Mulholland Dr.
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Movie Reviews of Mulholland Dr.
Movie Review: The best film released in 2001
Summary: 5 Stars
David Lynch movies are usually love it or hate it affairs. Some think they are overindulgent ego trips, or pretentious, overly symbolic mishmoshes that need the cinematic equivalent of a Rosetta stone to decipher. Others, look on them as works of inscrutable genius. Lynch's range is actually quite remarkable. The 2 most normal and prosaic (in terms of plot structure) films he directed, THE ELEPHANT MAN and THE STRAIGHT STORY, exist at one edge of the Lynchian universe. At the other you have ERASERHEAD, WILD AT HEART, LOST HIGHWAY, and INLAND EMPIRE. David Lynch can be as coherent and sober as any other mainstream director, or he can be as wildly experimental and innovative as the most obscure artist. Elements of his style can be found in some of Spanish surrealist master Luis Bunuel's early films as well as the work of experimentalist Maya Deren. Although Lynch has asserted that he never consciously imitated anyone else, his admiration for movies like THE WIZARD OF OZ, SUNSET BOULEVARD, and REAR WINDOW, as well as the works of Kubrick, Fellini, and Bergman is well known, and themes and techniques from these are present in many of his own films. The 2 Lynch movies that fall somewhere close to center between the 2 creative poles, that blend artistic sensibility and originality with commercial accessibility, are BLUE VELVET and MULHOLLAND DRIVE. They are mysterious puzzles, but also simply great movies that can be enjoyed on many levels, and like most Lynch films, better appreciated with repeated viewings.
MULHOLLAND DRIVE was the best film of 2001. It was the most daring, the most beautifully filmed, the bravest, and the most unsettling movie of that year. It had the grotesque elements Lynch is famous for. It had the sardonic humor typically present in his work. It also had from Naomi Watts, the best performance given by an actress that year. It's understandable, that people just scratch their heads and wonder what this movie was all about, but if they can separate the dream elements from the real, they will be on the right track. This is my interpretation so if you haven't seen the film yet and want to form your own opinions, skip the next 2 sections of this review.
Diane Selwyn was a small town Canadian girl who after winning a dance contest got the fame bug. After an aunt who worked in Hollywood died and left her money, Diane moved to Hollywood to try and make it as an actress. At an audition for "the Sylvia North Story" she met another more talented and glamorous actress named Camilla Rhodes who got the lead part. They became lesbian lovers. Diane took their relationship a lot more seriously than Camilla, who used sex more as a tool to advance her career. Camilla became a big star and kept getting small parts for Diane in her movies, but although wanting to remain friends, she tried to discourage the affair, especially after hooking up with a hot shot director (Adam Kesher). She invites Diane to a fateful dinner party at the director's house in the hills off of Mulholland Drive. At this party Diane relates her life up to this point. She sees characters at the party that will later populate a fateful dream. For example as she raises a cup of coffee to her lips she sees a character who in her dream will become a member of the mob who tries drinking an espresso and spits it out. She meets Kesher's mother who will become Coco Lenoix in her dream. She sees a cowboy. It is also here that she sees Camilla kiss another actress (Camilla Rhodes in her dream) and hears the director make an important announcement regarding himself and Camilla. We don't actually hear the words of their impending marriage, because filmed from Diane's perspective the news has an impact on her much like the car crash we see at the beginning of the film. Diane knows that the lifeline to all her Hollywood dreams and aspirations has been severed, and she herself snaps. She meets a guy at Winkie's diner (Joe in her dream), gives him money and a photo of Camilla, saying "this is the girl" and is told to expect a blue key when the deed is done. After receiving the key, with the knowledge that her lover and benefactor is dead, Diane's paranoia is exacerbated by real guilt and her life quickly unravels. She hides away in her flat and has a dream. This dream is the beginning of MULHOLLAND DRIVE and lasts for most of the movie. In the dream she is named Betty and Camilla is Rita (who took that name from a poster of Rita Hayworth). Rita becomes a victim of amnesia after a car crash on Mulholland Drive. The crash actually saved Rita from being shot by an unknown hitman. Everything in Diane's dream has relevance to her waking life, but some people inhabit different roles. Much of the material of the dream comes from reality but is refashioned by the subconscious and fueled by desires and emotions. In the dream state time, space, and identity exist in a state of flux. Diane can become Adam Kesher, who loses control of his life, has to hole up out of sight while sinister forces are looking for him, and has to be reminded by an angel figure "the cowboy" to adjust his attitude and go with the flow, something Diane in real life couldn't do. Diane's dream is part wish fulfillment and part retribution. In her dream Diane (Betty) is everything Camilla (Rita) was in life..talented, beautiful, in control, and on the way to stardom. She even catches the eye of the director Kesher on the set of "The Sylvia North Story". Conversely, in the dream Camilla (Rita) is the one who needs help from Betty to find her identity and avoid being caught and destroyed by sinister forces. Rita recalls the name Diane Selwyn, a person who may know her true identity. Betty and Rita track her down to a low rent apartment complex, but there they discover Diane Selwyn dead on her bed, a rotting corpse. The facial features of the corpse are distorted from decomposition so the dreamer Diane (Betty) is unaware she is witnessing both the result of her act of revenge (Camilla's body) and her own morbid future. Rita then decides to change her appearance by wearing a blond wig. There is an identity