1 Best of 2001
Several years ago I rented about 15 of the supposedly most highly rated, higher profile films of the early 21st Century. These included Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" and Stephen Spielberg's "Minority Report", the L.A. 50's crime movie "LA Confidential" and the time-reversed crime film "Memento", "Final Fantasy-the Spirits Within" among many others. After two years reflection,and taking in consideration such competition as "House Of Sand And Fog" "The Mummy","Monster" and "Mystic River", I still rate this film among the better newer Hollywood films I have seen,even if a few scenes seem somewhat irrelevant, for several reasons: 1) atmospherics--with traffic accident amnesia playing a central role, the film has a macabre, brooding quality similar to Hitchcock's "Psycho";2)the scene where the director finds his wife in bed with another man and pours pink paint all over her jewel case and other belongings. This is surely one of the worst things-- if not the worst-- to befall any man and after two years it still stands out to me. This film is all about "love and competition" in Don Henley's phrase. The film is dreamlike and surreal (with its mysterious blue box and miniature men and women running under the door) and concerns a perky blonde aspiring actress from Canada, with some resemblances to Marilyn Monroe, who comes to Hollywood with high aspirations in search of fame. She fails miserably and commits suicide, a failure without explanation but presumably attributable to her lesbian affair with a voluptuous Hispanic actress who, while presumably her friend, upstages her at every turn and gets all the desireable parts at her expense. The film editing is choppy so that the scenes between the blonde actess and the aunt that rents her apartment are given equal weight to the scenes with the Hollywood directors which are presumably more important. I rate this film above "Eyes Wide Shut" and even the highly regarded "Minority Report." I rate "Memento" second best among this group.
2 Ghosts of Hollywood
David Lynch is one of those extraordinary directors. Mulholland Drive is the name of a famous road located in Hollywood. It was once the home of late actor Marlon Brando, but still houses Jack Nicholson and other celebs. In an interview on this disc, Lynch tell us about the chilling feel he gets when he's out for a midnight drive on Mulholland. It feels like he can sense the spirit of all those late people in the buisness he's part of. Hollywood has been a place for our dreams in nearly a century of time. David Lynch gives us a sightseeing trough the unconcious world of the movie town.
As soon as you start to watch this film you will understand that it is some sort of a Thriller. You will set your mind to focus on details and the plot, so that you dont loose any of the clues. You will find that this is a mystery, a riddle for you to solve. It is a movie about two women who is on their way to become movie stars. You will follow them through a great variety of colorful and strange locations where they meet a lot of different characters in the movie buisness. The pictures in this film are very beautiful and the haunting ambient music of Angelo Badalamenti fits in just perfect.
You will soon get to the point where you realise that this is not the standard movie about upcoming stars. And you will probably be a bit frustrated too. Because when you think you know where the plot is going, some surreal moments will appear on the screen. The plot in this movie is a sea of constant change. It will most likely leave you sitting like a huge questionmark.
Im the type of moviewatcher who tend to miss the plot because i focus on other parts of the film, like photo, acting and such. But in this movie it might not matter at all. Because it is just some sort of a journey in Lynch's spooky dream edition of Hollywood. It does simply not make any sense. When i watch this film i get a strange feel that all the actors who are starring, is dead. And that they have been so for a long time. Its like when you watch a really old greyscale film, and it strikes you that none of those people are still around. They appear like ghosts on the screen. Like a self portrait of a late artist, his legacy is there still, only he aint. His soul is freezed in the frame for eternity. Lynch has created a fake feel of time. You feel like you are in the year 2100 and watch a movie from the year 2004, where the actors are all gone. Lynch has reserved first class tickets to eternity, for all those involving this picture. When finaly their time is over, they will become the perfect ghosts of Hollywood.
Hans-Marius Hoff
3 5 stars for the movie 2 stars for the dvd
This movie is far and beyond anything you will ever see or are likely to see. I won't bother trying to explain the plot to you, because it is so complex that only some sense can be made after multiple viewings. It is a deep and a dark look at Hollywood through the eyes of a woman in search of stardom, but nothing is what it seems. I would recomend that for those of you who view this the first time, to not make sense of anything until you watch it the second time. David Lynch is a master director and this film is beautifully directed, produced, and acted. (espeically Naomi Watts) Now despite all my praise for the film I only gave the dvd two stars, for the lack of supplimental material. There are no making ofs, interviews, or anything. The only thing that saved the DVD from getting one star was a feature that David Lynch himself requested. There are no chapters on the dvd because David lynch thought that this film should be viewed all the way through without skipping any scenes and on this I agree with him. But despite my problems with the dvd, the movie is amazing. I would recomend this film to anyone who has enjoyed David Lynch's other works.
4 Go For A Ride
"There's a man . . . in back of this place. He's the one who's doing it. I can see him through the wall. I can see his face. I hope that I never see that face ever outside of a dream."
After you watch this twice, I recommend watching the 'reality' parts followed by the 'dream.' A dream is an amalgam of (1) everyday events consisting of both minor and major events in one's life from both the past and the 'near' present and (2) fantasy. Things will become much clearer after this third viewing.
One thing that should be clear to even the most confused viewers is that this movie has an extremely intriguing and important storyline which Lynch twists and mangles and manipulates to fit the mental state of the main character. By doing this, he creates a uniquely personal experience for us.
This movie is not the least bit gimmicky, the plot is an excellent one, but Lynch is clearly not satisfied with simply an interesting story, he must bend it and warp it in order to fuse it with a psychological theme that ends up making the entire experience MORE real, not less.
If you cannot understand or figure any of this out, then just try and appreciate the quality acting, first-rate directing and mesmerizing visuals and relax.
5 Mulholland Drive: Re-warmed Lynch
Let me begin by stating that I truly look forward to David Lynch's films. I enjoy them not necessarily for what Lynch has to say, but more for HOW he says it. Its common knowledge that David Lynch's films have unquestionable style, but many question its substance (relax Lynch die-hards!). In Mulholland Drive, however, I was a bit disappointed mainly because I found Lynch's style to be a bit thin and recycled. Sure, there are many signature scenes that are viscerally engrossing and hauntingly disturbing, but generally, the film seems a bit cautious for Lynch. Since he originally wrote and filmed it as a television pilot for an ABC series, it's clear that it was necessary to pull back on his choices at that time. It's evident that the many characters and sub-plots would have been fleshed out if the pilot had been picked up, but we never do get the opportunity (and pleasure) in this film. It's quite clear when, where, and how Lynch tried to salvage it once his censorship shackles were removed, but the damage was done way back in ABC's womb. Trying to recycle this into a feature film (something that it was not intended for), is dooming it to be flawed. Even after reworking the script, reshooting scenes, and shooting new ones, it still tastes like a hot meal served up luke-warm. In spite of that, I must clarify that, for me, any meal served up by David Lynch is still more engrossing than 90% of the fare out there.
Strong proponents of this film may point out that like in a dream, characters and scenes drop in and out, sometimes are interlaced, and don't exist in the realm of reason. This is all true, but there are so many that it fractures the film into too many nonsequiturs weakening its storyline. His characters are not as sharp and indelible as in his other films (ie: Robert Blake in "Lost Highway", Dennis Hopper in "Blue Velvet"). His themes, however, on the lack of self-realization, emotional transference, and fascination with split personalities are alive and well in this film. As always, Angelo Badalamenti's musical score perfectly compliments the emotional undercurrent of Lynch's films. The acting is over-the-top, but perfect in a Lynchian world. In particular, Naomi Watts (Betty Elms) is truly astonishing. Her character undergoes a severe transformation and Watts' performance is nothing short of remarkable.
In its most simple state, the plot is about the search for the identity of an amnesiac woman. The film, however, is filled with subplots that twist and turn. The story mainly revolves around two women. Rita (Laura Harring) loses her memory after surviving a car crash at night on Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. Dazed and confused, she manages to find her way into a home of a stranger who has gone out of town. Enter Betty (Naomi Watts). A Hollywood actress wannabee, Betty shows up at her Aunt's home only to find Rita staying there and ultimately decides to help her find her identity.
Notwithstanding its original television intent, "Mulholland Drive" is still a unique, personal vision. It is not as dark and paranoid as "Lost Highway", nor is it as disturbing as "Blue Velvet" and "Eraserhead", but it is still undeniably David Lynch and that alone is worth the price of admission.
6 compelling weirdness
Owl Creek Bridge meets Day of the Locust. Another surreal dreamscape from Lynch. Good performances by Watts and Theroux. A few scenes didn't fit, though. They seemed to belong to another movie: loose ends, no doubt, from the projected TV mini-series that never came to fruition. I'm not the biggest fan of David Lynch, but I did find this one fairly compelling and memorable. Some have complained that the film is totally inscrutable, but those who managed to follow the storyline of Memento shouldn't have too much difficulty with this one. Just bear in mind that the first persona we encounter is only an idealized self-image in the fever dream of a mean little failure with a ugly soul. Enjoy.
Good transfer but NO extras at all--not even a menu or scene selections, for crying out loud! Cheap b@stards.
7 royal piece of crap
nothing. you get nothing from this movie. its basically a pretentious piece of work that calls itself art. david lynch did a terrible job, and the story had no substance. The end made no sense. just an all around waste of time.
8 Fantastic -- David Lynch is a master of suspense!
Many of the reviews on this site come from people who either say, "Can someone explain this movie to me, because I totally didn't get it" or "Gosh, it was so pretentious and egocentric" or "wtf was going on" or "I got lost half way through the film and I don't really care."
While I concede that the film is difficult to understand on its first viewing, it's certainly not impossible to understand. It takes time, and it REALLY makes you think about it. Don't watch it if you like mindless movies, because this one will make you think. It is best described as the movie version of a Rubix Cube....there are many interpretations, and just finding one of them is a v. rewarding feeling. This is what movies should be about!
Other than that, the cinematography of this movie is really well-done. Gorgeous and lush and spooky and eerie all at the same time. Editing and music and other technical stuff are also excellent; they do a fantastic job of building suspense. I nearly jumped out of my seat multiple times, and it wasn't just the image...it was the build-up and suspese to that image. Acting is superb...this is a real standout performance by Naomi Watts. She really knocks it out of the park, and was robbed of an Oscar nomination that year.
If you love movies that make you think, you'll love this film.
9 Makes your head spin
I have 4 years of psychology knowledge and experience, so to say this movie is easy to understand. No!! It was bizarre and didn't make any sense and by the end of the movie, you pretty much feel WHO CARES. There were many boring parts also. Well, the movie was boring overall and very is confusing, lacking a plot and lacking sense. All I know is it had something to do with repressed memories, and it was like a puzzle with hundreds of missing pieces. Movies are suppose to enteratin, not to sit all night trying to figure out what's going on in the movie causing an unpleasant thought provoking process. It was way too complicated to the point when you don't enjoy it! I remember exams being funner and easier than understanding this movie. There is no point.
10 Lynch's Aborted TV Project On The Big Screen
David Lynch returns to the big screen! If you are a die-hard Lynch fan and have praised every one of his films, you should read no further. If you, like me, have liked some of his films and disliked others, you will probably find some useful information within my review.
A voluptuous brunette (Laura Harring) survives a car crash on Mulholland Drive. She stumbles down the hillside and into a vacant department. Betty Elms (Naomi Watts), fresh off the airplane, ready to make it big, is housesitting her aunt's apartment while she is away shooting a film. She finds the woman asleep in the apartment and misstakes her for a friend of her aunt's. The woman has amnesia but decides to call herself Rita because she sees a movie poster for "Gilda" in the bathroom. Betty decides to help Rita figure out who she is. After Betty wows them at an audition, she quickly leaves to help Rita in her search. The journey begins.
"Mulholland Drive" began as a pilot for a proposed television series on ABC (the same network that aired "Twin Peaks"). After the network rejected it, Lynch went back and shot an additional 30 minutes to tie up the loose ends. The material created for the television pilot is very good. The problems arise with the material designed to `tie up the loose ends'.
Lynch has always created films that depicted a strange, alter universe. His best works, "Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks",combine this strange vision with fully developed characters and an involving story. His worst films, "Lost Highway" among them, let the strangeness overtake everything else. "Mulholland Drive" is neither the best or the worst film he has created.
