Quentin Tarantino Hates This David Lynch Movie Streaming On HBO Max (And He’s Wrong)

Writer, director, and auteur filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has a pretty strong directorial style and even stronger opinions. The man behind films like “Reservoir Dogs” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” has been no stranger to controversy over the years, like getting in trouble for his flagrant usage of racist slurs in his plantation revenge film “Django Unchained” or for his tendency toward extreme violence. One would think that might make him a little more empathetic toward other creatives whose work isn’t received the way it was intended. Far from it, however, Tarantino has rarely hesitated to verbally trash his fellow directors when interviewed by the press, even putting down the misunderstood work of one of filmmaking’s greatest creative voices.

In a 1992 interview, Tarantino decided to rag on a number of directors who had mostly avoided the studio system and made independent art films up to that point, among them “Eraserhead” writer and director David Lynch. Indeed, he had nothing nice to say about Lynch’s 1992 film “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me,” and while, yes, criticism is subjective and his opinions are his to have, he’s still incredibly, hilariously wrong.

“Fire Walk With Me” was never going to be a crowd-pleaser. It’s an absolutely brutal experience and a real bummer, so perhaps it’s not surprising that Lynch ended up having to defend the film for the rest of his career. While there’s been a reappraisal in recent years and some people have finally realized the genius behind “Fire Walk With Me,” all those “Twin Peaks” fans who’d been hoping to see more Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) were sorely disappointed to discover the movie was entirely about the show’s dead girl, Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), and her truly terrifying final days. Tarantino hated “Fire Walk With Me” so much that he went on to trash Lynch completely, telling LA Weekly in 1992:

“I’m not ragging on other people, but after I saw ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me’ at Cannes, David Lynch has disappeared so far up his own ass that I have no desire to see another David Lynch movie until I hear something different. And you know, I love him. I loved him.”

Those are mighty big words from a guy who had only just made his own first film when he formed that opinion (“Reservoir Dogs” and “Fire Walk With Me” both hit theaters in 1992), but they’re also kind of infuriating. People who truly love filmmakers are willing to accept that sometimes they’ll make things they don’t love, but they still want to see what’s next. In addition to Lynch, Tarantino also asked when “The Man Who Fell to Earth” director Nicolas Roeg “last made a good film” and claimed that Gus Van Sant had become “a parody of himself” with his challenging and vital LGBTQ+ take on Shakespeare, “My Own Private Idaho,” so maybe the younger Tarantino just couldn’t handle movies about character’s internal lives? (And I’m sorry, but after Tarantino’s cameo as an Australian slavery trader in “Django Unchained,” the man has since forfeited the right to say anyone’s head is up their own butt, in perpetuity.)

I’ve already written about this at length, but I’ll say it again: “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” was a feminist masterpiece ahead of its time. It forces the audience to try and understand Laura Palmer instead of just relegating her to a frozen, dead object like she was in “Twin Peaks.” The entire film is from her perspective, which makes for a disturbing, surreal experience because she’s deeply traumatized and deteriorating mentally. Her inner agony is also misunderstood by everyone around her, especially by the men who see her only as a darling girl to be protected or a sexual object to be claimed. Lynch’s head wasn’t “up his ass,” it was firmly in his heart, giving space and empathy to a character archetype regularly reduced to sad tropes and bad jokes. Laura wasn’t just a sexually promiscuous “dumb blonde” to be served up as a sacrifice, but a fully fleshed-out human being who deserved so much better, and “Fire Walk” at least gave her the chance to share her story and have some agency. It’s supposed to be uncomfortable, and it’s intentionally challenging toward men and patriarchal society, which doesn’t make for an easy watch — but it is an important one.

“Fire Walk” is far from Lynch’s worst film, and thankfully, people have come around to realize that it’s something truly special, even if it doesn’t deliver what they wanted from a “Twin Peaks” movie. It’s actually one of Lynch’s best films, digging deep into themes of what we do to survive trauma, the masks we all wear, and the sinister forces that lurk beneath things that are seemingly benign. Tarantino may have made some amazing films over the years, but when it comes to the art of others, well, perhaps he should seriously rethink some of his more hostile opinions.