transposition in this dream, reminiscent of the one in Bergman's great film PERSONA..even a shot of Betty and Rita in bed after making love, where their 2 faces seem to merge into one. In real life, Diane not only depended on Camilla, she vicariously wanted to live her life, to be Camilla. So,in her dream Diane saves Camilla from death and makes her into this perfect lover and soulmate, everything she wished for in real life. In a reversal of roles she even has Camilla try to become Diane by donning the wig. The dream starts very well for Diane (Betty) but an eerily fateful early morning excursion with Rita to a place called Club Silencio clues them into the fact that it's all been an illusion, with the cold reality of death looming on the horizon. Diane's mind had directed a wonderful alternate reality, but the dream ends and she wakes up to a nightmare..the nightmare of her real life. The final half hour of the movie is Diane's last day in the temporal world, but even here time and reality are in flux as flashbacks and hallucinations predominate. Unlike her dream world, here her delusions are all bad, depressing, menacing, and fueled by an hallucinatory paranoia that ends in suicide.
Because a lot of what we see or hear in a Lynch film is a result of feeling and intuition rather than calculation, they are open to various interpretations. Lynch himself has often stated that he doesn't consciously understand everything he creates, but trusts in the emotional truth of it. As a human being he draws from a well of feeling accessible to all of us, so although we are not privy to the specific intentions of it's creator, his movies resonate with us on emotional as well as intellectual levels. They function as cinematic Rorschach tests for the viewer. We see what we want to see, and if it deeply affects us one way or the other, it has served it's purpose. The observer is emotionally connected , but part of the fun is playing detective and unraveling mysteries just as many of the leading characters do. Why did Diane become unhinged? What do the monster (bum) behind Winkies, the blue box, and the blue haired lady in the box above the stage at Club Silencio, represent? I have my own interpretations and there are many more floating around the web. There are subtle clues throughout the film that point to Diane having been a victim of sexual abuse by her grandfather as a child. This could partially explain her getting romantically involved with a woman instead of a man, having low self esteem, and violently lashing out when she feels abused and betrayed. I see the bum (monster) as Diane's self image after having Camilla killed. The image is one of horror and shame, an image she can't live with. It lurks behind Winkie's because that is where the hitman left the blue key after killing Camilla. It is where the demon inhabited her, where she became a monster. In other Lynch projects like TWIN PEAKS, the notion of an evil presence that can inhabit our bodies is very real. Lynch actually had a woman play the "monster". The man at Winkie's in her dream (Dan) who has this "awful feeling" and eventually dies at the sight of it is someone Diane actually saw in Winkie's at the time she paid off the hitman to kill Camilla. She sees him staring at her right after she acts on her demonic impulse to commit murder. This evil presence, call it the devil if you wish, is cunning. It can fool us into thinking it has our best interests at heart, send us an outwardly friendly but inwardly sinister old couple (who based on the jitterbug sequence before the opening credits are modeled after Diane's grandparents) to encourage us as we start our journey, and later release them as demons to hysterically mock us, and terrorize our fragile minds into committing the ultimate and final escape. Blue is the color of supernatural mystery for Lynch, and the blue haired lady is a symbol of cosmic truth, the supernatural, impersonal Reality that oversees the illusion and delusion of both the dream theater and the temporal world. She is always there, the mysterious truth above and beyond our mundane worldly consciousness. Everything in this film is presented from the subjective conscious and subconscious of Diane, but the blue haired woman is even present as an impersonal witness to the truth in her dream. After Diane shoots herself some wisps of smoke rise above her body appearing like a soul or spirit escaping from it's earthly prison, and we see a few fleeting images of both women who now inhabit the eternal realm of spirit. For Lynch, a believer in reincarnation from the Vedic Hindu tradition, their stay in the spirit realm will be temporary as they must pay their karmic debts in another lifetime. The last shot in the film is of the Club Silencio stage, and the blue haired lady high up in her box whispering "silencio"..the silence that remains after the illusory show called life, and the movie, ends. Life, like the movies, ultimately fools us into believing that what is illusory, is real. As for the blue box, I see it as a device to effect transitions between states of consciousness..from the dream state to the temporal world..and from the temporal world to the spiritual realm that exists after death and beyond time and space. Not everything in MULHOLLAND DRIVE has an easy explanation, but not everything in our lives and dreams can be easily explained either. As humans we are not designed intellectually to understand TRUTH in it's purest form. To Lynch, art is a gateway to Truth, and the illusory world of film can clue us into universal truths which are hidden to us in life (which is itself a grand illusion). Lynch blurs the lines that differentiate dreams from reality, or separate individual personalities. To Lynch, we are not masters of our fate and captains of our soul, but subject to inner forces beyond our cognition, some sinister and some beneficial. The Truth encompasses both good and bad, darkness and light. The struggle between both is an ongoing process within our psyches. Diane wasn't a bad girl. She was a good girl who fell prey to dark forces which all of us are subject to under the right conditions. At the end of this remarkable film we are left in a state of wonder tinged with feelings of deep sorrow and pity.
