Simply Lynch

Rating: 10/10 (24 October 2009)

One of the few films that actually starts with the formula- Lights! Camera! Action! But what do we see? Dark bright mysterious shades of purple, red and yellow. A dreamed up Mulholland Drive. What do we hear? a tragic mysterious exiting score, old jazzed up Hollywood tunes and disturbing sounds. What do we experience? Hollywood, "this dream place" or this nightmare? Lynch has created a visual masterpiece that is disturbingly simple, just follow the clues.
The film is about Bette (Watts), the ultimate image of a failed Hollywood actress, who mysteriously meets a beautiful stranger, Rita (Herring) and ends up in a dangerous pursuit to find Rita's true identity. That's reminiscent of the old Hollywood film noir genre and feels like a mixture of the films Psycho, Pulp Fiction, Chinatown, Sunset Boulevard and LA Confidential. Under the subtext of the mystery we discover a Hollywood we never knew existed, a world where films are controlled by unknown creepy underground figures that no one has ever heard of.
Lynch's directing can only be described as "Lynchian". He knows what each camera shot, word, sound and color represents in every scene. It feels as though you're dreaming while you watch the film. You see things that are not there, yet you know they are there. You hear a band, but you see no band.Etc.
Naomi and Laura both give brave unique performances. On the one side of the spectrum their performances feel artificially mocking and stereotypical and on the other side you realize they are stuck in Hollywood, the land of the cliché.
The set design, film score, soundtrack and all of the other cinematic elements magically fit into one puzzle and Mulholland Drive creates a dream, the most beautiful place, that turns into a living hell of a reality. The one moment you feel as though you want to be there, the next moment you disappear into this disgusting place that you never ever in your life want to experience again. A harrowing place that is so sad that you close your eyes and try to forget it. And then you open your eyes and realize it's the world you live in.
Watch it twice, to understand it the first time and read up on the clues before the second viewing.