Technically, the film is superior to most of the other dreck out in the multiplex. Lynch devotes a lot of attention to detail. Set in modern day Hollywood, everything has a sort of smudgy feel to it, but there are also places that have retained the beauty of Old Hollywood and this beauty shines through.
The story follows Betty and Rita as they navigate through the mystery of who Rita actually is. They encounter a number of strange people and the people they encounter also come into contact with even more strange people. For the first 90 minutes or so, all of this is very interesting. But you keep hoping that it will pay off. We meet Coc Lenoix (Ann Miller), the apartment building manager, Vincenzo Castigliane (Dan Hedaya), a `connected' movie producer, Detective Harry McKnight (Robert Forster), Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux), a young movie director, the Cowboy (Monty Montgomery) and many more.
Betty and Rita are the main characters and are in just about every scene of the film. Laura Harring is certainly a beautiful actress and has the body of an old-fashioned screen star, a Rita Hayworth for the modern day, but she is not a very good actress. From what I understand, she has had limited film experience and it shows. Both actresses act too much at times, much like a soap actress might. Rita talks with a slight accent and has a slow, extremely mannered way of speech. Naomi Watts plays Betty as a fresh-off-the-truck wannabee, but it appears as if she is actually just that. In one scene, she mouths "I love you", to another character, eliciting giggles and laughter from some in the audience.
In the first 90 minutes, as we watch the endless parade of supporting characters, it is easy to see that the television series Lynch envisioned would be endlessly fascinating. Unfortunately, the tacked on ending doesn't bother to follow story threads that were created in the previous 90 minutes. Instead of following any story through, Lynch uses the same infuriating story device he used in "Lost Highway" as a means of tying everything together. I would've been happy if just two characters made any sort of sense. Ultimately, nothing makes sense. Many characters have one scene, never to appear again. Adam Kesher's part of the puzzle seems particularly short. For instance, why does a woman sing "Crying" in Spanish (I think) and then fall to the stage? It just ends up being a mess.
It is also at about the 90 minute mark that Lynch begins using some of the more far-fetched plot devices he has employed in other projects. Alternate realities, magical devices, demons, etc. all get thrown into the mix.
Lynch's projects are usually multi-layered stories that involve a little deciphering. In listening to Roger Ebert's review last night, he mentioned that he loved the film because it resembled a series of dreams or nightmares, with characters and events changing with each successive dream. Some scenes that didn't interest the director were cut short, more emphasis was placed on other scenes. This is very true, but I don't feel Lynch was completely successful. Something is missing to make the dreams, nightmares, alternate realities, etc. interesting, believable or enjoyable.
I think "Mulholland Drive", the six or thirteen episode television series, would have been a constant source of discussion among viewers. I think "Mulholland Drive", the movie needs a tremendous amount of road work to become passable.
11 Terrible...
In fact its beyond terrible. I would give it negative stars if i could. I want those two hours of my life back. This clown had an opportunity to make a potentially good film but bombed it by trying to be clever. Its only redeeming factor was the Naomi Watts nudity. Beyond that, this film is a complete waste of time. Anyone who thought this was good needs their head examined. And go shove your snooty "your not smart enough to appreciate it" attitude. I got it. It didnt need to be so compicated, that was what made it bad. This guy went out of his way to be difficult so he could come off as "brilliant". You know, if i drive ten miles out of my way to go to my next door neighbors house, its considered idiocy for my waste of time, resources, and energy. In fact, id probably get whacked upside the head by any reasonable-thinking person for doing something so pointless. That is the same for this film. We only have so much time on this earth, you shouldnt waste it watching this movie. Go watch paint dry instead.
12 Wow
I don't think I've ever been as confused by a movie as Mulholland Drive, but that was it initially made me watch it again. Preconceptions I had disappeared after repeated viewings and the plot started to come together through the various scenes that seem to have no connections.
Naomi Watts' pretentious performance I originally saw as bad acting, but now realize is exceptional acting. This is what her role called for and makes complete sense after repeated viewings.
While the plot can not simply be explained to a viewer, he or she must make his or her own mind up about what this film is saying. I don't have a clear cut answer, but the movie is a manifestation of romance, comedy, drama, mystery, and sadness. David Lynch's direction is Oscar deserving.
A great, great film.
13 David Lynch has made his masterpiece
I am a huge cinema fan, and this film is up there with the very best films ever made, in my opinion. Every second, every frame, every idea, the acting, everything in this movie is PERFECT. And no film has done or will ever do a better job of understanding dreams with their complexity, intrusions, and tangents, though always connected together through words and symbols. There is a scene involving a Roy Orbison song that is devastatingly beautiful - the music, the whole thing -- you will remember it, and many other amazing things in this movie, for the rest of your life. Currently my favorite film, up there with Rear Window, Sprirted Away, and The Seven Samurai. You cannot rent this; you will want to watch it many times and unravel its complex and beautiful meanings. Go ahead and buy it!
14 Drive on
Los Angeles is not known for being a spooky town, with the palm trees, sunshine and Hollywood. But David Lynch makes it so in "Mulholland Drive," a brilliantly elliptical film where nothing is as it seems. With outstanding acting, eerie direction and a thoroughly strange plotline, this is a brain-bender of the best kind.
The movie opens with heavy breathing, visions of a lovely young girl being awarded, many teen couples dancing, and a slow descent toward a pillow. Then we cut to a three-way car crash, followed by a pretty young woman (Laura Harring) wandering down the hill to an upscale apartment. But she soon encounters the owner's niece, pretty plucky Betty (Naomi Watts). When Betty learns that the mysterious young lady -- who is calling herself Rita -- has amnesia, she decides to help her find out what is going on.
Elsewhere, a promising young film director's life is falling to pieces, because of a pair of malevolent brothers who want a particular young lady to star in his film. And when Betty begins to explore the strange car accident that Rita walked away from, they find that there is a bizarre conspiracy brewing in L.A. Or is there? The path gets more and more twisted, as the boundaries of reality and dreams blur.... and it all centers on a mysterious name: Diane Selwyn.
This is a movie that doesn't make sense on the first viewing -- at first it just seems to be a straightforward suspense movie. But David Lynch completely turns that on its ear. Not everything makes sense in this film -- such as the monstrous man behind the restaurant -- but the pieces start to slowly click together as we find out who Diane Selwyn is.
When you realize what the first two hours actually are, the film makes much more sense -- a muddied look at Diane Selwyn's life, but fragmented and twisted by her desires. Multiple alter-egos, wishful thinking, obsessive lesbian love, jealousy, rage, and random people and places come into her dream, but reflected as she wants to see them, and tainted by her own guilt.
And even the sunny opening scenes, with the starry-eyed Betty arriving in sunny L.A. for an audition, take on a dark tinge when you discover who Diane was, and that she had the same experience. Naomi Watts plays both Betty and Diane, one sweet and innocent, the other bitter and unbalanced. And she's marvelous as both, whether playing a sweet young girl, or a hardened, obsessive starlet. Harding does almost as good a job as Rita, especially as the film starts, but the focus slowly and inexorable shifts to Watts.
David Lynch ignores the shiny warmth of L.A., focusing on back-alley monsters, creepy dreams and hit men. He's known for being incredibly weird, and here he doesn't disappoint -- ordinary words and occurances are sinister, and the camerawork is insanely good. The camera slowly descends, wanders down hallways, and creeps to reveal something horrible. A few scenes -- the lesbian love scene, the monstrous restaurant creature that is implied to be in the middle of it -- seem a bit out of place, but then again, their presence could be interpreted in multiple ways.
Surrealistic noir is the best way to describe "Mulholland Drive," an exceptionally strange mind-bender of a movie. Creepy, beautiful and very very unreal, and not something forgotten easily.
15 Silencio...
This is truly a magnificent film, my all time 2nd fave. Upon first viewing i wasnt familiar with Lynch's work, that is to say I didn't know anything of his films, I went in to watch this film as it were made by any other director, and that is why i got utterly confused. When the credits rolled I was left scratching my head. Intially I shrugged it off and just thought it was a strange film that has no intention of making any sense what so ever. One night I looked up the movie and read all the raving reviews that It had gotten, I decided that a movie that didnt make any sense couldnt have possibly been given such good reviews, so I decided to dig futher and figure out the film. After reading many theories and clues etc and re watching the film many times I now feel like I have an understanding of it, I think It's amazing how you really can dig deep into this film and find out exactly why every little scene is significant and that everything has a meaning, David Lynch is definetly an amazingly talented director. This film is stunning in every aspect and everytime you watch it you discover something new, many people will watch It once and critise It as they wont understand and wont put In the effort to figure it out, and I think thats a shame because once you have an understanding of the film I feel you can really appreciate It. This is truly an amazing film and after seeing this I feel like I simply must see the rest of David Lynch's work, and I only hope It Is as good as Mulholland Drive.
16 An Erotic, Sexy Thriller That Will Keep You on Your Toes
Laura Elana Harring and Naomi Watts star in this confusing but highly entertaining movie about dreams, suicide, and mistaken identities. The first two hours of this film are a dream of a woman known as Diane Selwyn, while the last half hour is actually Diane's real life.
What makes this movie somewhat hard to grasp is that the viewer is never made aware that they're watching a dream sequence. The movie just flows along without the viewer knowing that what they are actually seeing is someone's dream, not what is really occuring.
Betty (Naomi Watts) is the dream version of Diane. Wholsome and down-to-earth, Betty is portrayed as an aspiring actress who has come to Los Angeles from Ontario, Canada in hopes of finding an acting job. But, Diane is not Betty in the dream, she's really Rita (Laura Elana Harring). Rita is a woman who was involved in a horrific car crash and somehow lost her memory. She comes upon Betty's Aunt's apartment, where she ends up meeting Betty. She convinces Betty to help her search for her lost identity, and the two become very close along the way, as evidenced by the steamy sex scenes between the two.
Although this movie is hard to follow at some parts, I did enjoy it overall. Naomi Watts and Laura Elana Harring are simply perfect together, as evidenced by their excellent on-screen chemistry and the attraction and passion that develops between their characters of Betty and Rita. The many sub-plots in the movie are very exciting as well, and everything is tied together in the end. I recommend this movie highly. The acting is first-rate, the directing is good, and the story is fun to watch. However, just remember to pay very close attention while watching so you can figure out the ending.
17 One of the best films ever
This IS one of the best movies ever made. My favorite lynch movie. I have seen a ll of lynch's work, and this is my favorite. I didn't like it my first couple times watching it because I was totally lost. Do a little research online before you watch it and make any judgements on it. Research what the movie is actually about. There is a tangable storyline, you just have to look hard and "out of the box" to notice it. Anyways, deffinately a great film, it's sad to see such poor reviews on this movie.
18 Remember when David Lynch made good movies?!?
First, let me say that I really like Lynch's earlier films, especially "The Elephant Man" and "Blue Velvet". You know why? Because the plots made since the first time you watched them and you didn't have to ask some artsy-fartsy expert what the movies were about. But in "Lost Highway" and again with "Mulholland Drive", Lynch seemed to be obsessed with confusing the audiences while gloating in his own "amazing" artistry. It's simply stunning how many people mistake this waste of over two hours as a "masterpiece". There's nothing wrong with the actors (Naomi Watts is incredibly beautiful), it's just the lack of an understandable plot that makes this film utterly worthless. Well, not entirely. The movie earns a 2-star rating just for Angelo Badalamenti's hauntingly beautiful score. But it belongs in a much better movie than this disaster. Like a previous reviewer, even after I understood the movie I felt cheated. So unless you're a diehard David Lynch fan I suggest you avoid this movie, although I strongly recommend the awesome soundtrack.
19 Worse Than "The Village", with better tricks
I saw the movie. I read all the explanations here and on Salon.com (which is the best I must admit). I get the movie although I admit at first I didn't-and not putting chapters in the DVD was just plain wrong. Here's my problem with this "Finnegans Wake" type of story telling which every one calls genius; it's so NOT! Anyone could craft an incomprehensible and esoteric story and claim artistry when people have to try to put it together before it makes any sense. Let's face it once you do put it all together is the story all that interesting? No. This is dazzling the audience with nonsense to cover lack of story telling skill. Fact is folks 'Finnegans Wake' is the product of a brilliant story teller's brain breaking wind, and so is this movie. There's nothing here.