The inner reality certainly has a lot more to say than the outer, but MULHOLLAND DRIVE does touch on some matters everyone can comprehend. It has some important things to say about the film business and the nature of fame and celebrity, and it has important things to say about things we all can relate to, such as love, jealousy, guilt, and ambition..but these things aren't spelled out for you. They are more opaque than transparent. MULHOLLAND DRIVE is a visually stunning and aurally beautiful film. Lynch frequently uses sounds, colors, and objects as clues; a symbolic shorthand to describe emotionally significant elements of the story. Blue keys and boxes, red lampshades and curtains, telephones, flashing lights, the sound of the wind, and the buzzing of electrical currents, all have portentious meaning. Music is another important element that reinforces thematic structures. In BLUE VELVET, Roy Orbison's "In Dreams" was used that way, and in MULHOLLAND DRIVE, Roy Orbison's "Crying" (Llorando), beautifully and emotionally sung in Spanish by Rebekah Del Rio, effectively sets the right tone. Ms. Del Rio is presented as La Llorana de Los Angeles. The legend of La Llorana gives a clue as to why the Orbison song is chosen and why it affects Diane's dream personas (Betty and Rita) so vividly. The heart wrenching lyrics speak of rejected love, loss and despair, and La Llorana exemplifies the devastation resulting from it, the horrible outcome Diane's subconscious tries unsuccessfully to bury in her dream. There are interesting soundtracks in many Lynch films, and they complement the strong visuals. I just can't imagine a Lynch film now without a brooding Badalamenti score. There are always interesting and amusing elements in Lynch movies that comment on his own personal experiences and illustrate his strange sense of humor. It is easy to imagine that Adam Kesher's meeting with the Castigliane brothers (where control of his film project was taken away), and Betty's audition process must have been reflections of real incidents in Lynch's career in Hollywood. MULHOLLAND DRIVE is a hybrid of Surrealism and Expressionism. In Surrealism, dream logic replaces reality, and in Expressionism, emotional response through internal conflict, supplant rational motive and pragmatic action. David Lynch is an artist first and a filmmaker second. Here, he has made a movie about a dream, about shattered dreams, and about the dream factory called Hollywood..an original and beautiful, but sad and fearful rumination on life and death in the City of Angels.
If you just want to sit back and be entertained for a couple of hours, I don't think you will enjoy this film, but if you want to be puzzled, astonished, and shocked out of complacency, as well as amused and entertained, watch MULHOLLAND DRIVE once, or twice, or even better, half a dozen times..and while you're at it, do the same for the other Lynch masterpieces currently available.
Movie Review: Ultimately a Metaphor of the Psyche!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Hi, "oldgoldtop" here!
My interpretaion continues to evolve and I find it works best for me as an older Camilla (represented by Coco) confronting her repression and destruction of her own inner being and humanity (Betty). Camilla disregards others in her selfish quest for worldly gratification. Many characters can be interpreted as representations of aspects of Camilla's psyche though I consider the exact name of the character to be less important than the underlying moral theme of inner humanity vs. . For me it is a film incredibly rich in metaphor and symbolism which contains a message to us all. I reached this most fulfilling view after having first accepted the more literal interpretaions which most who enjoy the film subscribe to.
