Mulholland Dr.

December 24, 2000

Sometimes I start to think that David Lynch has quit making films and instead has decided to start fucking with our heads, just for his own amusement, but then all the pieces fall into place and I wonder how I ever could have doubted him.

I just got home from watching a free sneak preview at The Anjelika. I would have paid to see it – vintage Lynch.

Well, to start with, its a little too much like Lost Highway to be a coincidence. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. As Professor Sean puts it, “David Lynch likes to show the dark side of the American Dream.” Every dream has a dark side…reality. Perhaps I have said too much already, I promised myself no spoilers!

‘Rita’ (Laura Elena Harring, former Miss USA) survives a car crash, only to be left with amnesia. She is discovered hiding in an apartment by Betty (Naomi ‘Jet Girl’ Watts), a perky aspiring actress. They then try to unravel her identity…but it’s not Rita’s identity they should be worrying about.

The Little Man from Another Place plays a mysterious part in the film, and every time that he appeared, the audience in the theater applauded and screamed. Strangely enough, he was playing a full grown man. The audience also laughed pretty hard as soon as Billy Ray Cyrus appeared. Billy Ray is the latest musician to be cast by Lynch. He’s no Chris Isaak, but he’s entertaining. And yes, he still has his mullet.

Mulholland Drive was originally intended to be a TV pilot, but of course, ABC rejected it as “too dark.” I wouldn’t have minded tuning in every week. Betty and Rita had very good chemistry and there were many subplots that could have been explored a little more. I am kind of glad it didn’t end up on the small screen though – TV is definitely not Lesbian-friendly.

There didn’t seem to be one expletive contained in the whole film! I’ll have to watch it again to make sure, but I am fairly sure that the original TV intention is why.

After reading some online reviews, it’s obvious to me that most people are stupid. Many people obviously did not undertand the film and chalked it up to being a puzzle with too many pieces or a puzzle box or whatever. Don’t listen to them. Just because there is not a linear structure, doesn’t mean that every piece doesn’t fit. If you think of Lost Highway as a Mobious Strip, turning unto itself for eternity, Mulholland Drive is merely a pages torn out of a diary – you just need to find out whose diary it is.

I was going to write up an in-depth analysis, but that would contain spoilers and I don’t trust any of my readers to stop at a SPOILER ALERT label. Ruining this one would be on par with giving away the ending of The Sixth Sense. We’ll be discussing this film in my forum – come talk about it with us there.