Wild at Heart is a American romantic crime comedy-drama thriller [ 4 ] film written and directed by David Lynch , based on the novel of the same name by Barry Gifford. Lynch intended to only produce the film, but after reading Gifford's book, he decided to write and direct it as well.
He disliked the ending of the novel and decided to change it to fit his vision of the main characters. Wild at Heart won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival , which at the time was considered a controversial decision. The film has been positively reevaluated by critics in the years since its release. Lovers Lula and Sailor are separated after he is jailed for killing a man who attacked him with a knife; the assailant, Bobby Ray Lemon, was hired by Lula's mother, Marietta Fortune.
Upon Sailor's release 22 months later, Lula picks him up outside prison, where she hands him his snakeskin jacket. They go to a hotel where she reserved a room, have sex, and go to see the speed metal band Powermad. At the club, Sailor gets into a fight with a man who flirts with Lula, and then leads the band in a rendition of the Elvis Presley song " Love Me ". Later, back in their hotel room, after having sex again, Sailor and Lula finally decide to run away to California, breaking his parole.
Marietta arranges for private detective Johnnie Farragut—her on-off boyfriend—to find them and bring them back.
Unbeknownst to Farragut, Marietta also hires gangster Marcelles Santos to track them and kill Sailor.
