Does it matter how the filmmaker interprets their work?

[echolalia]

Yet I was a little disturbed when I found that the line about 'the night you planned to go clear' wasn't the poetic image of general escape I imagined but a reference to to Scientology, that dismal fake religion. I felt that devalued the song, that Cohen wanted to give credence to this nonsense.

I hear it as a snarky reference. Even if one buys into Scientology, how does one "plan" to Go Clear on a particular night? It's ridiculous - it's like planning on attaining a state of grace.

I have no idea what Cohen was thinking, but you have to imagine that the poetic quality of those words meant as much to him as their actual mundane meaning.

I could even imaging the whole song being born from the desire to ask “did you ever go clear” in a lyric.

Lennie did dabble in dianetics, as it used to be called, in his early, Montreal years.

[echolalia]

I reckon he does, he just can't explain it, but it makes perfect sense in his own head. You know, like some posters on here.

I suspect that he’d say that it operates on drewm logic, or something like that. Which is why it’s often fruitless to try to arrive at a definitive interpretation.

I don't think he understands it. He's pursuing ideas without ever catching up with them and pinning them down - the thrill is definitely in the chase.

[Dr Markus]

I reckon he does, he just can't explain it, but it makes perfect sense in his own head. You know, like some posters on here.

I suspect that he’d say that it operates on drewm logic, or something like that. Which is why it’s often fruitless to try to arrive at a definitive interpretation.

It's frustratingly fun to do so though.

[The Modernist]

We generally give too much importance to the idea of the auteur though. It's why we continue to refer to Twin Peaks, to use the example in this thread, as Lynch's vision, when actually it is co-authored with Mark Frost.
I read a book on the making of Psycho the other day and it surprised me how many of the key ideas didn't originate with Hitchcock.

[Goat Boy]

I don't think anybody who knows much about Twin Peaks would discount Mark Frosts contribution but certainly a lot of the memorable elements that made the show so distinctive are more Lynch: the shifts in tone, the use of music, dopplegangers/multiple characters played by the same person, supernatural (although I think lodges were more Frost than Lynch; they both share an interest in the occult). I suspect their sense of humour is similar too.

[Dr Markus]

I don't think anybody who knows much about Twin Peaks would discount Mark Frosts contribution but certainly a lot of the memorable elements that made the show so distinctive are more Lynch: the shifts in tone, the use of music, dopplegangers/multiple characters played by the same person, supernatural (although I think lodges were more Frost than Lynch; they both share an interest in the occult). I suspect their sense of humour is similar too.

Frost just suffers from not being the face, for want of a better description, of twin peaks like Lynch is. Would still love to know percentage wise who does what in creating and writing twin peaks. Is it 50/50 on the writing then Frost throws in one or two suggestions in the directing? is it 70/30 in favor of frost in the writing and 100% lynch in the directing. Won't change my enjoyment of the show, but I would find it interesting to know.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

I don't think anybody who knows much about Twin Peaks would discount Mark Frosts contribution but certainly a lot of the memorable elements that made the show so distinctive are more Lynch: the shifts in tone, the use of music, dopplegangers/multiple characters played by the same person, supernatural (although I think lodges were more Frost than Lynch; they both share an interest in the occult). I suspect their sense of humour is similar too.

Frost just suffers from not being the face, for want of a better description, of twin peaks like Lynch is. Would still love to know percentage wise who does what in creating and writing twin peaks. Is it 50/50 on the writing then Frost throws in one or two suggestions in the directing? is it 70/30 in favor of frost in the writing and 100% lynch in the directing. Won't change my enjoyment of the show, but I would find it interesting to know.

Just conjecture on my part, but my experience with co-writing has been that you tend to fall into a pattern where one person is like a pregnant woman and the other is like her Lamaze coach. Meaning...one person is helping to pull ideas out of the other one. In really strong partnerships, you can take turns in either role. But it’s seldom an equal dynamic at any given moment.

Given Lynch’s status - I have to think Frost facilitates more than not.

[Dr Markus]

A lot of partnerships I hear about to day it seems to be if you're not thinking of ideas or adding to them, then you're writing while the other is spitting out ideas. Then they switch about.