I had been wrestling with discovering a (personally) meaningful interpretation of MD since recently rediscovering the film. It has a way of getting under your skin and can become addictive attempting to analyze different themes and scenarios which could be applied to what is on screen. It becomes a mind game of trying to use logic to explain what may appear illogical. Ultimately the surreal nature suggests to me that it is most rewarding when viewing it as a look into the mysteries of the human mind. In my opinion, Lynch has described on film, the concept of multiple "persona" within the mind, and the internal conflicts which result as they struggle. It might be perceived as a struggle between good and evil or a "peace of mind" versus "worldly desire". Such ambiguity allows the viewer to find their own meaning. I find it reflects something very personal to me in my own life.
The following includes a few examples to help show how I arrived at of my interpretive view.
It is too exhaustive to write down the full narrative which would be required to explain this POV. I will mention a few which come to mind. Everything from a former "entrance" sign with old remnants at "Winkie's" to "glass reflections" to a "vintage hat box" in a "full closet" to "baggage" to a "mirror"...all become metaphors rich with symbolic meaning for the viewer who is able to enter the mind of the dreamer. Consider the following sequence: Rita goes to sleep...cut to Winkies sign(siren sound...accident?) Dan (head (mind)nearly exploding) brings a friend to Winkies (sleep metaphor) to help him face his fear to "get rid of that god awful feeling" and dies after going down stairs to confront his demon. Immediately following Dan's heart attack we see Rita still sleeping under the counter at Aunt Ruth's ... cuts to a series where "Mr. Rogue" calls the "Back of Head Man" who is framed within a classical looking arch (the inner mind) who then calls the "Hairy Arm Man" in the dirty creepy "scary" place who then calls a ringing phone next to a red lamp. Next we see "Betty" arriving at LAX. Dan's scene is easily interpreted as a statement that a dreamer is terrified of confronting some deep fear which terrifies him in dreams and needs help to face it. The following series is simply repeating Dan's scene but now with Rita calling Betty/(Diane)... Mr. Rogue says "The girl...is still missing."... Back of HEAD MAN" is a control center within the brain and says "Same" to Hairy Arm Man" indicating a repeating dream which the dreamer is setting in motion via the "hairy arm man" (Scary (hairy) repressed fear) calling deep down to a repressed "corner" (phone is in corner)of the psyche. I interpret it as Rita's (Camilla/Coco) inner mind calling Diane/Betty/Ruth/Irene character who is a repressed part of blonde "Camilla Rhodes". She repressed her "better" self for money and worldly desires but that damaged part of her has become an inner demon to which her subconcious is calling. Betty leads her to face that part of her and she gradually becomes Betty (blonde wig/enters blue box) and "awakens" within Diane to experience the destruction she has caused to herself (Betty half). I would have to write a book to fully describe all of the symbols which can be interpreted once I came to this perspective. Any way I suggest that you at least view the film once with this concept in mind. Note the color of the clothes and sheets (and other things too) and how they link certain characters. Details like jewelry and watches clothes and outfits all become identifiers to help us understand what is going on. Lynch provides a list "cast-in order of appearance" to assit the viewer with character ID. Also dialogue too...example..."this is the girl". Pay attention to the literal meanings of names as well as interpretive meanings. An example "Betty" might also indicate "better" and "Bitie" written on the robe could indicate a "bit" or part of someones inner self (Die-Ann etc). Look into the meanings of names Example Irene means "peace". Note that the painting (though of an abused girl) is often interpreted as dealing with the darkest and most feared secret places of one's inner soul. A small B&W photo resembles Modonna and child and might be interpredted as innocence. Consider how Joe and others could also represent some aspect of "the dreamer's" inner being. What must a person do to their soul when placing selfish worldly desires above all else? If you or kill off or repress a part of yourself what will remain? Will you ultimately create your own hell? What does self destructive behaivior do to one's soul?
I am not articulate enough to really explain myself but hope that others can perhaps have an understanding of where I am coming from with this if they look at the film again.
BTW "Lenoix" can be interpreted in French to mean "the nut" indicating that the character is being driven cuckoo by something. I gotta stop!!!! I could go on forever!
Edit: (more of the same...)
