Lynch's finest hour.

Rating: Null/10 (29 January 2002)

Where to start? David Lynch has well and truly excelled himself with "Mullholland Dr.", a haunting, mind-bending, poetic masterpiece that is, dare I say it, better than "Blue Velvet" (which, until I saw this, was my all-time favourite film).While still very Lynch in its attitude and character, it shows him maturing and exploring facets of human emotion that his previous films have only explored superficially. "Mullholland Dr." sees him move into the rarest of cinematic fields, along with Bergman and Kubrick, in the way that he adresses and looks at the human condition, psychology and the question of identity. I've only seen this film once, but my head is still spinning from doing so; every so often, images or scenes from the film, particularly the "Caberet Silenzio" sequence, repeat in my mind and make me want to rush off and see the film again. I had a similar experience a few years ago with P.T. Anderson's "Magnolia". In the nicest way possible , it reminded me a great deal of both Bergman's "Persona" and Roeg/Cammel's "Performance" in relation to the question of identity and who we are as people.The film also serves as a vicious satire on Hollywood; this is obviously Lynch venting his frustrations at trying to protect his sense of personal vision in his work within the Hollywood 'system', the most obvious moment of which would be the 'coffee' sequence which, to me, was quite possibly a thinly veiled shot at Dino de Laurentis, and Lynch's treatment by the 'system' after "Dune". One of Lynch's strenghts as a writer/director has always been his ambiguity; he once said about "Eraserhead" that if six different people saw that film and had six different interpretations as to what it was about and trying to say, that he would have achieved his goal. "Mullholland Dr." feels very much like this notion amplified. To me, this film can be 'seen' and interpreted in so many different ways. Everything about this film (acting, cinematography, sound and, particularly, use of music) just fits together so beautifully. Like "Fight Club", the less you know about this film before you see it, the better; all you need as a viewer is an open mind. A truly inspiring film that can remind you of why you love movies and what writer/directors are capable of if they refuse to become lazy and actually push themselves in new and different directions.A truly compelling film that will not be forgotten easily. A career best for Mr Lynch. Bravo. Can't wait to see what the man does next.