Introduction
It’s fair to say that Mulholland drive was the movie that not only changed my taste in art of any kind, but also very possibly my professional career. It was largely thanks to Mulholland Drive that I became interested in psychological thrillers, in particular those connected to the murky world of the subconscious mind. It turned out, this awakening was pivotal in choosing a profession as well.
I have to admit though, the first time I watched Mulholland Drive I was as fascinated as I felt stupid – I just didn’t get it! Thankfully, living in the Digital Age, a quick Internet search revealed numerous analyses of the movie that helped me appreciate the many subtle cues that abound in the movie. It gradually started to make sense.
Review
If you strip away all the weirdness, the storyline of Mulholland Drive looks pretty elementary. I mean, here we have a girl, Betty, in her mid twenties moving to Hollywood with the aspiration to become a Hollywood actress.
She meets a woman, Rita, who is suffering from amnesia as a result of a car head-on collision. Betty befriends Rita and tries to help her find out about her seemingly shady past. In a separate story, a director called Adam is being bullied by an unnamed Organization into hiring an actress for the lead role in one of his movies. As we progress through the movie all three characters begin experiencing a series of bizarre and inexplicable events, which culminates in a story twist towards the end of the movie.
Nothing really exciting happens – there are no car chases, gunshot exchanges or jumping off cliffs. Yet, you can’t help but feel absorbed by the entire atmosphere; there is tension in literally every scene. Even the most mundane of behaviors, such as making a phone call, or walking down an alley, has a somehow edginess to it. Partly, this is due to the inclusion of just the right amount of cryptic events that make the movie weird but still largely coherent at the same time.
In my opinion, the ability to turn a seemingly simple narrative into a tale of eerie is one of David Lynch’s greatest qualities as a director. Even if you (like me) don’t get the movie the first time you watch it, by the time you finish it, you’ll beg for more.
The acting was superb. I knew little of Naomi Watts when I watched the movie back then, but I was positively impressed with what she managed to pull off.
I’m not an actor, but I don’t doubt that dual roles must be a tall order.
Yet, Naomi Watts played Betty/Diane as if she had been born for this role. I was captivated by the positivity and tenacity of Betty, whilst I pitied a troubled Diane.
Likewise, Justin Theroux was a pure joy to watch. My impression was that Justin needed not even memorize his scripts. It’s as if the cameras weren’t really there and he were simply going on with his life, and it happened to be a David Lynch’s movie.
And we mustn’t forget the soundtrack: every director knows that music is paramount to create that mystery and suspense that hook viewers to the screen, and Lynch surely knows how to hit the spot.
From the ominous score as Diane and Camilla walk up to the party house, to the poignant song of Rebekah Del Rio, every tune seemed to have been opportunely planned.
The same could be said of film production. Lynch had already given us a taste of his unorthodox film-making style (e.g., Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet), and we can definitely see the resemblance here.
Camera work, lighting and color blend in such a way, that the entire film has a kind of a dreamlike (or rather “nightmarish”) ambience.
Our rating
Frankly, I cannot think how the film could be improved. I have probably watched it dozens of times and it never gets boring. Therefore, I am giving this cinematographic masterpiece a well-deserved rating of 5 stars.
Bizarrometer
As with most of Lynch’s films, Mulholland Drive is clearly on the weird spectrum. However, the weird elements in the film are so brilliantly incorporated into the narrative that they don’t become obtrusive.
Setting aside the pivotal story twist, there is a natural flow to the storyline, with only sporadic, although outright, bizarre scenes. For the most part, the narrative remains logical and you are able to follow the story without feeling totally perplexed. For this reason, Mulholland Drive receives a score of 3.5 in the Bizarrometer.