20 The Reason Motion Pictures are Made
For all of the idiots out there who can't think their way out of a wet paper bag, for all the morons who think an Adam Sandler movie is entertaining, for all the mindless robots who like to 'plop' down in front of the Almighty box with a bag of pork rinds and watch professional wrestling, for all of the fools who think Julia Roberts can act and all the rest of you who didn't 'get' this movie, I say stick to something simple, like Police Academy XV because this movie is light years ahead of your sub-simian understanding. America is doomed
21 Egocentric and Incomprehensible
On one hand, this film is filmed beautifully and looks like the high budget film that it is. For those of you who are into lesbians and don't what to rent something from the x-rated section, you'll get an even better thrill. But other than that, the film rambles on for far too long in an incomprehensible mess of imagery which I'm sure Lynch is half pround and half giggling that people here get.
Ever go to a modern art exhibit where the artists are talking about their works? For the most part it is about self-absorbed individuals who are completely wrapped up in their own desire to be unique and clever without realizing that most in the room are holding back laughter. While they ramble on about symbolism and all sorts of unrelated issues, you sit there thinking "I feel very sorry for this person who is trying so very hard to pump up what brilliance they have created by telling me that their piece of crap is genius because you have never seen something like it before and thus it is original!" I'll say this much. Just because it's original doesn't mean it is great. It's still crap with a different package.
Yes, that went on a little longer than expected but after you watch the movie you'll feel sad that something so visually pretty and that has some compelling moments ends up being just a crappy collection of imagery to watch for over 2 hours. It's a collage of crap that is supposed to make sense with subtle "clues" according to the author and people here in a way that is so thin that you could miss them instantly. Trust me that you don't want to watch this crap again.
Now, the finishing point of why this is crap. I'm guessing that these idiots also thought that the inferior DVD released without chapter points was intentional too? Perhaps it was released cheaply and Lynch thought -- "hey, these idiots will probably find some other esoteric reason why this inferior release has been done for artistic reasons!" I've never seen a DVD where you literally have to fast forward the movie to any scene because yes, there are no chapters. I'm guessing that anyone who bought it should receive a new DVD should it come out. Oh yes, I forgot, Lynch didn't want you to skip scenes so they were intentionally left off.
Get real all of you...
22 A very odd, yet interesting, movie
This movie is confusing at first (especially the last half-hour or so), though it is quite funny in some areas and erotic in others. It becomes extremely interesting and distrubing after a little thought and analysis. It's at least worth a rental--it's an interesting movie, but I don't know if I'd buy it. If you're having trouble coming up with your own interpretation, please check out www.mulholland-drive.net for some pretty good articles, before writing off the movie completely.
23 A David Lynch formula movie; playing musical scripts.
I had a dream that David Lynch explained to me what this movie was about,and I still don't get it. I really believe that Lynch considers Hollywood to be the gateway to hell. Anyway...here goes. Girl goes to Hollywod to become a star, and feeling betrayed by the whole movie industry, she murders her lesbian lover who takes her starring part and then kills her and then becomes her in the afterlife.
24 Terrible. Simply terrible.
Here's my only point of a review on this movie: Can anyone honestly tell me what this film was about?
That's all.
25 I was too lost to really enjoy it
Sorry to go against the hip popular opinion grain on these kinds of flicks, BUT, although the imagry, atmosphere, and acting, etc. are great, This movie just made my brain hurt too much while you're watching it.
Trying to be cool and cutting edge are one thing but come on. Just like Blue Velvet, I kept sighing through the whole thing, wondering what the hell is going on. I hate movies that just don't give you a clue until the end, and this one didn't even do 'that' for me. I got it that one woman actress put out a hit on the other etc, etc. But I still don't know who the heck the bum behind the building with the little blue box was. Or the two guys in the resturant.
Maybe if I watch it a couple more times I'll catch something I missed. But I'm not really interested enough to see it again . It made me tired and somewhat bored. (That's the problem with some movies, they make it easy to miss stuff on first viewing so you have to watch it again. Hmmm, a brilliant marketing ploy?)
Anyway, if it was a dream sequence and one woman putting herself in the place of the other, and fantasizing that everything was different than it really is, well I for one would have never figured it if I hadn't read some of these other reviews. What's the point?
I just feel you can entertain an audience without keeping completely them lost throughout the entire movie.
26 Sensual and Surreal
No surprise that David Lynch has created this incredibly sensual and highly complex masterpiece. From beginning to end, viewers keep asking themselves, "What's going on here?" And that is Lynch's brilliance - he keeps the viewers mentally riveted to the storyline while attacking their senses with visually surreal settings and mesmerizing scoring. Viewers have to watch Mulholland Dr. a second time to try to figure it out. They also want to watch it again just to experience it again.
No need to provide a synopsis of the film. Previous reviewers have done an excellent job of that. But I would strongly recommend to those that haven't already seen Mulholland Dr. to watch the film first then read the reviews to decode it. Being blown away by it the first time is half the fun.
Naomi Watts should have been Oscar nominated for her role. She was absolutely terrific and absolutely hot.
27 A Great Film,Needs More Credit
Look,i've seen 3 David Lynch films (Blue Velvet & The Elephant Man) and he's different from all the other directors.David Lynch writes brilliant films which can tend to be extremely confusing.Why is he different? When Lynch writes a movie that makes you think he doesn't care if you figure out the movie and he doesn't care if you don't understand it. He knows what he created and he's fine with that.This film is one of those movies.
The first time I saw it,when it was over I kind of asked myself.What the heck was that about? I watched it again and still didn't understand it which ticked me off. So I turned to my trusty friend the internet and now I know what the movie is about. I'm not going to say cause if you want to figure it out so bad go to Google and find out so i'm going to give you a synopsis.A woman (Laura Elena Harring) is sitting in a limo when it stops on Mulholland Drive and the driver points a gun at her and tells her to get out of the car.As she's about to a bunch of drunk teenagers hit the car.The woman wakes up and wanders into a womans house.She's alone until the woman's neice Betty (Naomi Watts,Academy Award Nominee: Best Actress "21 Grams") arrives from Deep River Ontario to become an actress. Even though Betty finds the woman as an intruder in the house she befriends her and the woman begins to use the name Rita (a name she lifted from Rita Hayworth off of a movie poster.) The movie really begins to take shape and eventually becomes weird. Roger Ebert gave this film a great review,but said it didn't make sense.Another critic said the movie was horrible.Why did he say this? The 1st half,before the movie becomes REALLY confusing was originally a TV pilot submitted to ABC. ABC rejected it and the critic accused Lynch of tacking on a dumb ending that made no sense.I think what Lynch did was basically shorten an idea he had.I presume if Lynch had made this a series he would have had the same ending except it would have been the last episode and some chracters that should have been main characters (like Robert Forster)
woulds have been main characters instead of being on screen for less than a minute.But there is two scenes in the film that are spectacular. I won't say what they are but the initials for it would be LSS. See the movie,you'll understand. But I can't see these two scenes on television. Had it been on television though people would have tuned into "Mulholland Drive" every week.
A-.
28 The life is not a dream , but it can become it!
This artfilm shares to my mind the honorable place of being one of the most intelligent , sublime artworks in this raising Century .
Lynch made his sublime masterpiece : a glorious and tastefully film with smart ellipsis , sinuous illusions , double cross , visual riddles and circular dreams . With this superb movie Lynch reached the artistic peak of Alain Resnais (The last year in Mariembad) and Raoul Ruiz (Three cornets for a sailor).
According to Jorge Luis Borges : "The night imposes us its magic task : to unweave the universe" so we will be the ineffable witnesses of this memorable picture and extraordinary puzzle ; a tale of disillusions , jealous , betray , infidelity , absurdity and laceration of self esteem.
A troubled Canadian girl (Naomi Watts) loaded with the illusion to be an actress in Hollywood will experiment a chain of bitter misfortunes and disappointments . In this magic shining universe her light was not enough intense to shine like a crazy diamond.. She will be displaced from her maxim dream and her only love : In other words Dante 's hell paradigm revived in Mulholland Drive.
The revenge will be the next step which will lead to an awful climax .
What will the undecipherable future dream? It will dream the forgetfulness and the memory can be voluntary acts , and not random aggressions.
29 Weird and stylish.
I use to hate David Lynch movies because I didn't understand them ,but I have grown to appreciate there style and artistic flare. It's hard to explain a movie with such adversity and emotional impact. All I can say is throw the plot out of the window and enjoy DL at his most surreal best since Lost Highway (another one Ive grown to love.) Outstanding performances. Interesting dialogue and just downright weird but somehow manages to maintain a high emotional impact.. Hard to explain...Rent the DVD and watch this one more than once. I didn't like it on the first viewing but watched again and again and learned to appreciate its dreamlike quality. Impacted even more by Angelo Bandalmenti's music who also plays a mob boss who is picky about his coffee. This movie is hynotizing and very intriguing but definitely keep an open mind while viewing. Not one for the kiddies or Grandma.
30 And why am I rating this 5 stars again..?..Oh yea...
This movie....totally....before this I beileved that Clockwork Orange was the weirdest movie I've ever seen but this film totally blew that movie 10x out of the water my friends....I am giving this so much credit because how thought provoking it actually is....I still don't know how to decipher what is it about, My english teacher and my freinds have also seen it and the only explaination I got was that life is not static and things can change...but if you're in for about 2 hours of full-blown imgination and freakiness...enjoy.
31 David Lynch needs a hug...
"Wow" or "What in God's name did I just see?" = Your choices of what to say at the end of Mulholland Drive. This amazing film centers around an aspiring actress (Naomi Watts) and an amnesiac (Laura Harring) who are searching for Harring's identity and something about a car crash. Wait, hold on... now there's two guys sitting in a diner... ok now there's a film director and a man who is way too particular in his taste of espresso... Now there's a hitman... a poolman and pink paint, WHAT'S GOING ON!!! All set over Angelo Badalamenti's haunting score, Mulholland Drive proves to be a true cult classic. If you enjoy movies that require you to do more than just watch, then buy it and dont waste your time returning it to the video store. Highly Recommended.
32 Another Best DL Film
Lynch has done it again. I saw this movie 5X before I was able to make some kind of sense of it and I still watch it in awe. That's the beauty of it. Dreams, reality, what is real and what isn't and the fine line in between is what makes this movie worth watching.
I like comedy as much as the next guy but how many apple pie movies and lampoon specials can you watch before getting sick all over yourself? For crying out loud, challenge your brain for a change and watch this movie...several times.
33 David Lynch is on crack.
I'm so sick of people ranting and raving about David Lynch movies, jumping on the bandwagon about the "experience" and how epic his movies are. Aside from the constant lesbian action, DAVID LYNCH IS AWFUL!
This movie is yet another twisted, unclear, freak show brought to you by David Lynch, who also did that series that I never understood called "Twin Peaks". I sat through this movie confused, unclear, and bored.
First it's a girl in an accident, then no memory, then dyking it out. I'll tell you this however, the only reason this movie scored points with me is because the main character was GORGEOUS. There's a bunch of topless lesbian scenes where you're blown away by that figure, but beyond that, the blond girl was stupid, and who the hell was the cowboy? I gave it a 3.
34 No hay banda...
Mulholland Drive is without a doubt one of the greatest movie experiences I've ever had. I like the point a reviewer below me made about Lynch making great "experiences" in movies, because that's really the best way to explain this film. Don't go in expecting a typical, coherent plotline; in fact, you might not want to expect to understand it at all the first time through (I know I didn't). The key here is to be able to enjoy something that you can't understand or put into words.
When explaining this movie to others, I often compare it to music, since it's so hard to explain what a piece of music means, or why it is that you really like it. This movie is like that. The imagery, the overall feel, the acting, and many single scenes are so intriguing that they don't need to mean anything, or at least not anything specific -- they just work in themselves.
