The cinematic equivalent of Finnegans Wake

Rating: 10/10 (29 July 2002)

Mulholland Drive is the cinematic equivalent of Finnegans Wake, not just because Lynch created a film that transcends most typical cinematic conventions, but because he seems to have created an entirely new genre all to itself. Mulholland Drive is a puzzle within a puzzle, it has no plot, no beginning, no end, no overall theme, no structure. And yet it has enough structure for any person to have a rough idea of what's going on, granted if one looked closer. It's as if, and you know this can be taken literally, Lynch took his entire television series, cut random reels, put them in a box, and randomly edited one reel with the next. A lot of people have a problem with Mulholland Drive for the very fact that it was intended for T.V. According to their logic, how can you praise a film that came from a television series, when it never premiered on...well...television. I say, why not? The Hollywood of Mulholland Drive seems to have more in common with their criticisms then they would care to admit. In Lynch's movie, the film industry turns out careless bubble gum entertainment, while the industry itself is controlled by a closed society where all of the artistic decisions are pre-arranged, and sometimes by coercive means. If only more artists could learn from Lynch's example. No wonder Mulholland drive never made it to television, it's too good for a medium where every other show involves a court case, a "reality theme", or family foibles. I say why a court drama? Why not a film about the context of their dreams? In essence, Lynch hasn't created a film about film, Mulholland Drive...is film itself.