Sailor smashes the man’s head against a wooden railing and then throws him down the stairs and smashes his head against the marble floor, spilling blood everywhere. The man pulls a knife, the jazz stops and is replaced by heavy metal. The man accuses Sailor of trying fuck Lula’s mother in the toilet. Another man calls Sailor’s name and they engage in a terse exchange of dialogue. It opens with jazz music, a pan across the ceiling of an opulent casino, and the title card “Cape Fear: Somewhere Near the Border of North and South Carolina.” Sailor (Nicolas Cage) walks into frame, kisses Lula (Laura Dern), and then they both walk down a large set of stairs to leave. The opening scene of David Lynch’s Wild at Heart provides an effective template for the rest of the film and – it could be said – for the following two decades of his career. In this edition, Jones analyzes David Lynch’s violent road trip Wild at Heart – playing tonight at the Lightbox.

To celebrate TIFF’s ongoing Bangkok Dangerous: The Cinema Of Nicolas Cage series, Alan Jones has resurrected his retrospective of the actor’s work entitled The Nic Cage Project.

Nick cage movies Wild at Heart