This is not to say that the movie is impenetrable, however. There are some meanings to be found here, some symbolism, connections between seemingly disparate plotlines, etc. To a large extent, you can "figure it out." But I've found that, for me at least, that's not really the point. After finishing it the first time, and being thoroughly dazzled and confused, I read some reviews and analyses, in order to understand it all. And now I can say that, for the most part, I know what's going on in the movie, but what I can't say is that I enjoy it more because of that knowledge. The movie's charm to me still remains something unexplainable. {SPOILER} I can't tell you why the scene in Club Silencio is probably my favorite scene in the history of cinema; yes, the "there is no band" bit can be used to explain some of the rest of the film, but that's not why I love it. There's just such an ominous feel, such a mystery, that is, from my experience (which I admit is rather limited) completely unparalleled.{/SPOILER}
And that is the charm that is, in my opinion, unique to this movie. There are other movies that have twisted plotlines that take a while to figure out, but I've yet to see another movie that reacted so immediately on the senses that I fell in love with it without knowing why. See this movie. NOW.
*Unfortunately, as another reviewer mentioned, this DVD is about as bad as it gets. The "extras" are for all intents and purposes nonexistent, and the lack of chapter selection can get really annoying, especially given MD's rather scattered plot. But, as far as I know, this is your only option. The movie is worth it by itself, anyway.
35 Incredible movie, horrible DVD!
Don't get me wrong, this is a simply incredible movie- the acting by Justin Theroux and especially Naomi Watts is perfect, the music by Angelo Badalamenti is beautiful, and the direction by David Lynch is haunting. I can't recommend this film enough for fans of well-made film noir. However, the dvd itself is crappy. The 'extras' are a joke and you can't even skip through the movie unless you fast forward the 'old-fashioned way.' Why Lynch or the studio even bothered to release this film on dvd is beyond me, they may as well have just stuck to the VHS format if they weren't going to take advantage of all that dvd has to offer. This rating applies to the dvd format ONLY, not to the film itself.
36 an unjustly unattributed source of material for this movie
I had as much fun as everyone else with this film, but there is an old movie that the overall plot structure was lifted from directly, and I'm surprised no one else has mentioned it. The movie is "Carnival of Souls". In that movie, a young woman improbably survives a car crash. In the ensuing weeks of her life, completely normal events suddenly turn horrid, populated by ghoulish ghostlike beings, and then turn back to normal just as rapidly. She is inexplicably drawn to an abandoned amusement park, where the ghouls entice her to join them in a dance (think of the elderly tourists in MHD). At the end, her car is fished out of the lake where it crashed, with her dead body inside. I am really amazed both that David Lynch did not attribute his plot outline to this horror classic, and that nobody else has mentioned it either
37 Maya Deren Reborn
Don't drive yourself nuts trying to connect the dots. Yes [SPOILER] the first four-fifths of the movie are a dream. The last fifth is a convaluted series of "real-life" images. In terms of structure, this is much simpler than some of Lynch's other work--Lost Highway for example--where the whole plot (sans a few scattered minutes) is internal. But, the plot is not really the point. Enjoy the experience of the images. Enjoy the dreamlike quality. If you're looking for a realistic plot (even a complex realistic plot like Memento), you're going to be disappointed.
That being said:
David Lynch is quite simply one of the greatest artists working in mainstream film. He is bringing the experimental, avant-garde film world to Hollywood, and for that alone he should be congratulated. The fact that he produces artistic pieces that are also intensly enjoyable to watch is a rare gift.
I'll go to Quentin Tarantino (or for that matter Joss Whedon or Amy Sherman-Palladino) if I'm looking for great dialogue. I'll go to Tim Burton or Wes Anderson if I'm looking for great characters. But David Lynch is where I'll go for a great experience.
A few other filmakers: Paul Thomas Anderson, Spike Jonze/Charlie Kaufman, Sam Mendes, Darren Aronofsky, etc. create great experiences (OK, I can't really say I "enjoy" Anderson or Aronofsky), but David Lynch, by separating himself from the strictures of an A-B-C plot, creates the most interesting experiences of all.
The best comparison I can think of for Mulholland Dr. is a short film by the experimental filmaker Maya Deren: Meshes of the Afternoon. This film, made around 1943 I think, is about fifteen minutes long, silent, and features a series of images revolving around a woman coming home in the middle of the day and eventually winding up--well, it's not really clear what she winds up. The movie is a beautiful series of images: a cloaked figure with a mirror for a face, broken mirror bits on a beach, a flower, a lover, and (yes) a key that transforms into a knife and becomes the tool behind a murder/suicide at the end of the film.
If you can find Meshes of the Afternoon (and that's kind of hard) definitely watch it. Until then, wait for the next Lynchian experience
38 Can't get it out of my head
Mulholland Drive is a beautiful work of art. This movie encompasses some of darkest emotions that we, as human beings, feel everyday, even if they are not at the same level. We all create fantasies to, essentially, escape from reality, and mulholland drive explores this natural tendancy. Many viewers find this movie to be over-whelming, and rightfully so. Mulholland drive is jam-packed with symbolism, and requires alot of analysis to understand the less obvious plot twists and turns. However, even if you don't want to use your brain to enjoy a movie, Mulholland is a must see for anyone who is touched or moved by cinema. This movie has images that will forever be londged in a viewer's brain. Some may say, the movie is about nothing...but how can a movie about nothing spark such strong emotions, and lock itself in your head. I guarantee most of you will be talking and thinking about this movie weeks after you have watched it. Now how many movies have staying power like that? If there are more...sign me up!
39 Mulholland Dive
I'm not one to watch David Lynch movies, so maybe I need movies spoon-fed to me. Maybe I'm missing out on some grand oasis of knowledge here. But truth is, I felt there were no redeemable qualities to this. Actually I take that back. There were some good scenes, but to me they were just little easter eggs to make you forget that the movie had no point. Or maybe, with all the porn out there for heterosexuals, this was meant to be soft-core for lesbians. And men. If you get something out of this film, great. I'm warning you though, you'll have to use your imagination big time when trying to piece together this insanely scrambled plot. As for me, I don't need to waste two hours in front of a television set in order to put my imagination to good use. I can do that by myself. Right now, I have a better, more imaginative story in my mind. It involves a couple of dancing bears.
I'll give the director the benefit of the doubt though, assume he's onto something and give this movie 2 stars.
But just for the record, I think accessible movies are far underrated.
40 "Mulholland Drive" Will Take Your Breathe Away.
Mulholland Drive is undoubtedly the best David Lynch film to come out since Blue Velvet and one of the best films ever to come out of independent cinema. I ended up watching this film five times in the theater because it was that addicting. The story was so intriguing and the casting was just perfect. I'm amazed at how well the two unknown actresses had acted in this. They gave amazing oscar-like performances, very much like the acting seen in hollywood films during their heyday. You can find everything in this film including suspense, horror, mystery, drama, comedy, art and erotica.
The whole 1950's vibe in this film really brought back a sense of nostalgia back into Hollywood cinema. It makes movies feel alive again. The setting makes you feel like the movie takes place during the 50's when it actually takes place during the present day. We actually don't know that for sure, Lynch doesn't tell us, it could have taken place during the 50's, who knows? The entire film is actually this freakin twisted. Anyways, the film in itself is great. The film is beautifully shot and the cinematography, especially the lighting and color, is extraordinary. David Lynch's unconventional way of shooting things and telling stories is very much like that of Orsen Welles and Alfred Hitchcock. Like their films, Mulholland Drive is a very visual film with a lot of vivid imagery. This is best displayed during the climactic scene of the story when the whole story changes after a mysterious blue box is unlocked. We find that the main character, Betty, has disappeared and her friend Rita has become unconscious. After the pandoras box is opened, we are brought back to reality and we are introduced to two new characters, Diane and Camilla. The whole dream sequence ends when Diane is awaken by a mysterious cowboy and starts rolling out of bed. We come to realize that Betty/Diane's reality is not as happy as we depicted it to be. We learn that Diane is an actress who exploits Camilla by using Camilla's fame and fortune for her own purposes of breaking into hollywood, but instead she only finds herself falling in love with Camilla along the way. During their affair, Camilla unexpectedly dumps Diane for the director, Adam Kesher, and takes the role that's supposed to be Diane's big break. This leads to Diane's jealousy and frustration in a gut-wrenching masturbating scene. Feeling that she lost everything, she seeks revenge and hires a hitman to kill Camilla. When she finds out that the hit has been made with the presence of a blue key, she kills herself.
The acting in this film is superb especially by Naomi Watts. Naomi Watts' true life story of struggling to get roles and finding her big break in films helped her a lot in portraying this character. This ended up being her big break and she has thrived ever since with 'The Ring,' '21 Grams' and other upcoming films. She shines onscreen especially during a lesbian love scene with actress Laura Harring. It's one of the most erotic love scenes I have ever seen captured on film. Laura Harring and Naomi Watts are stunningly beautiful and the reason alone to watch this. Surprisingly, Lynch's music composer Angelo Badalementi, even makes a rare cameo appearance in this. He is the man who drinks the coffee and spits it out in the scene where Adam Kesher and the casting agents argue about which girl to cast in their film. Other cameo appearances include the great Ann Miller, Robert Forster, Dan Hedaya and Billy Ray Cyrus.
The only flaws I can possibly think of this film having is in the DVD itself. There is no chapter search and no special features other than the theatrical trailer and the cast bio's. David Lynch intended it to be only one long chapter which was a mistake on his part. Another flaw I noticed was an edit in a nude scene. It's the scene where Rita takes off her robe. A part of her body is blurred for about a second. A terrible decision to make since it was unedited on the big screen. David Lynch fans will be disappointed about all this. Hopefully, a new special edition DVD will come out to replace this one with deleted scenes, commentary, interviews and most importantly a chapter search. It's unfair that about ten other countries have already released this as a special edition and the U.S. and Canada has not. Two foreign editions even have double discs full of special features. Why is this? Where is our special edition? Well, someday it will be released. If you want more info go to davidlynch.de, you could probably be lucky and find it on import.
41 Read this only if you've seen the film!
I didn't suspect the bulk of the film was a dream only because it was a David Lynch film. When something seemed very odd (like the director's wife jumping on top of the giant who comes to her house), I'd think, "Well, it's a David Lynch film...." In addition, because it begins as a "film noir" movie, I was ready to make allowances for weird things happening. Looking at the film a second time, the dream was obvious - but the suprise the first time was fun.
I think the reason that Betty/Diane was so obsessed with Rita/Camilla is: Diane had no acting talent and she knew it. When Betty rehearses the script with Rita, she is awful, yet when she does the same scene at the audition, she's terrific - and VERY different! Diane mentions at the party (at the end of the movie) that she very much wanted a certain role, but Camilla got it, and I suspect that the good acting in the audition is a copy of how Camilla did the part Diane wanted (and for this reason, when the audition is followed by the scene with Adam Kesher auditioning girls, he and Rita make attracted-to-each-other eye-contact - she had "become" Camilla). "The director didn't think much of me," she goes on to say at the party, adding that Camilla is the one who helped her get some parts. So the sad story is that Diane wins a jitterbug contest and uses her inheritance to go Hollywood, arriving fresh-faced and starry-eyed like Betty, but she would have become one of the countless nameless and talentless wannabee failures except that the glamorous, talented, successful Rita-Hayworth-Camilla took a shine to her. When she loses the intimate relationship with Camilla, she loses everything, and that's why the loss is unbearable and unacceptable - her self-esteem can't handle it.
By the way, I don't think Camilla had any intention of humiliating Diane at the party. Camilla, I think, genuinely cared about Diane and wanted to keep her as a friend. True, it was time for Camilla to move on, but she was accustomed to being adored and desired, and had no idea how horrible is rejection.
I didn't read too much into the story of the mob forcing the director to hire the dream's "Camilla". I think this was the dream's incorporation of the glossy photo of Camilla (this is the girl!) that Diane gives to the killer (notice the real-life killer's black book on the table at Winkie's - that's the same black book he killed for in the dream). The blue key, bundle of cash, guy at the counter, opening car-stopping scene, jitterbug contest and smiling couple, director's mother, cowboy, Aunt, Diane's neighbor, "the two detectives came looking for you again," Diane's apartment, "I got the pool and she got the poolman" comment, the woman who is "Camilla" in the dream, etc. were also incorporated into the dream just as real dreams incorporate major or minor details of a person's life. Even the blue box is incorporated to answer Diane's question about the key: "What does it open?"
One last point - not everything in a dream is realistic (for example, the monster in back of Winkie's), and all loose ends in a dream are not tied up, so David Lynch shouldn't be accused of undisciplined weirdness or faulted for failing to follow up on every character. I think that dreams can also include prophecy (as did Diane's), and perhaps this is why we all have "deja vu" experiences in real life.
