MandyMulholland Drive: WTF?
February 17th 2008 02:59
So. Mulholland Drive. An exercise in deft surrealism, or a pointless plotless mish-mash of vignettes and strange images? Speaking of images, and as an illustration of this debate, here are a few that Google offered in a simple search for "Mulholland Drive":
Okay, seeing as my computer is playing up, and I can't actually show you the images at this time, let me use my powers of description to show you:
1. A squalid, frightening apparation behind the wall at Winkie's; a person (?) with blackened skin and lank hair and horrible glowing eyes. Causes a man to DIE OF FRIGHT.
2. A man with the head of a midget and the body of a normal sized human, reclining in a chair in an airless soundproof room, giving orders to movie moguls who cower in his presence.
3. A voluptuous lounge singer with piles of red hair and smears of sparkling eyeshadow, the star of a freakish midnight show at Club Silencio where nothing is as it seems, collapses in the middle of her performance, yet HER VOICE SINGS ON.
And these are modest examples of the bizarreness that is Mulholand Drive. On first viewing, or even based on what you've heard about the film, many people will prefer to dismiss it as rubbish, a waste of two and a half hours ( it is a LONG film). The narrative structure is non-linear, and the last third of the film is completely confusing, seemingly without regard for plot cohesion or continuity. It does not make any kind of sense, in the traditional terms of storytelling in film. This movie encourages the viewers to think, rather than just watch. It is best to consider each occurence in the story for what it could represent, rather than what it actually is.
But the first viewing is only part of the experience. An acquaintance, if you will. An initiation. My feelings after the final credits rolled ranged from disgusted to intrigued. I'd never seen anything quite like this movie. I was insanely curious to know what it meant, if anything. Fortunately, I had the smart people at IMDb.com to help me out. I won't spoil the plot for the uninitiated, nor will I try to explain it because it would take up too much space, and I would probably do it wrong. Suffice it to say that the film, much like Blue Velvet, an earlier David Lynch film, involves a murder mystery which is a metaphor for the trials and tribulations of the main character. In the words of one IMDb.com reviewer, it's "part murder mystery, part lucid dream". A one sentence summary is so inadequate in describing the essence of Mulholland Drive, but that's one of the great things about this film- even two or three viewings simply isn't enough to discover all the hidden and subtle touches that director David Lynch does so well, and is rightfully known for.
Once I had trawled through the wonderful IMDb.com message boards for Mulholland Drive, I began to realise that this was no ordinary movie. Almost eveything in the film represented something else, something darker. The two old people, for example, who bookend the movie. They are a kindly looking, perpetually smiling, concerned grandparent-type couple. They accompany Naomi Watts's Betty as she arrives in LA with high hopes of becoming an actress, and wave excitedly as her cab drives of towards the city of angels. We then see them get into their own car, where they grin and laugh hysterically, crazily, as the car drives down the freeway. This early scene is one of the first hints we get that something is wrong in Betty's seemingly perfect world.
A common theme that runs through David Lynch films, especially 1986's Blue Velvet and 2007's Inland Empire as well as 2001's Mulholland Drive, is the darker side of a perfect world. In Blue Velvet, Lynch took a stab at suburbia through the eyes of a young clean cut college student named Jeffrey. Both Mullholland Drive and Inland Empire, which some people have said are two sides of the same coin, delve into the evils of Hollywood, which in itself is a surreal kind of world, removed from the real life us plebians know. Betty, the main character in Mulholland Drive, is a wholesome, perky young blonde, played to perfection by Naomi Watts. She leads a charmed life- she has a beautiful apartment, she wows everyone at an audition. Then she meets the beautiful amnesiac brunette Rita (Laura Elena Harring) and puts all her energy into trying to discover who the woman is. This is the beginning of the end of Betty's perfect existence as the harsh realities of life threaten to strangle her like a patch of weeds.
As I said earlier, I don't want to attempt to explain the intricacies of the film. It's been done before, and the best essay I can recommend is at www.themodernword/mulholland_ drive.html
It sure helped me understand this brilliant and bizarre film.