It is difficult to describe and I only hope to provide an outline which you may be able to use to reach another understanding. Imagine that most of the main characters could represent separate parts of Camilla's psyche. Perhaps it helps to consider it as Coco representing the now older Camilla and her "demon" being her repression and destruction of the more humanistic (Betty or "better") side of her soul. I like to think of the blonde "Camilla Rhodes" who lip syncs at the audition to represent the dreamer ("this is the girl") and most of the other characters to be aspects of her inner being. It is possible to decode additional "histories" of the characters to see how they evolved if one chooses though it becomes somewhat within the mind of the viewer. For instance Joe can be seen as the part of Camilla which is willing to do anything to get something. He destroys regardless of the consequences without concern for anyone but himself. Once he decided to kill, that initial sin is compounded as he is continues to kill to cover his crime and destroys a vacume cleaner for fun but his carelessness sets of an alarm. Note how the stolen book is with him when he meets Diane at Winkies. Take note of things like colors (including sheets!), clothes and jewelry and consider how they are used to help link characters. Look at what Betty wear during the jitterbug scene and who wears something remarkably similar later in the film. Consider how certain clothes are used in layers. Consider how Rita slowly becomes Betty and the events which brought her to that point. Imagine how one might portray her "entering" into Diane's locked or repressed psyche. One of my favorite sequences is when Rita goes to sleep in Aunt Ruth's kitchen and concludes when Betty arrives at the LA Airport. If it is looked at as one entire segment, it can be interpreted as Rita's (Camilla's) dreaming subconscious "calling" Betty (Diane) to help her confront the demon of her dreams...just as Herb did in his scene at Winkies (sleep/dream metaphor). Recall how the girls tell the cab driver to "go around back" when they go to Sierra Bonita.Note the names in the credits of the characters making the chain phone call and the literal meanings! I want also to reference the jitterbug scene and how the montage shows a dancer who could easily be interpreted to be a younger Ruth...note she has red hair, wears pants and has a metal bracelet...all possible identifiers. Well there is too much and I could go on forever. I do hope someone may be able to consider the film from this POV as I think it can be considered a moral lesson regarding the quest for worldly desires may destroy one's own humanity.
Edit: As my interpretatiion continues to evolve, I think it may be possible to think that the dreamer is represented by blonde Camilla Rhodes with that being her stage name and her real name being Syvia North.
Movie Review: Mystery in the City of Dreams
Summary: 5 Stars
Mulholland Drive can best be classified as a mystery. The ending of the movie, which forces the viewer to abandon the idea that the plot is a traditional mystery story, allows one to realize that the mystery runs still deeper--that we must look beneath the surface of events instead of taking them at face value. It is simply a great mystery film. The scenes, as well, are routinely well done--never superfluous. Two men uncover a nightmarish secret behind Winkies in a suspensful scene; the director Adam Kesher meets up with a mysterious man named simply "The Cowboy", who delivers chilling dialogue. On top of that, the film is filled with humor. The mobster with a hatred for bad espresso is particularly hilarious. And only David Lynch could make a gruesome triple homicide by an inept hitman so funny. The acting is also very good. Naomi Watts' performance is wonderful.
Part of the joy of watching this movie is figuring out what happened. The thrill of finally piecing together all the characters and events, and finally understanding how they all fit together, is one of the main things that makes Mulholland Drive so enjoyable to watch over and over. It is the type of movie that needs to be seen more than once to be appreciated, along the lines of movies like Memento.
With that said, I must warn the reader that I will be giving away vital clues and interpretations of the movie in the following review. Do not read further if you have not seen the movie. See the movie, come up with your own conclusions, and then read the reviews, looking for stuff you missed. That is truly the best way to watch the film, and to spoil the interpretation is to spoil the main draw of the movie.
Now, what happens in Mulholland Drive is that Diane Selwyn is having a dream prior to killing herself. In reality, she has had a short affair with Camilla, and she becomes embittered when Camilla gets a high profile role in Adam Kesher's movie and subsequently falls in love with him. She feels inadequate as an actress, and the viewer can sense her anguish as she watches Camilla and Adam announce their upcoming marriage. Angry and depressed, Diane hires a hitman to kill Camilla. He kills her, and Diane suddenly feels overwhelmed with guilt. She eventually commits suicide after waking from a dream in which she had attempted to hide her guilt and her flaws, only to have the dream collapse in a realization that it is in fact a dream, a misrepresentation, and that the reality is all-too terrible.
All these events, which are the reality, occur in short flashes of scenes at the end of the movie. The sustained narrative at the beginning is actually Diane's dream. The dream is Diane's attempt to rationalize her inadequacies and flaws, to forget her mistakes, and which ultimately gives voice to her regret and guilt.
Diane becomes Betty. Camilla becomes "Rita". And in the dream Camilla and Diane are reunited as Betty and Rita.