42 An outstanding movie, Watts and Lynch, in Dreamland
I've just come here, fresh from watching this for the first time. I said it would be better reviewing it at this time since it is so vivid in my mind right now. This was one movie I kept meaning to get on DVD and watch but I never quite did, until now. I'm the type of person that finds it hard to sit through movies, especially when I'm watching them on my own. I do watch lots of them, but can find my attention wavering even through movies I like!
All I can say about this film is, my attention never once wavered, or even attempted to. It is one of the few films that has kept my attention, with a steely grip, on the screen. It's the type of film that everyone should watch, but you know won't.
Much has been made out of the 'decide for yourself' ending. Myself, I love films like that. Like Naomi Watts (my favourite actress) says in her interview in the extras, it's a movie that makes you think, who wants to see one that doesn't. Well said.
David Lynch can be an acquired taste to some. There is no doubt he is one of the most talented directors ever to exist though. He's on top form here and it's my favourite movie by him. It's weird in parts, as you would expect from Lynch. From tense moments such as the board room meeting between director Adam (Justin Theroux) and associates to moments such as Adam finding Billy Ray Cyrus (as a pool cleaner) in his wife's bed!
The plotline has been well summed up elsewhere on this page, all that needs to be said by me is that every actor and actress gives their best and it shows. No one performance is lacking, Justin Theroux as Adam is captivating, but most outstanding is Naomi Watts who plays Betty. The only words I can use to describe her performance are masterful and equissite.
Some reviewers have claimed this movie is 'pretentious', they should not be so critical. There is a difference between style and pretention. Anyone who has watched a David Lynch movie knows he doesn't do pretentious. He is really that complex and oblique. For those that hate Lynch, then I ask why would you watch this movie, as you would know you wouldn't like it!
Everyone else, please take a trip along Mulholland Drive.
43 THE BEST MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN
Do yourself a favor and check this movie out, along with all of David Lynch's movies.
44 THE BEST MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN
Do yourself a favor and check this movie out, along with all of David Lynch's movies.
45 A critique on Fernando's explaination
So yes, the movie is great and yes, it's very hard to understand. I, however, noticied a few hings I felt were wrong/missing from Fernando's explaination. Stop reading if you haven't seen the movie.
To clue the viewer in that it is in fact a dream, many psuedo-celebrites appear (Billy-Ray Cyrus, Robert Forester). This is a look into the human subconscious explains why the movie has such a familiar feeling.
Diane (Betty in her dream sequence) did not wish to see the director as powerless, but she did want to provide an explaination for why she lost her movie role to Camilla (Rita in the dream sequence). She does this by inventing a new Camilla who doesn't get the role based on her talent, but rather through mob connections. This new Camilla takes the body of a woman the real life Camilla (Rita in the dream) had an affair with. Her getting Diane/Betty's role is also representative of her taking Camilla/Rita from her. The director does not wish to cast her (dream Camilla), but is forced to through intimidation.
Now that you're sufficiently confused, we can take a look at the role of the old people. Before the credits begin, there's a series of people jitterbugging and flashes of Diane/Betty with the old people in a scene that looks as if she's just been crowned homecoming queen. We see the two again after she gets off the plane and again at the end as they drive her to suicide. They represent her past, whether they are her parents or grandparents or whatever. She has disassociated herself from them and they've come back to stalk her.
There's much more to this movie, but you can figure it out for yourself. Hope this was helpful.
46 Mullholand Drive: A guide to understanding it.
I'm not going to write about the plot of this movie because that would be pointless. To start of, there is no real plot to the story, there isn't an order, but it does not by any circumstance lack cohesion. If you have already seen this movie, read on you might mind an answer. If you haven't don't, unless you become too baffled by it and you need a clue.
To explain this i'll have to use the actresses's names instead of the characters since I can't possible find another way to do it.
Bear with me:
1. There is no order in space or time. The whole movie (except for a few moments at the end when Naomi Watt's character hires an assasin, which is the key to understanding this) happens entirely in her head. What triggers everything is the the Laura Harring character leaving Naomi's for the cowboy director. Naomi's personality becomes fragmented, hence, the first part of the movie, including the credits, are part of a dream, of an idealized reality. This is the reason why at the first hour and a half or so of the movie there is a sense that everything being fake: from the way people act, to certain situation's that seem to have no connection with main "plot". That was something that i found really breakthrough, these amazing actresses willingly act like they're on days of our lives just to give you a clue. The horrible acting at the beguinning is COMPLETLY INTENTIONAL.
2. There are two deaths in the movie. One is Naomi's suicide (because her lover left her, and since she wouldn't come back she decides to kill her) and two, laura's death which we never get to see.
3. The blue box is the cathalicyst. She's supposed to get the blue key after Laura is dead, which she sees on her table in the second bizarro part of the movie which is the only thing real. In the dream world (1st part) Laura open it: the reason for this is that Naomi feels that Laura brought this upon herself.
4. The "Silencio" Theater part is the biggest clue, and it mean (to me anyway) that sadness (note the lighting) and confusion are really self induced. Hence the "No hay banda". There is no band. It doesn't mean that nothing is real, it mean that everything is fake, it doesn't exist (think about it).
The purpose of this scene is not to confuse you, but to warn you.
5. Naomi is replaying and rearranging the whole thing. Whether they really did have an affair or not is kind of a mystery. She was obsessed, that much I can say, but I'm not sure if it was real.
6. She probably kills herself, not just out of repent (note the old people, representing good christian values, tormenting her) but out of misery: She realices after she wakes up that that particular relationship wouldn't have worked, ever. didn't work in a dream of hers, it wasn't going to work in real life, but by that time it's already late, she has already killed her.
7. The Director, lossing his grip. The only reason she dreams of him the way she does is because she wishes he had no power, she feels that's the main reason Laura preffers him over her, who in turn, has absolutely no power. She has lost all control.
With this explained I hope you can figure out the rest because it would be just to long to explain. The main thing is this: Think of the movie backwards. It's not about what happens, it's about how she feels and about how she thinks Laura's character feel, and about how she wishes things would have turned out. The grimmest parts are the real ones.
I really congratulate David Lynch for having loosened and tied the stings in new and amazing ways, this is what he is a master at. It's not that hard to understand, it's just that audiences have no interest in understanding it.
Give the movie another chance and once you get you'll really thank Mr. Lynch for making you dust off your brain.
Remember that something you may not be able to explain since this was originally a pilot for a tv series (just like lost highway) that also, never got made, so some pieces might be missing, or maybe I still just haven't found them.
47 Yet another guy who doesn't get it
Well, I finally saw this movie, and I am yet another person who did not get a single second of it. What happened in this movie? Was it one big dream? I have always thought it would be the biggest cop-out if a director were to make a film full of strange occurrences and crazy characters...and then have someone wake up. "Oh, it was all a dream!" A convenient way to end a movie when the director himself is probably down to the line and just as confused with what he's done to that point as his audience is going to be.
Congratulations to those who did get the point of this, but to me this is like the modern art piece that consists of paint splashed all over a canvas. My friend looks at it and sees life, love, anger, hate, the world, etc. I see paint. My personal feeling on this movie is that it was splashed together like the canvas...and this time there really is nothing but a whole lot of color.
In conclusion, I felt like the movie was more designed to spark debate for decades rather than create an enjoyable story that blows your mind but makes you feel some kind of emotion; that seems to me the mark of a self-important director with misguided creativity rather than the creator of a great work.
48 A confusing spectacle, with suspense that gets nowhere
Not everything David Lynch does has to be driven by an inner meaning. There are several films that arrest the audience with a macabre web of suspense, and end in that one hair-raising "Aha!" moment. On and of the spectrum of classics such as Memento and The Sixth Sense where the director had clearly thought through the consistency of the plot. Then there are others bodies of confusion such as Swimming Pool and Mulholland Drive where the directors had either been unable or unwilling to keep everything consistent. These movies do not add up not because they are brainchildren of beings with a higher level of intellect, but rather because directors like David Lynch are so focused on confusing the audience and living up to their reputation that they pay little attention to making the ends meet. It is sad to see Mulholland Drive being compared to Memento, a movie that leaves no loopholes, and yet lives up to being a "Moebius Strip" and a real brain-teaser. Mulholland Drive is the result of a film major flunking a logic class.
To add insult to injury, the DVD is not divided into chapters! (I guess Lynch didn't want you to take a sneak preview on the finale! ("Silencio"!)
49 Another Lynch, "what does it mean?" films.
I loved the actors in this film-I thought they were awesome. Does anything tie together? Hell no. None of the sequences blend together-and I don't want to have to spend time trying to figure it out. You don't have to have some psychic powers to understand the film. The fact is-it is just thrown together all weird and confusing. I thought there would be some amazing ending. I actually enjoyed sitting and watching it-up until the last quarter of the film when my mind was unable to decipher who was what or who.
I don't know-rent it if you like David Lynch I guess-just be prepared for a big question mark.
50 The fascinating strange world of David Lynch
As with most of Lynch's films, the best way to approach this piece of work is as if you were looking at a painting: not necessarily everything has to make sense or be explained, but you basically get the picture. This is what happens with Mulholland Drive: although it is kind of a riddle, it is a fascinating world that the director has created. Crafted with an excellent sense of direction and editing, and with those kind of moods that only Lynch is capable of putting on a big screen, this is a work of art.
I was sucked into the film from the first frame, and delighted with the twists and turns that didn't make full sense to me at first, but that did not matter. As with Twin Peaks, an intriguing world was presented, and if you do get the big picture, it is a hell of a ride. Five big fat stars to this gorgeous film.
PS: kudos to Angelo Badalamenti, whose music is as important as the images themselves.
51 Highly Engaging & Uniquely Crafted - A True Masterpiece
David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" is without a doubt one of the most well crafted & thought provoking film of our time. While there has been over thousand reviews written about it, each with its own interpretations, here comes another one which will at best try to put together various pieces of this riddle which ultimately might provide answer to various queries & clear ambiguities. This film has received two extreme forms of reviews - either it has been tremendously appreciated or it has been trashed. I agree to the fact that this film is very hard to gulp if you watch it at a theatre for the first time. But the fact that the plot stays with you long after you have left the theatre or that you start brainstorming merely points to the fact that the film has accomplished in its motive to baffle you & putting a riddle in your head.
While I wouldn't go into the routine of telling what the story is all about, I would rather point out to some events, some characters or situations in the film and connect them with other events or moments in the film, which one should pay attention to. Even if you haven't seen it & want to discover it on your own or you have seen it once & plans another viewing (which is most desirable) - these observations might make it easier for you. In the beginning the camera focuses on a red cover & slowly zooms towards it. You hear a breathing sound from underneath it. That's where Diane's ('Betty' - Naomi Watts) dream begins. The dream continues...you see a car driving through the dimly lit Mulholland Drive....you see Camilla ('Rita'-Laura Harring)...she asks the driver "What are you doing? We don't stop here." Now move over to the part when Diane (Betty) is not dreaming & the events in reality is shown during the last half-hour of the movie. Diane (Naomi Watts) is being taken to a 'surprise party'....same road, same car, same camera angles....she asks "What are you doing? We don't stop here."
Camilla receives her...they start walking uphill. In her dream Rita (Camilla) walks downhill.
Think of the dream as opposite of reality. Look at the characters in real situations appearing at her dream with names she has encountered at various turns in her life.
* When Betty arrives at Aunt Ruth's house she meets Mrs.Lenoix. She tells Betty "Oh! Just call me Coco. Everybody else does." In reality she meets the same lady at the party; Coco says the exact same thing.
* In her dream Adam (Justine Theroux) is the director contemplating recasting the lead actress in his film. However he cannot make any choice on his own. He is shown the picture of a girl,' Camilla Rhodes', whom the 'Castiglianni Brothers' insist should be selected for the part. Watch out since the same girl in the photo is the girl who whispers at Rita's ear & kisses her at the party.
* In her dream the Director's (Theroux) life is in shambles - both personally & professionally. In reality it is just the opposite. He declares his engagement with Camilla (Rita).
