Best Film of 2001, Complex & Emotionally Staggering

Rating: Null/10 (5 February 2002)

First, MULHOLLAND DR. is my favourite film of the year and one of my personal favourites of all time. MULHOLLAND DR. is a most intriguing piece. This is my sole interpretation. However, for years I've felt I can identify with David Lynch's work. So, I try to study his films, analyze them, and put them together in some way, shape or form that satisfies me.
The conventional storyline of an affair between two people leading to jealousy and murder is classic Hollywood fare, especially set in the City of Dreams. The lines of reality and fantasy are blurred in a manner only David Lynch can execute.
I've seen MULHOLLAND DR. 14 times now. I know it line by line, scene by scene, every music que & have memorized what is exactly in each scene. The beauty of MULHOLLAND DR. is its flexibility. Even if you figure it out for yourself, as I have, our decisions are ALWAYS open to conjecture. The film is designed that way, I think, as many of Lynch's films are (i.e. LOST HIGHWAY, TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME, BLUE VELVET).
I feel MULHOLLAND DR. is a much better film (in writing and execution) than MEMENTO because MEMENTO - while clever and cool - is a film straight from the pen. It's "writer-stuff." MULHOLLAND DR. comes directly from the guts, from the soul. Once we've seen MEMENTO once, we've seen all there is to see. No more tricks, no more surprises, it becomes just another flick - while wonderful! - another flick. MULHOLLAND DR. only begins with a 2nd and 3rd viewing, more if you mean to fully explore the intricacies of the story in your mind, as I have done. I wasn't sure I'd seen EVERYTHING, (from scenery to street signs), in MULHOLLAND DR. till the 6th time I saw it. Now, I'm sure of myself. I have this movie packed down tight.
I think people who prefer MEMENTO over MULHOLLAND DR. do so because, either they didn't entirely get MULHOLLAND DR. or didn't care to because it's not an easy pill to swallow. It WILL leave you feeling empty & bothered. Personally, I love that feeling. SEVEN left me uneasy, so did IN THE BEDROOM. MULHOLLAND DR., though, blew a barn door straight through me. I think MEMENTO is one of the year's best and a fantastic film - but an "easy way out" when weighing this year's "weird" films over the others. As I said, there's no more or less to it than what we see. In MULHOLLAND DR., what we see is only what we make of it and the possibilities are endless.
I also think that, whether David Lynch intended his film to run this deep or not, it's quite out of his hands. Lynch's work takes on a life of its own, (minus THE STRAIGHT STORY which was - indeed - A STRAIGHT STORY). I don't think he can help it. The man is deep and so is his work.
Best film of 2001.