​Documentary considers branches of Coulson’s fascinating career

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

Of the many photographs that help tell the story “I Know Catherine, the Log Lady,” the one of David Lynch dressed as FBI Regional Bureau Chief (and later Deputy Director) Gordon Cole saying something amusing to a laughing, slightly out of focus Catherine E. Coulson is my favorite. Director Richard Green, Coulson’s friend of decades, has access to many images and uses dozens — from childhood portraits to surprisingly saucy candids — that add depth to a feature documentary eulogizing a vibrant and creative light. Made with more love and heart than technical polish and filmmaking skill, Green’s movie opened May 9 in Los Angeles ahead of streaming availability this summer.

Obviously, die-hard fans and followers of Lynch and “Twin Peaks” will seek out Green’s portrait, especially because so much of it concentrates on Coulson’s best-known role: wise and watchful Margaret Lanterman, the sphinxlike seer whose presence as the Log Lady made her an enduring favorite throughout the original series, the feature “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me” and “Twin Peaks: The Return,” the thrilling, 2017 incarnation of the show that operates as a third season suspended for a quarter of a century. Coulson’s death at the age of 71 from complications related to lung cancer also interrupted her stage career and Green includes testimonials of his subject’s determination by Oregon Shakespeare Festival collaborators and other friends.

Lynch’s death in January links his own mortality to Coulson’s, especially since some of his onscreen commentary addresses their personal interactions when it became clear that her diminished health would make it impossible to travel to film any scenes on location. Green devotes a major section late in the film to a detailed explanation of how the last Log Lady appearance was collected: Lynch directing a local crew over video chat along with the realization for all in attendance that they were witnessing the final communication between old friends. Close since her title appearance in Lynch’s 1974 short “The Amputee,” Coulson’s tireless work on “Eraserhead” cemented her place within Lynch’s filmmaking universe and set the stage to launch her own career as a valued camera operator and focus puller.

Despite the often jumbled and disjointed assembly of events, Green does not downplay Jack Nance’s abuse of then-spouse Coulson during the creation of “Eraserhead.” And to that end, neither does Lynch. Coulson’s later romances and second marriage (especially in relation to her intense love for daughter Zoey Sirinsky) are threaded throughout the film with as much weight and consideration as Green gives to the aftermath of Coulson’s diagnosis and the marquee draw of Log Lady fandom. Along with Lynch, many key “Twin Peaks” cast members sit for interviews, including Kyle MacLachlan, Kimmy Robertson, Michael Horse, Charlotte Stewart, Dana Ashbrook and Grace Zabriskie.

The likeliest viewers of “I Know Catherine, the Log Lady” will already be enthusiastic consumers of black coffee and cherry pie. One can hope, however, that the uninitiated who stumble upon the doc might be drawn to the mysteries surrounding the life and death of Laura Palmer through the cosmic gateway unlatched by the idiosyncratic Margaret Lanterman. Green makes sure to include a somewhat abbreviated account of the Log Lady’s origin story via Lynch’s long-ago plan to hatch an episodic series called “I’ll Test My Log with Every Branch of Knowledge,” a title committed to memory by fans who still dream about the log’s educational visits to the dentist and other professionals while in the loving arms of Ms. Coulson.