Once I had gathered information and reviews and explanations, much in the way a bird builds its nest with scraps of grass and feathers and paper, I launched a second (informed) assault on Mulholland Drive. Suddenly, the film was laden with meaning. Lines that seemed throwaway the first time around now seemed incredibly obvious and telling. A number of times, I found my mouth dropping open at the audacity of David Lynch, and the brilliance. The clues were there from the very beginning. It was SO obvious. How could I have missed the significance of these lines:
Oh yes, David Lynch is a clever fellow. As the credits rolled a second time, I was completely blown away. The film that had consumed my thoughts and haunted me with its eerie soundtrack shot right up to the top of my list of favourite films. It is everything I love in a good story- foreshadowing, symmetry (the occurences of light and dark in the film are astonishing), metaphor and overarching themes which illustrate the best and worst of humanity.
Mulholland Drive stands up to repeated viewings and constant analysis- there is so much to discover in this wonderful film. And then there's those lesbain sex scenes! But I'll leave you to discover that on your own. Go and watch Mulholland Drive. You won't forget it.
Okay, seeing as my computer is playing up, and I can't actually show you the images at this time, let me use my powers of description to show you:
1. A squalid, frightening apparation behind the wall at Winkie's; a person (?) with blackened skin and lank hair and horrible glowing eyes. Causes a man to DIE OF FRIGHT.
2. A man with the head of a midget and the body of a normal sized human, reclining in a chair in an airless soundproof room, giving orders to movie moguls who cower in his presence.
3. A voluptuous lounge singer with piles of red hair and smears of sparkling eyeshadow, the star of a freakish midnight show at Club Silencio where nothing is as it seems, collapses in the middle of her performance, yet HER VOICE SINGS ON.
And these are modest examples of the bizarreness that is Mulholand Drive. On first viewing, or even based on what you've heard about the film, many people will prefer to dismiss it as rubbish, a waste of two and a half hours ( it is a LONG film). The narrative structure is non-linear, and the last third of the film is completely confusing, seemingly without regard for plot cohesion or continuity. It does not make any kind of sense, in the traditional terms of storytelling in film. This movie encourages the viewers to think, rather than just watch. It is best to consider each occurence in the story for what it could represent, rather than what it actually is.
But the first viewing is only part of the experience. An acquaintance, if you will. An initiation. My feelings after the final credits rolled ranged from disgusted to intrigued. I'd never seen anything quite like this movie. I was insanely curious to know what it meant, if anything. Fortunately, I had the smart people at IMDb.com to help me out. I won't spoil the plot for the uninitiated, nor will I try to explain it because it would take up too much space, and I would probably do it wrong. Suffice it to say that the film, much like Blue Velvet, an earlier David Lynch film, involves a murder mystery which is a metaphor for the trials and tribulations of the main character. In the words of one IMDb.com reviewer, it's "part murder mystery, part lucid dream". A one sentence summary is so inadequate in describing the essence of Mulholland Drive, but that's one of the great things about this film- even two or three viewings simply isn't enough to discover all the hidden and subtle touches that director David Lynch does so well, and is rightfully known for.
Once I had trawled through the wonderful IMDb.com message boards for Mulholland Drive, I began to realise that this was no ordinary movie. Almost eveything in the film represented something else, something darker. The two old people, for example, who bookend the movie. They are a kindly looking, perpetually smiling, concerned grandparent-type couple. They accompany Naomi Watts's Betty as she arrives in LA with high hopes of becoming an actress, and wave excitedly as her cab drives of towards the city of angels. We then see them get into their own car, where they grin and laugh hysterically, crazily, as the car drives down the freeway. This early scene is one of the first hints we get that something is wrong in Betty's seemingly perfect world.
A common theme that runs through David Lynch films, especially 1986's Blue Velvet and 2007's Inland Empire as well as 2001's Mulholland Drive, is the darker side of a perfect world. In Blue Velvet, Lynch took a stab at suburbia through the eyes of a young clean cut college student named Jeffrey. Both Mullholland Drive and Inland Empire, which some people have said are two sides of the same coin, delve into the evils of Hollywood, which in itself is a surreal kind of world, removed from the real life us plebians know. Betty, the main character in Mulholland Drive, is a wholesome, perky young blonde, played to perfection by Naomi Watts. She leads a charmed life- she has a beautiful apartment, she wows everyone at an audition. Then she meets the beautiful amnesiac brunette Rita (Laura Elena Harring) and puts all her energy into trying to discover who the woman is. This is the beginning of the end of Betty's perfect existence as the harsh realities of life threaten to strangle her like a patch of weeds.
