‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me’ Korean DVD From March 2011

David Lynch’s 1992 masterpiece Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is one of my favorite films. I’ve covered it extensively on Twin Peaks Blog, discussing the film’s release in countries around the world. I also own several copies including the beautiful Criterion Collection Blu-ray released a few years ago. While that stunning release is a gold standard in home video releases of the film, the Korean DVD release from March 2011 is – how do I put it nicely? – well, it’s interesting.

TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME DVD FROM KOREA | MARCH 2011

While Lynch’s film was originally released in theatres in 1992, it would take another decade before fans would find his prequel to Twin Peaks available on DVD. For fans in Korea, it appears there have been several releases over the years including DVDs in 2003 and 2006. For this article, I’m focusing on the DVD produced by Sun Entertainment in March 2011. How did I discover the production date?

Thanks to Google Translate, I discovered the fine print on the back cover reads:

Produced by: Sun Entertainment | Rating Classification Number: Cable Broadcast | Date of manufacture: 2011.3

Sun Entertainment should not be confused with Sun Entertainment in the United States that is connected to Sun Records. This was most likely a Korean distribution company that secured the rights to manufacturing this DVD. Then again, with no information readily available, it’s difficult to confirm.

The DVD packaging designs were created by 4 You Communication, which may be a French promotional products company. I did not find a company with that name in Korea.

TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME DVD FROM KOREA | FRONT COVER

The front cover contains images of Laura Palmer wrapped in plastic and the half-burning heart photo of Laura at the Red Diamond City Motel. The latter used a publicity for the North American film release in 1992. The original tagline from 1992 is also found along the bottom – “In a town like Twin Peaks, no one is innocent.” I ran the text under the film’s title through Google Translate which returned: “The brutal truth she denounces after her death!! The last week you could never see on TV!!”

Here is the cover without text.

The image of the Owl Cave ring on a small dirt mound is from the Fat Trout Trailer Park. Agent Chet Desmond spots this ring underneath the Chalfont trailer just before he disappears.

TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME DVD FROM KOREA | BACK COVER

The back cover contains several additional publicity photos including a repeated image of Laura Palmer in the half-burning heart necklace. The Korean text at the top gives a nod to an award the film won in 1992: “The 18th Saturn Awards (1992) / Best Sound Award Angelo Badalamenti Winner.”

The film is presented in English with both Korean and English subtitles. It’s a 1.85.1 Anamorphic Wide Screen presentation with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The running time is 134 minutes.

The image of Laura Palmer and Dale Cooper is reversed on the packaging. The publicity photo above shows how it should appear. Other photographs include Dale Cooper in the Red Room, Laura Palmer at Donna Hayward’s house, Gordon Cole at the private Portland Airport and Laura Palmer at Harold Smith’s house. These appear to be screen caps from the film versus publicity photos.

The back cover also contains a synopsis in Korean. Thanks to Google Translate, I have a rough idea of what it says.

The cruel truth she reveals after her death!!

Twin Peaks is a small, quiet town in a valley where the sound of the wind shaking the pine trees sounds like the cry of an owl. One day, the body of a blonde girl named Teresa Banks is found floating down the river. FBI special agents Desmond and Sam are dispatched to investigate this case, but the investigation becomes a labyrinth and the identity of the culprit is not easily revealed. Then one day, former FBI agent Philip, who disappeared while investigating the murder of a girl two years ago, suddenly appears at FBI headquarters and hints at ominous signs of the case before disappearing like a ghost. At the same time, news of the disappearance of investigator Desmond, who was solving the mystery of the murder case in Twin Peaks, flies to FBI headquarters. One year later, the movie moves on to the story of Laura Palmer, a high school girl and beauty queen of Twin Peaks. Laura, an attractive blonde girl, seems very bright and cheerful on the outside, but she has been repeatedly raped by a mysterious man named Bob since she was 12 years old, and as she abuses herself, she falls into a swamp of wandering and anxiety, throwing herself into drugs and sex and leading a miserable double life…

David Lynch shocked and astonished audiences around the world with and however in he seems to show even more narcissistic experimentation and interest in bizarre hobbies. In this film, too, the darkness, mental confusion, multiple obsessions, and oriental mysticism that dominate his visual world are added to create even more difficult images. However, the lighting and camera work give a stable impression. Lynch argues that although modern America seems quiet and peaceful, it actually contains terrifying conflicts and bloody disasters. 

TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME DVD FROM KOREA | DVD DISC

The DVD disc repeats the images and text from the front case cover.

TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME DVD FROM KOREA | MENU / SCENE SELECTION

The menu includes a image of Laura Palmer wrapped in plastic. There are four options – play movie, scene selection, set up and theatrical trailer.

Set up has an image of the Little Man From Another Place in a scene not found in the film. It’s from Agent Cooper’s dream found either in the International version of the Twin Peaks pilot or episode 1.002.

Audio options include the aforementioned 5.1 Dolby Digital, 2.0 surround and DTS surround.

An interesting featured on this DVD is chapter spots, something David Lynch did not prefer according to reports from the release of Mulholland Drive. Lynchnet, one of the earliest David Lynch fan sites that I can recall said Lynch didn’t like chapter stops because “he believes a film should be experienced as a whole, without interruptions. He prefers viewers to watch his movies from beginning to end without the ability to skip around.”

The video from the Twin Peaks Blog YouTube channel shows the main menu page and all five chapter stop pages. Each page contains six spheres with action from the film. The sounds of a trumpet playing the “Theme to Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” is heard in the background on each page. It repeats endlessly.

With the inclusion of these chapter stops, it confirms David Lynch was not involved with this transfer for the Korean market.

TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME DVD FROM KOREA | SCENES FROM THE FILM

I took a sample of scenes from the film complete with Korean subtitles.

For this image, Agent Sam Stanley is asking Agent Chet Desmond about the “Blue Rose.”

Now I know how to write “Chug-a-lug, Donna” in Korean.

But my priority was learning how to write Jacques Renault’s famous line, “I’m as blank as a fart.”

If you are a completist like me, you’ll want a copy of this DVD. It’s easy to find at a very reasonable price. If you are looking for high quality, I would suggest the Criterion Collection release or the Twin Peaks: From Z to A Collection.