Heard as well as seen

Rating: Null/10 (19 November 2001)

Having seen "Mulholland Drive" twice & listening now to the soundtrack on CD, I remember how important it is that David Lynch movies be closely listened to as well as watched. Lynch is not so much a storyteller as an evoker of moods and he knows how subtly yet trenchantly music can operate upon the nervous system and psyche. Lynch and his musical partner, the brilliant Angelo Badalamenti, create sounds that seem to arrive in our brains from within rather than without. We respond to them in a very primal way. Imagine for a moment any Lynch movie as a silent film; of course it would be visually arresting but ultimately wouldn't it register as a kind of circus freakshow? "There's this strange thing, there's that strange thing..." But the soundtrack binds with the imagery to keep it grounded in our emotional roots. Does any other director even come close to this effective use of sound? Most movie soundtracks function, oddly enough, in a way similar to when silent movies had some kind of musical accompaniment: as a kind of running commentary on and punctuation of the action, originating externally. This tends to keep the imagery "safe." Lynch's soundtracks, originating internally, help make us feel we're not just watching the imagery but living it, as in a dream, and of course that's what makes dreams so spooky, the sense of being in them. Recently I re-read Orson Welles' comments to Peter Bogdanovich on his "The Trial" & it kept reminding me of Lynch, the effect Welles said he'd been trying to engender. (I think the essential tragedy of Welles is that he lived too early to be David Lynch. There was nothing close to the opportunities existing today for maverick filmmakers. "The Trial," which Welles called his most autobiographical film, is VERY Lynchian, there's even a scene of Anthony Perkins walking along a corridor to knock on a neighbor's door eerily like a scene in "Eraserhead.") It seems ironic that a key scene in "Mulholland Drive" took place in a club called "Silencio" whose theme was to emphasize the disconnection between the seen and the heard. Kinda like a magician pointing out how his tricks are done. Anyway I guess it's clear by now I'm a Lynch fan, I've seen all his stuff except the early animated shorts (which not even the Facets people in Chicago seem to have available) and "The Straight Story" which, I'll admit, scared me off with its G rating, but it should have occurred to me such external blandness would have been deliberate on Lynch's part. "Drive" isn't likely to win Lynch any new fans, but those he already has should eat it up. Just as Lynch makes a point of seeming not to care if people like his movies or not, we fans should acknowledge he's not everyone's cup of tea, and there's nothing wrong with that. I for one certainly don't think I'm "better than" a non-Lynch fan; "different strokes," etc. I hear zillions of people are going to see the Harry Potter movie, & Lord love 'm; I won't be one, but hey, maybe that means I'm the one missing out. But it does grate on me more than a little when certain parties slag Lynch with phrases like "onanistic self-regard," as though denying he has a right to make movies in the first place. Lynch is actually one of the LEAST self-indulgent directors (as was Welles). He's grimly true to his light, whether he likes it or not. The second time I saw "Drive" the editing seemed almost Spartan---granted, I was aware of its TV origins etc. But I've NEVER seen a Lynch movie where he seemed to dwell on something for its own sake & the rest of the movie could just wait. Everything is meant to enhance the overall effect he wants. One may not like the effect, one may not like what Lynch likes, one may not want to "go there" etc., and again, that's fine. But don't try to make him out some lazy hack, he doesn't deserve that. I'm just glad he seems to be in the position where he DOESN'T need to be a hack. I had no idea what he was up to before "Drive," just figured when he was ready, he'd do something, & I'd go see it. I did regret, though, the TV series that never was, maybe Lynch should've tried HBO instead of ABC again. I sensed it could've been another "Twin Peaks," maybe even better. Oh well. Before I exceed my word-limit, just want to mention a scene from "Drive" that hasn't had much comment that I've seen---hmmm, I don't think this is really a SPOILER, & does that really mean anything in Lynchland anyway?---it's when the zonked-out Naomi Watts is talking to the killer & his buddy in the alley. Maybe that's the "truest" scene in the movie? One thing I've heard no one explain is--if she supposedly hired a killer, the money came from where, exactly? Most real-life hired killers turn out to be undercover cops these days anyway. Anyway I'll shut up now, but I do want to recommend the soundtrack on CD, & feel free to email me if you want to know more about Facets.