Mulholland Drive - A Ride To Nowhere

Rating: Null/10 (31 August 2017)

Is this but further confirmation that perhaps the educated moron has dumbed down the logical thinking of the 'art' world? Are people so easily influenced by the perverse leanings of eccentric movie makers - who specialize in subjects that allow them to wallow in their own warped sensibilities? David Lynch could possibly be one to fit this group – here he throws at us a 'story' made up of bits 'n pieces that were intended to make up a proposed TV series - that was then canned by the studio. To hide the fact it's an amalgam of stories that don't fit well together he camouflages the mess with absurd characters and weird situations. It's given tons of moody lighting, stylized sets, clips, and atmospheric camera angles - all adding up to more Style than Substance. It then drags on far too long (147m). At first, it looks intriguing, making you wonder where it's heading but, with no relief from the ugly ramblings and too many dead ends, it simply frustrates by falling over its own pointlessness.
Lynch then overindulges himself with his bent towards cheap girl-on- girl sexual erotica. It looks more like a copy of Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' with its overtly seedy sexual overtones that also fed Kubrick's soulless fantasies. It's revealing to note just where today's trending high praise comes from, and what it's being dished- out towards. Those who set the bench marks for creative "genius" are quite happy to spend endless hours analyzing thin, sketchy works like this – works that the movie maker can't even explain but then, that's 'post-modern' sensibilities all summed up within its own shallowness. An empty exercise in over the top 'creative' sophistry.
Thankfully, there remain some still capable of seeing through the fog of deception. Just one of these is Film Theorist Ray Carney, who perfectly observed all this in his summary (with words to the effect...) 'It's full of narrative trap doors, with nowhere to go, and nothing to say, and characters without souls'. Sadly, sounds a bit like some current movie makers and historians.
Fortunately, from the look of numerous user reviews, audiences still require more from their entertainment.
Those who like to analyze artificial foolishness will delight, those who see through foolishness will run screaming from the room - trying to escape the sick nightmares this will leave planted in their heads.