Mulholland Dr.

Rating: 10/10 (30 May 2017)

No piece of art has ever had as profound an impact on my life than Mulholland Dr. I say, in a very literal way, that Mulholland Dr. changed my life.I had never looked at cinema as an art form before, I actually had hardly looked at cinema before. I grew up in a single parent home with a childhood filled with independence and responsibility. Needless to say, there was no time for films or television. I was that person on the other side of mouth open stares hearing "how have you never seen (insert film name here)" I don't begrudge my childhood, I read a lot and enjoyed time with my friends, started working at a young age and never through about movies much. I was always out of the pop culture loop all the way through high school. I worked more than full-time in politics before college which led me to start my undergraduate work when I was 20. I took enough credits to need a signature from an academic adviser and in all the hustle of meetings and trying to gain approval for taking on so many hours I had forgotten even signing up for what I thought the most inconsequential class would be: Introduction to Film Studies.
Mulholland Dr., which many consider David Lynch's masterpiece, is even gaining traction as one of the best films ever made. Released in 2001, Mulholland Dr. stars Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, and Justin Theroux. The film follows a woman after a car accident leaves her amnesiac with her only lifeline being a naive woman who just moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams of being an actress after winning a dance contest in her hometown. The longer the two women are together the more they discover more about the murder attempt against the amnesiac woman who has taken to calling herself Rita (Laura Harring) Her naive friend Betty (Naomi Watts) looks at the whole ordeal as an adventure despite the fact that Rita's life hangs in the balance. Rita is even willing to put her acting dreams aside to attend to Rita and engage in some amateur sleuthing.
From my first viewing, I have never cared whether or not I understood what was going on in Mulholland Dr., nor did I ever look at the plot as a puzzle that needed to be pieced together. I enjoy what David Lynch does with his art and am pleased to simply experience his output. Of course, at this point in my life, I have whizzed through Lynch's entire filmography multiple times, and even through Mulholland Dr. isn't my favorite Lynch film, I have no problem admitting that it is probably his masterpiece. Lynch was on another level. Every aspect, each scene is perfect visual mastery. The one place that I find the most resistance to the perfection of the film are the people who claim that the opening scene is "weird for the sake of being weird" and unnecessary to the film. I wholeheartedly disagree with that assessment. The scene shows an insight into just how naive Betty was because we see her seem to truly believe that winning this dance contest was going to open doors in Hollywood for her. One of my favorite aspects of David Lynch's work is the fact that throughout his entire filmography you can see a similar thread running through each of his features yet he is not that director that is trying to recreate any of his previous films. I appreciate the newness of each of Lynch's films yet the familiarity of what I love about his work. I can't think of a more introspective filmmaker more capable of exploring an individual's failings in life and how it could have played out differently had career aspirations been realized better than David Lynch. The way in which he displays repressed fears and mixes past and present, proving part of our memories to be false is not only an exceptional example of filmmaking but an exceptional example of artistry. It's incredible, on paper, nothing about Mulholland Dr. seems as if it will make sense, yet the complete product is perfect. The seamless way Lynch transitions between two realizations of a life is incredible. David Lynch is my all-time favorite filmmaker, yet, I find that I must be in the proper mindset to enjoy many of his films. Mulholland Dr., however, while it is not my favorite Lynch film, is one that I can watch anytime and will always be all-in on. Fun fact: my personal favorite tracking shot in cinema history is tucked inside Mulholland Dr., the shot into Club Silencio is just beautiful. The whole film is incredible, and I firmly believe it is one of the best films of all-time. I don't know what my life would be like if I hadn't accidentally ended up in a film class on a semester when a Lynch film was being screened. I became a cinephile because of Mulholland Dr. and I couldn't be more thankful to Lynch and his art for inspiring that change in my existence. I am so thankful to David Lynch for Mulholland Dr., more thankful to David Lynch for Eraserhead, and the most thankful to David Lynch for bringing cinema alive to my eyes and heart.
I never did take that Shakespeare course, but I did take three more film studies courses. Thank you David Lynch.