While Lynch was working on the first few episodes of '' Twin Peaks '' , his friend Monty Montgomery " gave me a book that he wanted to direct as a movie . He asked if I would maybe be executive producer or something , and I said ' That 's great , Monty , but what if I read it and fall in love with it and want to do it myself ? ' And he said , ' In that case , you can do it yourself ' . " The book was Barry Gifford 's novel '' Wild at Heart : The Story of Sailor and Lula '' , which told the tale of two lovers on a road trip . Lynch felt that it was " just exactly the right thing at the right time . The book and the violence in America merged in my mind and many different things happened . " With Gifford 's support , Lynch adapted the novel into a film called '' Wild at Heart '' , a crime and road movie starring Nicolas Cage as Sailor and Laura Dern as Lula . Describing his plot as a " strange blend " of " a road picture , a love story , a psychological drama and a violent comedy " , Lynch altered much from the original novel , changing the ending and incorporating numerous references to the classic film '' The Wizard of Oz '' . Despite receiving a muted response from American critics and viewers , it won the Palme d'Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival
1990 Cannes Film Festival
1990 Cannes Film Festival
David Lynch