A "DIFFERENT" thriller...

Rating: 10/10 (30 January 2010)

I really am befuddled on how and from where to start. There is so much I can write on this film but it may just ruin the best part for you. So I have decided to break this review of Mulholland Dr. into two, with spoilers and without. But I strongly suggest that you watch the film without going through the second part and after watching the film read it.
P1: NO SPOILERS IN THIS This is a thriller but not the "normal" thriller. Till the first hour or more the director David Lynch will try to fool you into believing that this is an Alfred Hitchcock crime story. A great atmosphere set up with something here and there in every scene but still that suspense lingers around without the plot really getting clear. Do not fall into the trap so well laid, keep awake and pay a lot of attention because the climax is going to blow you away. He doesn't give it away very easy, he makes you think. Many would say they got it straight away, but I doubt it. I first did not get what happened, I had to think, rewind and see some scenes again and then it all came together. So be prepared, that it will not "blow you away" straight on, but once you get it you surely will be left thinking for some time and will appreciate and love the film. P.S. This is the film that launched Naomi Watts and she has given a splendid performance.
P2: WARNING!!! SPOILERS IN HERE In a sentence or two the plot was about a girl who gets her ex-lover murdered by a hit man because she ditched her. She starts getting frustrated and dreams about her lover and cannot accept what has happened and subsequently commits suicide. The thing different about this film was the dream I have always been fascinated with dreams and somehow try to connect a dream that I remember with my life. Everything that you dream emerges out of your experiences, your emotions. And this is just what the director David Lynch has done with Diane Selwyn. The dream was so well thought out, the blue key, the key that would signify the death of Camilla, came in Rita's purse with the money Diane gave to get her murdered. The car ride was from her experience when she was driven down to Mulholland Drive. Her interest in a girl whom she just didn't know seemed stupid in the beginning and suddenly made sense. The complete director episode was an explanation she gave to satisfy herself, the reason for her failure and Camilla's success. The more you think the more it falls into place. It is very rare to get to watch such a film. There are many films with bizarre climaxes but this was different, the climax wasn't bizarre just to be bizarre, but because it was meant to be like that, it was reality. David Lynch used the dream to express Diane's emotions, feelings hiding deep inside her and it is this concept which gives the film a new dimension. The bad thing about a dream is that we cannot remember it, but here is a dream which you can live and still remember, rewind, store in your memory and fill in the blanks
Atharv Baluja http://arthafilms.blogspot.com/