One of the most remarkable films in recent years

Rating: 9/10 (28 October 2002)

A gripping, yet fragmentary, impressionistic story of a girl-girl-guy love triangle, actually centering on the two lovers, Betty and "Rita" (as in Hayworth's Gilda). This film is very funny, but I encountered an audience which seemed intent on taking it very "seriously". It's a satire of Hollywood, and Lynch is a director who makes the creation of a film the motivation of the plot itself. In order for a Lynch film to exist, there must be a "replacement" leading lady who must be killed (of course). It is consciously referential to "Gilda", and seems to reference at least 3 other films: "Carnival of Souls", "The Wizard of Oz", and "Barton Fink." I love how Betty looks like Doris Day in Lynchland when she steps off the plane. Although the audience laughed at the old people, they soon went back to sitting on their hands and taking the film as high art, when they really should have just been having a good time and a good laugh. Consquently, there were many puzzled expressions when exiting the theater.