Everything is different in the dream. The hitman never manages to assassinate Rita (Camilla). Rita falls in love with Betty, even needs her, unlike in reality. Adam Kesher, a brash, young director who stole Camilla away in reality, becomes subject to all kinds of tortures--the mob casts his movie for him, his wife cheats on him with the pool boy, and he loses all his money. Betty, an idealized version of Diane, is naturally a great actress. In reality, Diane can only get secondary roles. A further rationalization of her acting flaws is given in the idea that the mob controls the movie production--the selection of the actress is not based on talent, but a threat of violence.
The whole idea of acting is also foreshadowing the fact that everything is a dream...nothing is real. The whole beginning narrative is only an act, a dream; it is not reality.
Now, David Lynch doesn't spell out this interpretation in big, bold letters. The viewer has to figure out that the main narrative is a dream on his or her own. But there is much foreshadowing. Following the opening scene depicting the jitterbug contest, we see the camera switch over to the first person perspective of someone breathing heavily and lying down to bed. The word "dream" is mentioned constantly throughout the film. Betty is living in the "city of dreams". The two men in Winkie's are brought there by a "dream" of something terrible there. The irony, of course, is that the men are the "dream" and the "reality" was the nightmare. Diane hires the hitman at Winkies. When the man finds a terrible, nightmarish homeless man behind the building, he is coming face to face with reality--with Diane's inner guilt. The most obvious clue that all was a dream, however, is the fact that Diane is shown waking up after the opening of the blue box.
The scene at club Silencio is also full of symbolism and foreshadowing. All is an illusion there. Everyone is acting, lip-synching to a recording. It is here that Betty finds the box that Rita's key can unlock--the box that, when opened, reveals the truth and unravels the dream. The spectacle they witness at the club, of the woman collapsing whilst her voice continues singing its terrible song, causes the dream to lose its consistency...the dreamer begins to realize that it is indeed a dream, an illusion.
Rita is obviously supposed to represent Camilla. But as the dream progresses, Rita more and more comes to represent Diane. Rita symbolizes Diane's inability to know herself...she has amnesia, has no idea who she really is--just as Betty has no idea who she really is, that she is just an act, a fake misrepresentation of Diane. When Betty and Rita fall in love, it at first represents Diane's wish to have Camilla love her...but eventually it symbolizes Diane's wish to love herself, to forgive herself for what she has done, to accept her flaws and inadequacies. This is why, as the movie progresses, Rita dons a blonde wig, like Diane and Betty. This is why, at the opening of the box, it is Rita who opens it, while Betty disappears. Betty is no longer needed; she is seen to be a false representation...the dreamer is too close to realizing the dream isn't reality, that all is illusion. It is Rita who doesn't know who she is, just as it is Diane who doesn't realize she is not actually Betty. And then the box opens, and all is clear. Rita is Diane...Betty is merely an idealized figment of the imagination.
All of the scenes only add to these themes. They are either manifestations of Diane's need to idealize herself, to explain her inadequacies--or they are manifestations of Diane's inner turmoil, her guilt and her fears.
We have all desired to rationalize our faults, to see ourselves as good, to forgive our own mistakes. Diane's emotions are universal, and the depiction of her descent into suicide, of her regret and her fears, magnified extraordinarily once the viewer figures out all the subtle aspects of the dream, is absolutely heart-rending.
Mulholland Drive is a great film, and I'd recommend it to anyone willing to sit and think about a film, to tackle an unconventional mystery whose solution is wonderfully satisfying.
Movie Review: Lynch's Multi-Layered Jiggsaw Puzzle
Summary: 5 Stars
From the outset I must confess that this review is not so much a conventional movie review per se but rather a deeper character and
plot examination/analysis, which I hope will unveil and perhaps shed
some new light on the meanings behind David Lynch's supreme film noir mind bender - Mullholland Drive.
So if you want to experience the thrill of unravelling and 'investigating' the myriad jiggsaw puzzle-like aspects of this movie
for yourself then proceed no further. For those of you familiar or even
well acquainted with the Mullholland Drive universe you may be intrigued
by the theories I present here - so here goes.
First of all, I have not found on any Mullholland Drive internet forums or chat groups discussion about how crucially important a part the 'Cowboy' character plays in the story and in solving/unlocking the various plot threads of the puzzle. How understanding who he is and more importantly who he represents and or symbolizes in Dianes' dream and waking life/reality allows all the pieces of the puzzle to fall into place.
The 'Cowboy' has to be one of the most bizarre, chilling and creepiest of creeps in the history of cinema and one that only could have been spawned from the mind of David Lynch ( it's my belief that Lynch has created some of cinema's most diabolically perverse and just plain nasty bad guys or creeps - think Frank Booth in Blue Velvet or Bobby Peru - Wild At Heart - truly sinister).
