What a nightmare, what a masterpiece!

Rating: 10/10 (22 February 2002)

**WARNING**SPOILERS**
Was I awake during the movie or was it a dream. Or was it a dream of a nightmare where I watched Mulholland Drive. These are the types of comments I thought to myself as I left the cinema. Yes in parts it is a nightmare to watch, but this is the beauty of David Lynch. Mulholland Drive is a masterpiece of art cinema and an instant cult classic.
Like all of his previous movies David Lynch takes the viewer into the realm of the subconscious where reality is blurred with the surreal. In Twin Peaks, for example, we are taken into a seemingly idyllic country town but if we take a closer look we find that that this `reality' is blurred by murder, corruption, prostitution and even a deeper nightmarish evil that lurks in our subconscious. Similarly, Mulholland Drive provides this juxtaposition of the reality and surreal in the context of tinseltown, the dream factory known as Hollywood.
Key to understanding this film is a scene at the beginning from the point of view of (a yet to be revealed) Diane Selwyn falling face first into a pillow. Henceforth we enter the dream-world of Diane Selwyn.
And a dream-world it is. It is Diane's retrospection of how her life should have played out. Naming herself Betty she steps off a plane full of high hopes of success in a city where dreams come true. Everything is given to her on a plate: a comfortable apartment given to her by an Aunt; a seductive, vulnerable love interest (Rita a.k.a. Chamilla Rhodes) enters her life; her big break in Hollywood is achieved in her first audition; and, a director falls in love with her at first glance.
However, even this idyllic dream-world hides an underbelly of dirty-dealings, corruption and murder. Betty's (Diane) love interest, the famous Chamilla Rhodes, was meant to be executed. A car crash allows the now amnesic Chamilla (carrying only money and an odd looking blue key), now naming herself Rita, to wander into the helpful arms of Betty. Adam Kesher, the director of Chamilla Rhodes' latest movie must now replace the missing starlet. However, Adam's choice conflicts with the choice of the corporate studio but stands his ground, to his own demise. The director loses his job, the film is cancelled and even loses his wife. Adam is then given one opportunity by the corporate studio (represented by a ridiculous looking, straight talking cowboy) to get his life and job back. And of course, Adam takes the opportunity and is lured into one of Hollywood's many folds of corruption.
The growing love between Rita and Betty, and Betty's continuing endeavours to help Rita regain her memory consume the rest of Diane's dream. Rita is only able to remember one name from her past, none other than a Diane Selwyn. The two women follow this lead and it brings Betty and Rita to Diane's shabby apartment where a corpse of the real Diane Selwyn lays on a bed. Finally, the two women enter a surreal theatre where a blue box is found by Betty. In this box lies the truth, Rita unlocks the blue Pandora's box with her strange key and the dream ends. The corpse in Diane's shabby apartment is told to wake up, we leave the dream and enter the nightmare reality of Diane Selwyn.
And a nightmare it is. It is the reality of Diane's life in Hollywood. All of Diane's dreams are fake: she lives in a shabby apartment with unfriendly neighbours; her big break never comes and can only get work in movies Chamilla can get for her; the director is ignorant of her existence; the woman she loves, Chamilla Rhodes, is marrying the director Adam Kesher. And it is this final shocking truth that finally sends the ill-fated Diane into insanity: her jealous rage compels Diane to pay a hit-man to murder Chamilla Rhodes.
The dream becomes an abstract parody of her nightmarish reality and of Hollywood. Like Rita in the dream, for example, the blue key is extremely important to unlocking the truth for the audience. The strange blue key in her dream is a normal blue key in her reality. According to the killer in Dianes reality, Diane will know when Chamilla is dead when she sees a blue key. In the dream, Rita finds the key and unlocks the blue box of truth revealing that Diane wanted her killed. Thus the ideal dream ends there. In addition, the idea of the blue box as the keeper of secrets and truths was again seen in Diane's reality in the hands of the scary looking hobo. This could imply that truths in Hollywood are like a piece of rubbish easily discarded and forgotten, like the homeless. A final note, the cowboy, who represents everything corrupt in Hollywood, is taken from a quick glance of a man in costume at a Hollywood party.
There are two great features to this film. Firstly, the endless layering of David Lynch's themes will provide multitudes of interpretations and many talking points for years to come. Secondly, Lynch's directorial skill is shown to be second to none. Admittedly, Lynch's trademarks reappear again: fire and flames; red curtains; and that strange looking dwarf. Each of which provide the Lynchian atmosphere' (eerie to say the least). His camera work was imaginative while effectively adding the necessary effects for the surreal world of Mulhollund Drive.
If you're open-minded and up for the task it will be a 10/10 film.