the art is in the interpretation

Rating: Null/10 (9 January 2004)

*** POSSIBLE SPOILERS ***
As I see it, the great thing about this movie is Lynch's brilliant technique. Like Blue Velvet, the experience relies heavily on minor amusements in individual scenes (for instance, the smashing of the car window, or the mobster effortlessly punching out two people during the raid on the house). It ends up feeling like Blue Velvet, where the characters act as though they're in a fantasy land (though in this case, that fantasy is Hollywood/L.A. rather than a mystery novel).
Now the interesting thing about Mulholland Drive is the way it allows for multiple, equally valid interpretations. I side mainly with three: the first is the "Jacob's Ladder"-esque notion that one half of the movie is basically a dream sequence.
Second, and I think a better explanation, is that the first half is a projection of actual events into an unreal context. This could, of course, be applied to the second part as well (as in "think what could have happened if things had gone a little bit differently").
The third is that Lynch is telling the same story with two different protagonists. The story is simply trying to make it big in Hollywood, but the first protagonist is the bubbly, optimistic Betty, with family support and a good heart, and the second is the beat, worn-out Diane, who has abandoned all hope of success and become paranoid and vengeful. In this view, the "point" becomes the importance of character in how life plays out. As the Cowboy said, "A man's attitude goes some ways toward how a man's life will be."