmas that surround her murder. Homecoming queen by day and drug-addicted thrill seeker by night, Laura leads a double life that pulls her deeper and deeper into horror as she pieces together the identity of the assailant who has been terrorizing her for years. Nightmarish in its vision of an innocent torn apart by unfathomable forces, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is nevertheless one of Lynch’s most humane films, aching with compassion for its tortured heroine – a character as enthralling in life as she was in death.

TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME PUBLICITY PHOTOS FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC

On Twin Peaks Blog, you can various publicity photos, lobby cards and other marketing materials from Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and Twin Peaks: The Return. These include both black and white images and full color shots like the images from the Czech Republic.

The image of Laura and Sarah Palmer seated at their dinner table caught my eye as it’s a strange image to use for the film’s publicity. The Ebay seller has this photo priced at $195.

The caption found on all three publicity photos reads: “Posledních sedm dni života Laury Palmerové. Filmové pokračování slavného seriálu Davida Lynche konečně vnese světlo do celého případu.”

This is roughly translated using Google Translate: “The last seven day of Laura Palmer’s life. The film sequel to David Lynch’s famous series finally sheds light on the entire case.”

The Mauve Zone had this same publicity photo without the caption and film’s distribution logos.

The scene with Laura and her mother at the breakfast table is only found in The Missing Pieces released in 2014. Laura is quietly eating a muffin while Sarah takes drags from her cigarette. Leland Palmer bounces down the stairs and cheerfully reminds his family, “Don’t forget: It’s Johnny Horne’s birthday today.” Leland exits and Laura keeps eating. Sarah then mocks Leland’s happy reminder.

In the script from August 8, 1991, this scene is number 166 and is followed by a shot in the film of Laura snorting cocaine from a plastic bag in her bedroom until it’s empty.

The scene cuts to Laura walking a hallway in Twin Peaks High School wearing the same outfit as the scene from The Missing Pieces and the Czech publicity photo.

This isn’t the first time a deleted scene was used as a publicity photo. 1400 River Road shared with me a publicity photo of Deputy Cliff at the Fat Trout Trailer Park. This image was most likely used for the international market. Unlike the breakfast image, the footage of Cliff with Agent Chester Desmond was never released.

A second image shows James Hurley parked on his Harley Davidson motorcycle outside the Palmer house. This shot is also a unique photo as the two-shot of him with Laura Palmer is more often seen. The Ebay seller is listing this photo for $150.

The Mauve Zone also had a slightly cropped similar image online.

The final image shows Mike, the One-Armed Man and the Little Man From Another Place in the Red Room.  It’s the scene where they speak in unison to Killer BOB while Leland Palmer is suspended above the black and white chevron floor. Like the Laura and Sarah Palmer image, the Ebay seller lists this photo at $195.

Here is a slightly cropped photo from The Mauve Zone without the publicity photo border.

The angle to the shot, however, is never seen in the theatrical release of the film. The closest thing is the image above when the Little Man From Another Place touches Mike’s shoulder and looks back at BOB. The image cuts to a close up of BOB. Lorey Sebastian’s camera would have been to the right side of the photo. Comparing their still image versus on-screen expressions, the publicity photo was most likely staged. It could have also been a reaction shot that the camera captured but that footage has never been released.

More than three decades later, I love finding these rarely seen images. My obsession with this film will never end as there is always something new to discover.