| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z | |||
|
|
|||
|
Mulholland Drive Okay, let me just start off by stating that this is quite possibly the weirdest film I've ever seen in my life. Of course, I have not seen any of David Lynch's other "weird" films (Lost Highway and Blue Velvet), so maybe I'd better check those out before making too many quick judgments. Still, I did know of Lynch's reputation, and was well prepared for Mulholland Drive. Yet at the end, all I could do was sit and stare at the screen saying "WHAT?". Not that there's anything wrong with that. I have been thinking about this film a good portion of my time since I saw first saw it (about three weeks ago), and any film that makes me think that much must have something to it, right? I even kept the DVD I had rented from netflix.com for an extra week just so I could watch it again. The problem with trying to review Mulholland Drive is that if you haven't seen it, explaining it to you would be the worst disservice I could do you. On the other hand, if you have seen it, unless you're a super genius, you may want it explained to you. I mean, I consider myself to be a fairly astute person, and I didn't have a clue what it all meant. (Now I do, but I had some help...). But anyhow, here goes. The basic story line involves a woman who is in a car accident on Mulholland Drive at the very beginning of the film, of which she appears to be the only survivor. And she has lost her memory. She makes her way down to Los Angeles (Mulholland Drive is apparently up in the Hollywood Hills, or something), and hides out in an empty apartment, hoping to remember who she is. Soon, a young ingenue named Betty arrives from Deep River, Ontario, to become an actress. Imagine her surprise when the apartment she's borrowing from her absent aunt is occupied by our young accident victim! Betty and her new friend, who takes the name Rita, embark on a quest to find out Rita's true identity. They try calling the police, discovering that there was indeed an accident on Mulholland Drive, but no more; Rita remembers the name Diane Selwyn, so the girls follow that lead, but to a grim conclusion. Meanwhile, we are treated to several seemingly unrelated subplots, the most major of which concerns a hotshot director whose latest film has been taken over the Mob, forcing him to cast an unknown wannabe in the lead. Other scenes have characters that appear only once or twice and appear to relate not at all to the rest of the film. Notice that I'm using words like "seemingly" and "appear" and "apparently" often. For nothing in Mulholland Drive is what it seems to be. Just about the time you think you've got it figured out, another twist comes along and everything you though you knew has just been negated, or at least brought into question. Lynch has brought together a host of relatively unknown actors for this film, which is oddly fitting, since it's set in L.A., and about an unknown actress. Naomi Watts plays Betty, and she has much the hardest job in the film. Unfortunately, I can't describe it in detail, because that would involve spoilers! Suffice it to say that she essentially plays two characters, one naive and hopeful, and one hardened and cynical, plus a seductive murderess in an audition. She does each one so well that it's hard to imagine her as the others. The other actors are equally competent, but she deserves special mention, and deserved some awards for this role. What I can't get across in any kind of review is the spell that this film casts over you. The mixture of the haunting music, the cinematography, and the intriguing plot makes it all but impossible to look away. Whether you understand this film or not, and I guarantee that you'll have to think about it intently to understand it, you'll definitely be mesmerized by it (unless it turns you off completely, which is possible, I guess). I think it's a masterpiece, and I thought that before I figured out what most of it meant (I'm still working on some of it). Lynch is certainly one of the most original filmmakers of our time, with an amazing imagination, and a startling ability to bring his ideas to the screen. Special note on the DVD: The whole film is on one track, meaning that you can't go to a specific scene in the film. This also means that it's very difficult to stop watching and start again later (unless you just pause the player and let it sit there), since you can't jump directly to where you were, but have to fastforward to it. Obviously Lynch intended us to watch it all the through at once, so make plans to do that. It's almost 2 1/2 hours long, so be sure to set aside plenty of time to watch it. And expect to watch it more than once! Page last updated 9/30/04. |
|||