Wild at Heart (1990)

Director:

David Lynch

Writers (WGA):

Barry Gifford (novel)
David Lynch (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 August 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

Young lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.

Plot Keywords:

Hitman | Lover | Hate | Prison | Car Accident

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Nicolas Cage	...	Sailor Ripley
Laura Dern	...	Lula Fortune
Willem Dafoe	...	Bobby Peru
J.E. Freeman	...	Marcelles Santos
Crispin Glover	...	Dell
Diane Ladd	...	Marietta Fortune
Calvin Lockhart	...	Reggie
Isabella Rossellini	...	Perdita Durango
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Johnnie Farragut
Grace Zabriskie	...	Juana Durango
Sherilyn Fenn	...	Girl in Accident
Marvin Kaplan	...	Uncle Pooch
William Morgan Sheppard	...	Mr. Reindeer (as W. Morgan Sheppard)
David Patrick Kelly	...	Dropshadow
Freddie Jones	...	George Kovich

Also Known As:

David Lynch's Wild at Heart (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:R (cut) | New Zealand:R18 | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-15 (DVD version) | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Castle Green Apartments - 99 S. Raymond, Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

Trivia:

Willem Dafoe is actually urinating in the toilet when he goes to visit Laura Dern and asks to "piss in your head". Apparently, Dafoe had drunk a lot of bottled water and really needed to go. Only later did he find out that the toilet was not a working one and some poor crew member had to clean it.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the scene when Sailor's is running through a traffic jam to find Lula, a crew member and boom mic is visible in the reflection of one of the windows of a black van.

Quotes:

Cousin Dell: I'm making my lunch!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Shadow Man (1999) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Love Me Tender

Lynch on the road to hell

The most creative and controversial director in cinema is back with a road-movie! Wild at Heart is one rough roller coaster ride and a typical Lynch-cocktail of violence, sex and of course…bizarre characters. I challenge you to find one personality in this film that could be referred to as a ‘normal human being'. As usually, Lynch introduces a bunch of wicked individuals in his film who're all messed up in the head pretty bad. Yet, I feel like Wild at Heart might be Lynch's most accessible film (outside The Elephant Man and The Straight Story). The structure remains chronological and quite easy to follow. Unlike the previous Blue Velvet, I feel like the plot and development of Wild at Heart is a bit inferior to the wonderful photography. The greatest aspects in the screenplay are in fact the delicious side-chapters that are told without absolute necessity. Like the story about Lula's cousin Dell (Crispin Glover), the torture of Harry Dean Stanton's character and the nasty and disturbing images of a car accident the protagonists come across. These are the little sequences that truly prove Lynch's talent as a storyteller. Overall and simply put: this movie is COOL! It's a joy to watch and you really hate to love some of the offensive characters. Willem Dafoe takes the cake as Bobby Peru. His portrayal is a neat follow-up to Blue Velvet's Frank Booth. Peru is a filthy and despicable pervert with itchy-trigger-fingers! It's a damn shame he hasn't got any more screen time. Wild at Heart surely isn't the greatest masterpiece out there, but you should love it for what it is: an absurd and entertaining adventure with a couple of thought-provoking values and an extraordinary love-lesson.