* A very interesting thing is the 'Cowboy' character. He sort of bullies the director to select the 'girl in the photo'-Camilla Rhodes. But where does he come from? Just pay attention to the scene at the party-again! The girl (in the photo) comes, whispers at Rita's ear, kisses her & walks away. At the same time a guy with a 'white hat' passes by. Well he's the 'cowboy' at her dream.
* The hit man whom Diane hires to kill Camilla (Rita) seems inefficient in her dream. He messes up when he tries to kill a guy. In reality he is very skillful. Take a look at the guy standing near the counter when Diane is having a conversation with the hit man at 'Winkies'.He is the same "weird guy" at Winkies at the beginning talking about his strange dream & "God-awful feelings." In a way he is inconsequential to the actual events, but he reflects Diane's (Betty's) fear & anxiousness in her dream. This guy was, in reality, standing beside the counter - in her dream Betty sees this guy talking about how he has seen the man sitting opposite to him "by the counter"- looking scared.
Paying attention to these small but relevant instances is what is going to make this film even more interesting to you. Actually Lynch uses the unique style of presenting fantasy as if its reality & the transition from dream to reality are not shown in a decipherable manner. Again if you pay attention to the 'Party' scene, we find jerky camera movements, hazy shots - things we expect in a surrealistic sequence. Well that is Mr. David Lynch for you!!! With such brilliance at every shot, Peter Deming's cinematography, Angelo Badalamenti's awesome score & of course both Naomi Watts & Laura Harring's performance it would be unfair to give this film anything less than five stars.
In a nutshell this film can be looked upon as the story of a girl who comes to L.A. with stars in her eyes, to make it big in Hollywood. In the process she meets another beautiful actress, falls madly in love with her which slowly turns obsessive & she also gets ditched by her. She gets mixed up in a world of treachery, nepotism, lies & false promises - all hidden behind the flashy lights, glitz & glamour of Hollywood. She takes revenge. But her action keeps haunting her; she repents it, laments it & all these completely erode her mentally & physically. You see the once beautiful & aspiring actress literally enter a world of self destruction. And you become a part of her journey through life. What could be better than having a DVD which you can watch over & over & keep on discovering newer things every time? This film is Lynch at his best. A true masterpiece & a MUST BUY.
52 I'm with the naysayers.
Lynch's favorite approach seems to be to throw together whatever weirdness happens to leap out of his subconscious and leave it to reviewers and viewers to attach some sort of deeper meaning to all the nonsense. Sorry, I'm not interested in playing that game. Yes I suppose there might be a semi coherant plot somewhere in there between all the onresolved subplots, abandoned characters, hallucinations, and dream sequences, but I was just too bored to care enough to sort it all out. I was not impressed by all the symbolism or the baffling way the story unfolds. This was pretentious garbage, though stylishly done. After reading the reviews raving about this movie, I'm even more sure of that. I really couldn't care less about how the cowboy represented Diane's conscience, the tiny old people "spectors of her lost innocence", etc etc. I have to laugh when I read how profound some people think this nonsense is. Yeah, I get it, its a dream for the most part. So what?
53 garbage
Aside from the obligatory sex scenes, this movie had few redeeming qualities. There was no plot, and the director's probably laughing at all the people who claim to have found one. I've watched this movie twice. The second time was with someone who claimed that they "got it". I could see the symbolism, but why go to that much trouble to hide a story?
54 The dream, the nightmare
What is it all about? Can you know? Does it matter? An important film, one of those that is timely and hits a nerve, the right nerve that makes a lasting impression. This is the stuff of dreams. And dreams it seems to be about, the kind you have when you are asleep, the kind you have no control over, the kind that dominate your waking life, the dreams for success, and where does a dream become a nightmare?
Great acting, great achetypal characters - the director, the cowboy, and the women, mysterious dual-natured women, a theme present in mythology throughout time. And this film is like a mythology for today: the mythology of movie making and the Hollywood star, and the money and sex that runs the machine. Sensual, visual, stunning score and cinematograpy, a cinematic opera. A film that exists somewhere in the unconscious, a place where David Lynch makes himself at home, a master of the film medium.
55 Great movie, but not for all
A really great movie for the select crowd. If you enjoy surrealistic movies in general, or David Lynch movies in specific, then this is one not to be missed. (All others take that at face value). The imagery and interwoven plots are all connected, and the message... is one that may take a while to get. Lynch sets the stage where reality and fantasy, life and death, and earthly existence and hell are all intermixed, and the viewer is left to sort out all the layers.
56 I just wish you could skip to chapters
There is no chapters in this DVD, weirdest thing, besides the freaky movie itself. Hottest scene all time is in this movie. My mind was blown away.
57 No Hay Banda - David Lynch's masterpiece labyrinth!
I had heard through the grapevine that Mulholland Drive was absolutely spectacular. The Cannes Film Festival was raving about it, and well, something made me take a ride to buy this DVD. I had never seen it before, and other than Dan Hedaya, I didn't really know any of the names (I saw this before I saw The Ring). I wasn't really familiar with David Lynch's work before. So I threw the DVD in with an open mind, and was completely amazed for 2 hours and 30 minutes.
I can't really even give a plot description other than this, and even the description on the back of the DVD is incredibly vague and somewhat misleading. Basically, a woman (Laura Elena Harding) who we come to know as "Rita" (although, she acquired this from a Rita Hayworth poster), was in a rather serious accident, and came out unscathed, other than having amnesia, and escapes to a house on Sunset, where the occupant seems to be leaving to go somewhere. Enter Betty (Naomi Watts), as it seems that she will be able to use this house while she's trying to make her career in acting. Also in the mix is a mildly successful director, named Adam, who is being controlled by an agency to cast a certain girl in his new movie. Rita and Betty strike up a friendship which evolves into passion until everything unravels, and we're in a different universe. That's pretty much the best way I can describe it, without giving everything away.
Now, I'm not usually one to speak omnisciently about how one might feel watching this amazing film, but in this case, I think it's viable. You're going to throw this in, and for the first 105 minutes, you're going to be bewildered. Nothing seems to make sense, and everything is just a wee bit melodramatic. Everything will seem disconnected, and meaningless. And then the last 45 minutes will come, and you'll be even more confused, unless you have a real acute sense of attention, and miraculous understanding. Maybe this seems like I'm straying you away
But here's the thing, and trust me when I say this. Every scene is there for a reason. The way people act, behave, and socialize is all very important, along with everyone's lifestyles. The true genius here is in how it's all put together, how the director deliberately fools you into thinking that everything is absolutely meaningless and disconnected, and you may wonder why you wasted your time. I was too determined to figure out what was going on to give up on this movie, and man, it just opens up a whole new line of thinking.
If you want something that will tickle your brain, so you can stray away from Spiderman, and all these commercially-fond movies, then I definitely recommend this, because your brain will have to be on full to fully absorb everything this film has to offer. Naomi Watts delivers an Oscar-worthy performance here. Not recommended to anyone under 18 (it is Rated R), for sexual themes, and full nudity. Keep an open mind throughout, and remember that everything you see will have its explanation. You just have to find it.
58 love and competition in Tinseltown
I thought this was an interesting film noir about love and competition in Hollywood, in ex-Eagle Don Henley's phrase. In the course of the film lead actress Naomi Watts is transformed from an ingenue, freshly arrived from Canada and all agog over her prospects as an actress in Hollywood after winning a jitterbug contest, to a spooked, depressed,jaded, disheveled, and humiliated woman who has also been spurned by her lesbian lover, Camilla, the film's other female lead. So jealous is she that she arranges to have her lover shot. The film is "looped" in a surrealistic fashion so that the end is the beginning and the beginning is the end, much like the film "Memento". The film follows some tortuous dreamlike sequences; in fact the whole movie is a dream experienced by Betty. The film is a masterpiece of horror and includes numerous short scenes concerning underworld characters, detectives,a cowboy,the landlady, and important Hollywood types most of whom turn out to be relevant to the main plot. There are numerous auditions, a hatbox full of money, and a mysterious square blue box which opens with a blue key. Rita a.k.a. Camilla is a voluptuous brunette and successful actress who becomes an amnesiac following an accident on Mulholland Drive, and newly arrived blonde Betty a.k.a. Diane attempts to help her regain her identity. While it appears early in the film that Betty and Rita will become good friends, it turns out exactly the opposite in the film's diametrically opposed second half. The first half of the film is bright, bathed in colorful light, and quite optimistic, mostly because of Watts' stellar performance as a young, aspiring actress. But whether this is dream or reality is unclear. The film's second half is equally bleak and almost hedonistic, among other qualities. It reminds me of Hitchcock's "Psycho." Because time and action in the movie are surrealistic, we can only begin to piece together the story by the end of the movie. The story is ultimately one of high expectations, jealousy,betrayal and certainly not the least lesbian love. There is no explicable reason why Diane should not be successful, but her Aunt Ruth is her only ally--and she uses Ruth's insurance money to pay off a hired gun. At Adam's dinner party, it is almost as if he and Camilla (and a second Camilla,as well)and Adam's mother are all mocking her.
Camilla's notable success as an actress might be attributed to reverse discrimination; Adam's success as a director might be attributed to his conversation with the cowboy and to his consequent decision to cast the other Camilla in a lead role.
There are some scenes in the movie that appear to be somewhat gratuitous: for example, the scenes at the diner where a man claims to have seen a monster out back in a dream, and the monster man nightmarishly appears around a corner, and also appears later in the film with two little men who wind up in Diane Selwyn's apartment, appear designed mostly to spook the viewer.Likewise the scene where the director, angry over finding his wife in bed with another man, pours red paint over her jewelry. But such techniques have been used by other directors. Diane's sad suicide is possibly more the rule than the exception in Tinseltown.
59 This movie sucked
I thought it looked like a cool movie. As I watched it I thought it would all tie together in the end and make sense. But it didn't, it just left you hanging there. This movie is simply a bunch of random scenes thrown together. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I was so mad I destroyed my video tape afterwords. Steer clear.
60 Amazing film, but DVD disappoints
Mulholland Drive is one of my favorite movies ever. I won't go on about how great it is here, cause enough people have done that! The reason I gave it only 4 stars was because I was a little disappointed that the DVD didn't have more special features. It's pretty bare bones; just the film, the preview, and some written info about the cast/crew. A director's commentary would have been awesome, or at least some interviews or behind the scenes. Oh well!
(...)
61 Very complex movie
I loved this movie the first time I watched it, and I still love it after three viewings. Now, I understand the "basic" structure of the movie, but not all of the details. The movie is understandable and David Lynch has not made a movie that only David Lynch can understand. It was carefully constructed and absolutely requires repeated viewings to understand it (what could be better in a DVD than a movie that you have to watch over and over again to understand everything?).
In any event, let me give a hint to anyone interested in understanding the movie. After the initial shot of a jitterbug competition, we see the main character of the movie. A minute later, we see someone falling asleep into red covers on a bed (don't see the person, but we see it from the person's point of view). The next two hours of the movie are a dream.
After about two hours, the main character, Diane Selwyn, wakes up from her dream. You know this because she wakes up from the same red covers that she fell asleep on (in the first few minutes of the move).
Diane has mental problems relating to her being spurned by her lesbian lover Camilla Rhodes (Camilla is in love with a man, but also seems to like the lesbian scene - just not with Diane anymore). So, Diane pays a hitman to have her killed, and supposedly, Camilla is killed. Diane is racked with guilt, mental problems and flashbacks of her time with Camilla. It is this mental breakdown and her hiring of a hitman, plus a scene where Camilla humilliates her at a party that make up the last thirty minutes of the film.
There are many little details that I want to work out to completely understand the movie, but I definitely understand the most important parts. Here they are again.
Main character is introduced at a jitterbug contest (real life, not fantasy).
Main character falls asleep (dream -fantasy).
Two hours of dream happen, and the exact meaning of every detail cannot be completely explained, but many of the characters and situations make sense during the last half hour of the movie.
Main character awakes (about 2 hours into the movie). This tells the real life story of Diane Selwyn and her hallucinations of Camilla. It also explains many of the characters in her dream, and her hiring of a hit man to kill Camilla.
I don't want to give a lot away, because I want people to view the movie many times to get an understanding of this movie. There are so many little and subtle details that will enhance this experience.