So lets look more closely at the 'Cowboy' character . It is revealed to us the viewer that the 'Cowboy' holds ultimate control and power over
all the movie's characters and most likely Hollywood. He is the one who is controlling everything - from his underling mob henchmen - The Casiglieri brothers to Camilla Rhodes' bodyguards to the midget Mr Roake.
He is the head honcho, the one calling all the shots from up high in the
Hollywood hills from his 'Corrale'. He has the power to close down the
production of a feature film and he has the power to recast a starring actress (Camilla) in his movie - and it is his movie.
Lynch makes it very clear to us that this is the case. The Cowboy basically uses extortion and threats to strongarm the Adam Kesher character into agreeing to his terms - 'You can ride along with me'.
Now if you accept my theory that he is the ultimate antagonist in the
film and therefore in Diane's dream - pulling all the strings as it were, then we must examine and analyze this character even further.
You will need to watch the film perhaps a few more times to pick up these
details however I will point out some here:
a) Pay special attention to what the 'Cowboy' says and how he says it.
You will notice that he speaks with a 'Southern' accent (possibly Texan) - this is important.
b) Also, look closely at his outfit. No mistaking he's a cowboy alright
with his 10 gallon hat and all. Is it much of a stretch for us to imagine he could also be wearing a Sheriff's badge? Could it be that the
'Cowboy' is also some kind of 'Old Western' stlye Sheriff or U.S Marshall
maybe even a Texas Ranger?
He certainly weilds his power, authority and clout as if he were some
type of high ranking law enforcer - that is clearly evident.
Lynch uses all manner of clever cinematic devices to weave his intricate tapestry. His use of symbolism, metaphor, omens, dream interpretation, psycho-analysis, American History, fable, myth, allegory, cautionary tale, alter ego, dual character, reference/homage to 'Old' Hollywood -
particularly The Wizard of Oz, magic and many more is all here and laced throughout Mullholland Drive.
So if we accept that the 'Cowboy' is not a minor character and is more significant in the context of the plot than what he appears to be at face value, then literally a whole other Pandora's box opens up, with truly new meanings and earth shattering implications unfolding.
I will briefly outline some here.
I believe that the 'Cowboy' is represented not just as the 'Cowboy' but as
2 other characters in the dream section of the movie. They are, can you guess? Gene the Pool Man played by well known country music popstar Billy Ray Cyrus - no less. Making the connection now? And the other manifestation of the 'Cowboy' is the creepy man Betty (Diane) performs
the audition scene with - Wally I think his name is.
Again, if you watch Wally carefully in this scene you will see that he speaks and acts very much like a 'B' grade 'Western' actor from the 1950's and 60's. In the scene they are rehearsing in front of the small group of Director, Producer, Casting Agent etc etc, and in the script Wally plays the part of the girl's incestuous uncle - now this is a key clue. If we apply the logic that the 'Cowboy' is actually being represented or embodied as 3 characters-Cowboy, Gene (Poolman)and Wally then we can begin to see how Lynch is carefully laying the groundwork for us to pick up the true identity of the 'Cowboy' and his real relationship to Diane.
After careful deduction we can see that the 'Cowboy' is a symbolic dream representation of Diane's real-life evil and incestuous Uncle who was the corrupt town Sheriff with Mob connections and who sexually abused her as a young girl.
I believe Lynch does this with all the other main characters in the movie. In Diane's scrambled dream-logic section of the film (first Three Quaters)characters merge, blur and morph and swap around as they do in actual dreams. However, the fundamental attributes of any particular character remains consistant despite them alternating and changing shape and form. In other words every character depicted in the dream section of
the movie can be directly tranlated as someone from Diane's real life and or past.
By applying this logic I believe Lynch has quite clearly layed out how the puzzle of Mullholland Drive can be solved - everthing is symbolic of
something or someone who is important to the logic of the story. I don't
think Lynch has left any aspect of the film to chance. Nothing has been left unanswered under his masterly direction.
I've run out of time and space here but I would like to continue this
essay and reveal more findings, such as how I believe Adam Kesher is a symbol or metaphor for Diane's father. Details about Diane's sad past-
including how she is actually from the South not the North. I believe
Deep River is really a reference to the South's great Missisippi River.
The true meaning of the Blue Box and many more.
So bye for now
Bruce (24.6.09)
Movie Review: Mulholland Drive explained
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't listen to anyone who tells you that this movie is impossible to understand. That's not true. Difficult, yes...especially on first viewing, but there is method to David Lynch's madness and there is an explanation to be found for those willing to look.