It's a phenominal movie and it really does rate as one of the best ever. Believe me, it is not just a Lynchian thing that no one is meant to understand. There is a rhyme and reason to the movie, it just takes several viewings to understand.
I will not put myself in a position of mentioning this movie with other great movies of the past (even though I think it is up there with the best movies of any age), but it is one of those movies that require, yes require, many viewings to get even a basic understanding of what is going on.
Once again, the simplest synopsis of all.
About 2 minutes into the movie the main character falls asleep. For the next two hours the main character has a dream. After that, the character awakes and we are given the details of how she arranged to have her lesbian lover killed. This is the most basic idea of what the movie is about.
I have never experienced a movie as complex and understandable as this before. It is a classic and I guarantee that future viewers and reviewers will see it as such. Like I said before, it really is not a movie that is simply Lynchian and cannot be understood. I honestly don't think cinema gets better than this movie.
I don't suspect anyone will ever read this article, as it is somewhere around the 917th review of the movie, but hopefully, someone will find it useful.
62 complete garbage
I like thinking movies but this movie made no sense whatsoever. I had a better time watching the George Clooney film Solaris and figuring it out than I did this movie. I like thinking movies and I understand that the director wanted to make people think, but I think the film should also provide a storyline and some answers at the same time. Instead it feels like the movie doesn't know which direction it should go and becomes a huge tumbled mess.
The movie goes from point A to C, then to point B and back to point A. That's how the scenes seem to go, they feel jumbled and out of place. You'll see what I mean when you see this movie or if you've seen it already.
It starts off with a woman named Rita who is held at gunpoint but in a few seconds the car is involved in an accident and she escapes. She doesn't know who she is or where to go, she hides off in an apartment when she sees the current owners moving out. In the next couple of scenes Naomi Watts comes in, her character is Betty and she comes in to her Aunt's house and discovers the Rita, then she helps Rita find her identity.
I felt the movie was meaningless especially when the two men are out at a diner and one of them discribes a dream that he had. The two then go out from the diner to the back and a scary face comes up and kills one of the guys because its so scary. What does that mean? What the heck???
The diner scene is again revisited but makes no sense whatsoever. As the movie continues the viewers find out that Naomi Watts was once the lesbian lover of Rita (who is a movie star). Jealousy ensues and then Naomi Watts's character ends up dead somehow.
One of the scenes has Betty and Rita find a blue box with a mysterious key, that leads them to go to a night club. Yeah I didn't get the meaning of that.
I wish the movie had been a thinking movie, that provided a good storyline and had some answers in addition to the viewers answers. And I wish the movie had gone from point A to point B and to point C like it does in 99% of Hollywood movies. Instead it doesn't make any sense. I was really disappointed. The movie is complete garbage.
Another thing that I didn't like was all the lesbian scenes. I wasn't comfortable with it, its just weird seeing two chicks kiss and be affectionate with each other. If gay people can speak their mind then so can I. Rita and Betty are lesbian lovers, and in one scene Betty (Naomi Watts) masturbates. Blech!
Do we really need to see that? No! It's complete porno. What a piece of junk this movie is! I'm sorry that I wasted my time watching this piece of garbage.
63 Crying ...
The first time you watch this movie you're going to have NO idea at all of what is happening. That's why the more times you watch it, the more you'll come to like it, and eventually love it. I'm not suggesting you let this movie take over your life, but ... it's a good thing to do when you have nothing else to do. Or something. But you can definitely figure it out, and or at least come up with your own interpretation as to what the meaning of the movie actually is.
In simpler terms, Naomi Watts is AWESOME in this movie, and was robbed at the 2001 Academy Awards. The supporting characters are really good, the sets are colorful, the music very emotional, especially the part at the Club Silencio where Rebekah Del Rio sings a Spanish version of Roy Orbison's "Crying" ... I guess I'm bias; "Mullholland Dr." is one of my favorite non-Best-Actress-Oscar movies. Maybe it will be for you, too. Just give it a chance.
64 WATCH IT TWICE!!!
A few reviews have called this "unexplainable." Nonsense. It's perfectly explainable, you just have to THINK ABOUT IT. This isn't a julia roberts movie - lynch doesn't explain every step of the plot as it happens, but rather he lets the viewer draw his or her own conclusions. It's a bit like visual poetry in that respect. Like i said in the title you really need to watch it twice to get the twist (and there is one, he hasn't just jumbled together random scenes as some reviews seem to suggest). If you've already seen it and are a little confused watch the opening 5 minutes again VERY CLOSELY, remembering that what's on screen throughout the movie isn't necessarily reality. If you get it watch Lost Highway, which for me is even better.
65 Midgets!
This film is David Lynch doing what he does best: screwing with people's heads until they want to smash their VCRs. There's everything you expect from Lynch; bizarre, dreamlike situations, whacked-out characters with no clearly defined purpose, an inexplicably foreboding atmosphere. Oh, and of course, the entire cast shifting identities in the last half hour. While I loved it, there was one particular moment which was a bit too unsettling, even for Lynch. You see, there's this elderly couple who appear at the beginning. They're kind of strange, and have smiles plastered on their faces. They disappear for the next two hours, which is nothing new. Near the end, they show up again - as...hyperactive two-inch tall midgets. Even Eraserhead's singing worm creature didn't disturb me as much. I mean, midgets are kind of disturbing, and old people who can't stop smiling are also kind of disturbing, and when you combine the two...
Well, I've watched it five times and have no idea what is supposed to be happening. Surprisingly, it really isn't that much of a problem. This is an enjoyably twisted and eerie movie, and noone should be intimidated by its notorious ambiguity. However, those with a phobia of evil imps, old overly cheerful people, or old, cheerful evil imps (that's where I draw the line) should steer clear.
66 and another thing, part two
I notice my previous review is getting only "unhelpful" votes. So let me try to explain myself yet again. David Lynch is interested in making preposterous movies. David Lynch is perniciously interested in making movies that are basically terrible, yet terrible in a dissociative way. The essence of a David Lynch movie is that it is a load of horse puckey, to quote the apartment manager in Mulholland drive. What's that? You want examples? Well, lets take another of Lynch's movies, Lost Highway. Bill Pullman's character is established as morosely mellow and more or less inert. Cut to: a scene of him playing his saxophone in a club, "wailing on it" as they say. This is in total contradiction to what we have just seen - contradiction being the main form of literary humor - but more importantly, Pullman is a very, very bad saxophone player. His playing is preposterous. One cannot take him seriously as a musician. Another example, from the same movie, is Richard Pryor as the garage manager on the phone to a potential customer. He says, "We got eight guys here. I'll let you talk to five of them; and if you can get that price from ONE of them, I'll let you ask the other three." Any questions? Is this not self-evidently complete and utter nonsense? And what about the fact that halfway through the movie Bill Pullman turns into a totally different guy and so is let out of jail. After all, since he is not the same guy they put in there, they gotta let him out. That follows, don't it? Am I making myself clear?
No? Okay, what about David Bowie in Fire Walk With Me? He plays a Texan. I am sure he was cast as a Texan precisely because David Lynch figured on Bowie being unable to do a convincing accent. He says to his casting director, "Let's have Bowie play the Texan. He'll do a terrible job and it'll sound like sh*t." Am I getting through to you people now? David Lynch intentionally makes very bad movies. What?!?!? Another example?!?!? Well, how's about Laura Palmer saying to her boyfriend, "I'm long gone, like a turkey in the corn." "Don't say that. A turkey's one of the dumbest birds there is." (tears falling down her cheek)"Gobble...gobble...gobble..." Can't you see what I'm saying to you?!?!?
DO YOU BEGIN TO SEE THERE IS NO BOY THERE IN THE DARK ROOM?!??!
67 One of the best ever. Yes, that's right.
I love all the bad reviews. Thank God for them. Movies such as M. Drive are not meant to be adored by the masses. They are meant to be watched and revered time and time again by thoughtful fans of creative cinema. I love the dope who apparently dislikes the movie because of the way espresso is described. Go get another latte from starbux and stop complaining about brilliant movies...
I will not explain this movie to you even though I know every aspect of it and have unlocked the mysteries after endless viewings. I do this not to be a bad human being but to allow you to figure it for yourself and, hopefully, have as much fun and enjoyment doing so as I did.
Plus, I am certain that many of you out there have already discovered the ultimate knowledge such as I have.
I will say, however, that the film is very psychological, very surreal, beautifully directed and with excellent cinemotography. The actors are largely unknown (a very good thing) and are all very believable as they clearly responded well to Lynch's directing.
M. Drive is an off-beat film that makes one think (another positive). I hate to do it, but since the purpose of this review is not to explain storylines and sub-plots, but to get the reader to decide whether or not this is a movie for you I will compare it to some others (sorry). Here are some names (again, sorry): Memento, Usual Suspects, Brazil, Blue Velvet, Apocalypse Now, Clockwork Orange, Lost HWY, 12 Monkeys, Fight Club, Pi.
All of the above films are surreal, psychological studies into the paranoid mind and/or psychosis. These are my kind of movies and thank the good Lord for D. Lynch and let us hope he is currently working on another project (and I don't mean anymore of those commercials of his!)
Also: I cannot believe the cheap price yet B-movies from the 80's are nearly twice the cost. Maybe Mr. Espresso is the reason for that...
Now how about Twin Peaks season 2 on DVD???
68 and another thing
Here is a supplement to my previous review: The whole idea of the movie is to throw as much crudola at the viewer as possible. It is a sadistic film. Take for example, Naoimi Watts' character's audition. First you see her going through it with her surprise roomate. She is basically terrible. Then, she goes to a studio and does the same audition there and is seemingly much better. But in reality the acting she displays at the studio is also terrible. The scripted scene is rubbish, and she acts like crap in it. Other example? The Castigliani brothers. The one played by Angelo Badalamenti has a habit of ordering espresso. His host seems to have had bad experiences in the past and assures him that this time, he will like it. Badalamenti takes one sip and spits mewls the espresso disgustedly all over a napkin, much to the general consternation. This scene is intentionally total baloney. The host says, "But that was one of the finest espressos in the world!" This means nothing. Anybody who knows anything about espresso, as I'm sure Lynch does, knows that there is no such thing as a "fine espresso" brand of coffee. What makes for quality in espresso is, very freshly roasted coffee - of any reasonably good kind - pushed out of the machine at a rate of one ounce per 25 seconds by water that is somewhat less than 200 degrees farenheit. This is what makes for fine espresso, and it is almost completely a matter of the skill of the person in charge of it, not at all a matter of looking on the internet for some "espresso" to buy and put in your crummy machine under what kind of grind you do not know. The movie is full of this BS. The movie is a series of vignettes whose main purpose is to be good and stupid. Lynch likes to frig over his viewers.
69 There is no band
What many people seem not to grasp is that pure storytelling, literary art, is a story that is not about anything: a story that has no meaning. This is the essence of real literature and the essence of dreams. In his work on dreams, Freud ramps up to the subject by giving an historical run-through of archaic, lame-brained theories of dreams, telling the reader about the earlier, knucklehead idea that dreams mean nothing. He then goes on to provide a means of "interpreting" what dreams "mean." But is this what the dreams themselves mean? Or is it the meaning that is ascribed to them, just as ink blots do not in themselves depict what the patient sees in them. Here is a test that can be performed: under deep hypnosis - i.e. a hypnotic state deep enough that the subject has no memory of the content of the session - extract dream accounts from a small group of people. Then transcribe the dreams. Then, reassign each dream to a person who did not actually dream it, telling each person, "Here is a dream you recounted to me" and proceeding to analyze it with them. My bet is that each person will find personal meaning in the dreams that they did not themselves dream.
What I am getting at is that dreams in themselves do not mean anything and neither does real literature. Real literature is writing that is antagonistic to the aims of conventional journalistic storytelling. Mulholland Drive does not mean a goddam thing. David Lynch knows this full well. He never even tried to get it to mean anything. His interest in his movies meaning something evaporated long before Eraserhead. But David Lynch is an extremely disingenuous person, who likes to pretend that his movies mean something, not so much to sell them, but to further shag over the viewership. He goes on talk shows or provides liner notes coyly hinting about certain details one might wanna focus on in order to get to the bottom of things. But this is all nonsense. There is no bottom. There is no band. Surely the scene in "Club Silencio" conveys the ultimate meaninglessness of the flick. Just as DelRio is at her most impassioned, she collapses in a faint and is dragged unceremoniously off stage as the acapella blares on. What was it the Immortal Bard had to spray onna subject? A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. How do I know Lynch's movies mean nothing? Cause I'm a writer, goddamit!
70 Mulholland Dream
Director David Lynch always polarizes his audience. The Webster's definition of polarize is: To cause to concentrate about two opposing positions. That's what watching a Lynch film is all about, and it always baffles and amuses me when certain people take Lynch to task for being obliquely evasive.
What we have in Mulholland Drive is a sophisticated director's surrealistic vision of a highly refined dream world. Both dialogue and visual metaphors abound in many of Lynch's films, and I'm pleased to say that the Mulholland Drive's story is explored in the director's usually understated, though deliberately jarring, manner. Instead of going into the meaning of this film (which many have admirably attempted, even though it can be an exercise in futile subjectivity when it comes to Lynch), I think that I have more insight to give as far as what this kind of film means to me).
Although the cast, with Naomi Watts in particular displaying impressive range and depth, is memorably quirky and uniformly interesting, it is the framing of each scene and the flow between them that creates such a captivatingly edgy atmosphere. I've noticed that Lynch often will frame a shot as if it were to be photographed or painted, and this is no surprise since he began as an abstract expressionist painter.
Much credit as well should be given to Lynch for his judicious use of Angelo Badalamenti's moody film score as it is so effective in magnifying the dreamy glossiness into a tangible nightmare reality.
Of course, no matter how much I think that David Lynch is one of the world's most uniquely transformative filmmakers with Mulholland Drive being one of the most galvanizing, hallucinatory, and sadly affecting movies ever made, there will always be those who simply feel that behind the refined, wryly surreal surface qualities of the film lay nothing more than manipulative mood theatrics, with the actors seemingly there more for decorative, rather than realistically emotive, purposes. I don't see these things as negatives, however. Here's why. Approaching his art in a painterly fashion, Lynch's images and sound work together in greater sympathy than is typically the case in film. This means Lynch conveys feelings by using emphasis and de-emphasis as if he were painting. Its as if he sees a particular scene as a primary color, and then proceeds to exagerate the hue, i.e. mood, by directing with broader, more dramatic strokes when he sees fit.
No one actor is the axis for it is the overall effect of the images and sounds utilyzed within a scene that creates the feel. Its not about how "realistic" the acting or events are, its all about how everything works as one in service of that great intangible, mood. The merging of the two diametrically opposed worlds of reality and dreams creates quite a tangible otherworldliness. I'd say David must be doing something right because, really, who else does this kind of filmmaking with the same flair? Its such a uniquely individual style that the term "Lynchian" is now commonly used as an adjective for the surreal. I am aware of the term "Cronenbergian". I do think director David Cronenberg is a visionary surrealist who shares some similarities with Lynch, but their methods of approach and aims, not to mention humor, are quite different.
It is quite common in Mulholland Drive and other of Lynch's films to feel an overall stillness, as if indeed viewing the painting of a dream world. The film / painting analogy is so common as to be a cliche, but the oddly detatched feel of Lynch's work has an air of mystery about it that, like an abstract expressionist painting, draws in anyone who cares to look at the imaginary recesses. The naysayers will say that this kind of approach to filmmaking achieves nothing more than simulated depth. I however, think Lynch's films have an uncommon degree of depth because of what they suggest.
Mulholland Drive suggests a number of possibilities, like all art that's worth a damn. In other words, where I believe the strength of this film lies in its suggestion of ambiguity.
It shouldn't have to matter whether or not there is a specific intent because we experience what we bring to the table, so to speak.
The viewer is allowed to freely interpret it as it suits them, and this is why I think this movie, for instance, divides people so. For some, the result is seemingly difuse. A common complaint by Lynch's detractors is that he suggests too much and delivers too little, thereby leaving "loose ends".
For others, myself included, there are no "loose ends", only possibilities that suggest freedom of interpretation within the context that the director presents.
I argue that Mulholland Drive's (and this of course goes for other Lynch films as well) point is recontextualizing the suggestions as the delivery. Its about the journey being all the points of its own destination (If I ever write a review of Lynch's 'Lost Highway', I would definitely want to state that).
The key to getting something out of Mulholland Drive, and other remarkable David Lynch films, that will resonate on a personal level, is to perhaps, ask yourself this: "Do I prefer to be in control of my dreams or do I feel curious enough to surrender to them and stop questioning their validity?"
I for one prefer to just go with an experience such as this and realize that what I see is, in and of itself, its own reason for being. David Lynch is framing Hollywood sideways, painting in the borders of his own inner world off canvas, and onto film. If that last statement seems meaningless or is overreaching to you, then don't be surprised if you don't like Mulholland Drive or other surreal Lynch films.
71 Taking 3 reviewers to task + a word on elitism!
I have read with a bit of amusement the three reviews from IR97, Ageofanxiety, and DSS1744 regarding this movie.
First of all, let me state that this Lynch film simply doesn't completely work.
It doesn't work because Lynch, in taking his usual pot shots at Hollywood's artifice ( here even more so ), does so in a equally artifical style.
And that is my overriding problem with Lynch; he is a hypocrite.
His most innovative work remains Eraserhead. The only films of his that have really worked have,ironically enough, been his more narrative ones.
Even Blue Velvet was candy coated in Hollywood artifice while claiming to be anti artifice.
Mulholland Drive falls in the same trap.
Now, that said; IRS 97 opened up Pandora's Box by sterotyping all who like Lynch and his films into a despicable 'ART' category and pretty much dared anyone who would disagree with him to launch their attacks.
Predictably, they did so.
Ageofanxiety launched his tirade into IRS97 and made some valid points but then resulted into sinking to the aforementioned's level by telling him to go home and watch an episode of Three's Company.
DSS1744 topped him by outright name calling, resorting to labelling IRS97 as being stupid.
Downright rude.As rude as IRS97 was, and perhaps even more so.
IRS97 at least admits he 'didn't get' the film and so if anything, ignorance is a far more accurate term than stupid.
Ignorance can be remedied by simply opening yourself up to those things you don't quite 'get' and the best thing to do would have been to offer a sensible explanation to the reviewer, which I will attempt to do.
Most surreal films are simply dreams and frankly, that is what surrealism is about. All surrealist, from Dali to Lynch are drawing us into their dreams and dreams, of course are not always narrative.
Dali kept a notebook by his bed and would write down his dreams as soon as he woke.
The films of Lynch are similar in that regard.
The most powerful art is rarely narrative.
Don't forget that painting was once only allowed to be narrative, but photography 'freed painting' as one of the impressionists wrote.
And that is true. Because blatantly narrative works simply date, whereas non narrative works are often timeless in most regards.
I do agree with Ageofanxiety in that I think Cronenberg is a more valid surrealist, but I disagree with both of IRS97'S critics in their methods.
Elitism actually used to be a complimentary word.
It still should be.
Now, it is considered a negative word.
But, if one strives to attain elitistic taste, then this is humanly progressive.
And we can say taste doesn't matter, but that is a falsity.
Taste does indeed matter, and attaining the taste of an elitist is indeed a high compliment.
I challenge IRS97 to start studying film. I don't mean simply watching a movie, but study film in the light of film being exactly what it was once called; A MOTION PICTURE. Visual images that move.
You do have an advance on a lot of Americans I have met in that you prefer widescreen. I know of at least five Americans who simply can't abide that 'black box', no matter how much you attempt to explain that they are losing 20 percent of the image without it.
Too, one of the two aforementioned wrote that you watch IMAX films.
I am assuming that most IMAX films are pretty much plotless.
So, that's a start.
You should start by exposing your taste buds to a wide variety of filmmakers and I do suggest quite a few foreign filmmakers.
But, purposely begin by looking for filmmakers whose reputaions are 'abstract'.
That is a start.
Now for the other two;
Lynch is hardly worth all the aggresive defense you have given him.
Next time defend an artist with a bit more meat on his bones.
And next time don't resort to stereotyping and name calling.
72 Some more points about this amazing film
In the reviews I've browsed here, a lot of viewers have come up with fine stuff about this film, and gone far to explain its weird grasp on people, at least on viewers adventurous and patient enough to deal with it. Not surprising that fans are obsessive about it; it's haunting. Maybe uncanny is a better word. I wanted to add a few points to the ongoing discussion.
The atmospheric shooting is splendid as many observe below, but there's another subtlety throughout, unless my memory's playing tricks: when the two women are together, even standing beside each other, Diane looks more or less real while Rita looks unreal, the details of her features hard to grasp. I don't know if that's done with makeup, lighing, computers, or what.
In movies like "Belle du Jour" and "Persona" which are partly dreams, the directors give us at least a signal to tell us what's real and what isn't. If I remember right, in Belle a cat meows every time Deneuve has one of her fantasies. Persona shows us Nurse Alma going to sleep and waking up--but later Bergman deliberately witholds those cues.
The thing about Mulholland Drive is, there's no overt cue at all that most of the film is Diane's dream---we can only understand that in retrospect. In other words, we have to wait till near the end to hear "Wake up, little lady." In retrospect, then, we can understand the surreal intensification of the colors, and the way the apparent realism starts to disintegrate in the theater scene: Lynch is preparing us for the shock of finding it's all been a dream.
I have to wonder, though, if the last part of the movie is entirely real either, or more a matter of waking up from one dream into another. After all, at the engagement party we see the nameless Cowboy walking past in the background. To me that says: this is the real Diane, the real situation, but it's still a dream. For my money, the whole movie is a flash in Diane's mind at the moment of... Well, I won't spoil that at least.
In fact the thing that most moved me about this film was the human story. I'd never thought of Lynch as caring all that much about his characters, but here he does. In her dream Diane is an innocent ingenue, starry-eyed at Hollywood, a natural genius as an actress, astounded and transformed by her unexpected love for another woman. The real Diane is a hard-bitten, strung-out, murderous lesbian and a failed actress. And in Diane's dream if not in reality, her lover survives the murder attempt on Mulholland Drive---and Diane is her savior rather than her killer. Naomi Watts is justly celebrated for what she did with that role. It's overwhelming.
I've only seen it, oh, three or four times. I crave more. For a while it seemed to be running on the Mystery channel every other night. Probably a good idea. I used to feel Lynch was a bit too much into weirdness for the sake of weirdness--see "Eraserhead." Here he's stranger than ever, but every bit of it has a point, contributes to the unfolding of a real human tragedy however bizarre. If Lynch can build on this, he'll be one of the very greats.
73 Would have gotten five stars if its ending made sense
I consider myself to be a pretty smart individual, but, I must agree with Patrick, this movie made sense until almost to the end. Then, it went in another direction, I couldnt tell if the main character was having a dream or was it all real for her, well, I did enjoy the two women licking each other. After watching this movie it left me with that puzzled look. lol Even still, it was a good movie, if anyone likes movies like this, I would reccomend, ( running on Karma ) this is a great Cantonese movie about incarnation and the Karma it entails, a better movie by far,(easier to follow).
74 to be honest....
you don't see a reviewer actually admit to being too dumb to understand a movie, but that's what happend in my case with this movie...
all i know is that there was a blue box, and all of a sudden no one had the right name anymore! it made sense for about an hour and a half... but then i lost track of what was going on. and i agree with the guy who said people re-watch this for the sex scenes. they were pretty spicy. but not spicy enough for me to bother with this confusing film again.
it's along the lines of pi and donnie darko, but those movies actually made sense. i'd recomend those instead.
75 An addictive, mind-boggling masterpiece.
To think: when I first saw this film two years ago, I absolutely DETESTED it. I was sure it was an improvised recipe of every nightmarish Freudian symbol, designed to appeal to erzatz intellectual types who would decipher all kinds of meaning out of a film that actually had NO meaning to discern, other than to make money and create buzz. I also buzzed endlessly about it: about how stupid, infuriating, and manipulative it was.
After seeing "Mulholland Drive" three more times, I can now safely say that it is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time. If abstract artists like Picasso, Magritte or Dali were filmmakers instead of painters, they would be creating sensory experiences like this. Visually, David Lynch's depiction of Hollywood is vivid and dead-on, and that's an understatement. Color-choices and lighting leap out at