Mulholland Drive is a brilliantly structured film even though the structure is unconventional. Basically the first two hours play out as the dream of a very troubled young woman by the name of Diane Selwyn. In the final 30 minutes we are taken into Diane's reality. Mullholland Drive is a very disturbing portrait of the inner world of a woman about to commit suicide and we learn about her life and what led her to murder and suicide through the dream imagery of the first two hours.
What confuses many people the first time they see Mulholland Drive is that David Lynch doesn't use the normal cinematic techniques to tip his audience off that they are watching a dream segment. In fact, the dream plays out in fairly conventional linear fashion while it is the reality portion of the film that plays out in non-linear form, jumping back and forth in time and introducing psychotic hallucinations as well. This further blurs the line between reality and fantasy in this film.
Contrary to popular belief Mulholland Drive is actually very intricately plotted, although the narrative is not readily apparent on the first viewing. The dream portion is a mirror image of reality and it displays a reversed reflection of Diane's real world. A few examples: In the dream Rita exits the limousine and walks downhill; in reality Diane exits the limousine and walks uphill. In the dream Aunt Ruth is alive; in reality Aunt Ruth is dead. In the dream Adam Kesher's world is spinning out of control and he is losing everything; in reality Adam Kesher's world is very much in control and he has everything. In the dream the hitman is incompetent; in reality he turns out to be all too competent. In the dream Camilla is alive and Diane is dead; in reality Diane is alive and Camilla is dead.
Betty is, of course, the idealized dream version of Diane. She's a prettier, more wholesome, and more talented version of Diane. However, Diane is not Betty in her dream as most people automatically assume...she's Rita.
Mulholland Drive is a challenging and haunting film that I believe will only rise in stature as the years go by. David Lynch spoonfeeds nothing to his audience but challenges them to explore the nightmarish inner world of Diane Selwyn for themselves and reach their own interpretations and conclusions. There are great rewards for those willing to do so.
Nov. 1, 2007 Edit:
I just watched Mulholland Drive again after a few years and I was kind of surprised to see this old review of mine written years ago at the top here. I do think my understanding and appreciation of the film has deepened over the years and, although I still believe most of what I originally wrote is correct, I'd probably modify it a bit, especially the part about Diane being Rita in her dream. I now believe that Betty and Rita both represented different parts of Diane: Betty was her idealized, innocent side while Rita was the darker, more seductive side that she believed would help advance her career in Hollywood. One of the saddest parts of the movie, in my opinion, is my belief that the very likeable and attractive Betty was the person that Diane could have been if not for her tragic childhood and the series of destructive choices she made in her life.
For those who've read and commented on my original review and are interested, here's a somewhat revised version that represents my current interpretation of the film.
Mulholland Drive is a rather chilling look into the psyche of a deeply disturbed and suicidal woman named Diane Selwyn who is guilt stricken over her involvement in the murder of her estranged lover. The entire movie takes place in her apartment over the course of a few hours on the day she commits suicide.
The first two hours is a dream Diane has during a heavy, drug-induced sleep that attempts to rewrite a happier, idealized version of herself and her life from the time she arrives in Hollywood, but gradually grows darker over time and eventually collapses back into her reality. The final part of the movie is her reality which is told through a series of flashbacks, memories, and psychotic hallucinations. First-time viewers often don't realize they're watching a dream since Lynch doesn't use the usual cinematic techniques (other than a brief first-person descent into a pillow at the beginning) to signal a dream sequence and this part of the film is told in fairly conventional linear sequence, while it's the reality part of the film that jumps around in non-linear fashion.
The dream portion is kind of a dark, twisted version of Dorothy's dream from the Wizard of Oz where she casts people she knows from her real life into various roles in her dream. But since her subconscious is the producer, writer, and director of the dream these people are just actors on her stage and everything is really about Diane and her life even if she doesn't appear to be represented in a scene. For example, there's no reason to believe that a wealthy film director like Adam Kesher would check into a fleabag hotel like the Park Hotel when he thought he still had access to all his money nor would he know the hotel manager by name. Diane, however, who had lived on the fringes of the Hollywood dream, might well be familiar with this kind of seedy hotel and its manager.
Once you realize that everything you're seeing in the first two hours springs from Diane's subconscious mind it's possible to take the clues and symbolism that Lynch plants in the dream and construct a remarkably deep and complex examination of Diane's life which also peels back the layers on a psyche that's been irreparably damaged by sexual molestation by her grandfather, prostitution, and a destructive relationship with an actress named Camilla Rhodes which ultimately leads to murder and suicide.
Mulholland Drive is not only David Lynch's masterpiece, it's one of the most chilling movies I've ever seen.