As I said earlier, I don't want to attempt to explain the intricacies of the film. It's been done before, and the best essay I can recommend is at www.themodernword/mulholland_ drive.html
It sure helped me understand this brilliant and bizarre film.
Once I had gathered information and reviews and explanations, much in the way a bird builds its nest with scraps of grass and feathers and paper, I launched a second (informed) assault on Mulholland Drive. Suddenly, the film was laden with meaning. Lines that seemed throwaway the first time around now seemed incredibly obvious and telling. A number of times, I found my mouth dropping open at the audacity of David Lynch, and the brilliance. The clues were there from the very beginning. It was SO obvious. How could I have missed the significance of these lines:
Betty: "It's strange calling yourself." (as they call Diane Selwyn)
Betty: [opens door] "Yes? May I help you?"
'Crazy' old lady: "Someone is in trouble. Who are you? What are you doing in Ruth's apartment?"
Betty: "She's letting me stay here. I'm her niece. My name's Betty."
'Crazy' old lady: "No, it's not. That's not what she said. Someone is in trouble. Something bad is happening!"
[At the club Silencio]
Showman: "No hay banda! There is no band. It is all an illusion..."
Betty: [opens door] "Yes? May I help you?"
'Crazy' old lady: "Someone is in trouble. Who are you? What are you doing in Ruth's apartment?"
Betty: "She's letting me stay here. I'm her niece. My name's Betty."
'Crazy' old lady: "No, it's not. That's not what she said. Someone is in trouble. Something bad is happening!"
[At the club Silencio]
Showman: "No hay banda! There is no band. It is all an illusion..."
Oh yes, David Lynch is a clever fellow. As the credits rolled a second time, I was completely blown away. The film that had consumed my thoughts and haunted me with its eerie soundtrack shot right up to the top of my list of favourite films. It is everything I love in a good story- foreshadowing, symmetry (the occurences of light and dark in the film are astonishing), metaphor and overarching themes which illustrate the best and worst of humanity.
Mulholland Drive stands up to repeated viewings and constant analysis- there is so much to discover in this wonderful film. And then there's those lesbain sex scenes! But I'll leave you to discover that on your own. Go and watch Mulholland Drive. You won't forget it.
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Comment by Mal
Mal
Firstly, are you the Mandy Barry Manilow wrote about?
Secondly, what a great post. I’m a Lynch fan. I had so many discussions about this film with one particular guy. We never agreed. But we never agree on anything. He thinks he’s good, and I know he’s not.
This following quote of yours sums up my whole take on Mulholland Drive:
Showman: "No hay banda! There is no band. It is all an illusion..."
Here’s my take on the film. Read the word ‘dream’ for illusion. Mulholland Drive is Betty’s dream. The whole film is an illusion.
To me, Mulholland Drive is Betty’s dream of going to Hollywood. She never leaves home. Lynch is inside the imagination of Betty's head. It is Betty's dream, her nightmare and reality all at the same time.
Betty is an aspiring actress, who is not savvy enough to know that even her Hollywood dream will have its nightmare elements and real elements to it. So Lynch adds them. Betty represents all those tragic young women out there who think life is meaningless unless they get to Hollywod, become rich and famous and then implode like Britney. And lets face it. Australia is full of young girls like that. [Gus Van Sant's 'Do Die For' didn't convince them of how stupid their thoughts are. Lynch won't either].
And so we see Betty’s dream played out (with its nightmarish elements and its intrusions of reality). It’s the only take on the film that gives the film meaning to me in relation to Lynch’s mind, and how he loves playing with his audiences, yet never treating them like morons.
To me, that’s the great thing about Lynch. He picks great premises for his films which allow him to do whatever he likes within them, knowing that his fans will get it. Due to his premise for Mullholland Drive, Lynch can swap from dream to reality to nightmare (and back again, and all over the place) without deviating from the premise itself.
(Btw, I am not Lynch, but I do understand where his mind is at).
It’s almost as if Lynch was sitting around one day going, ‘All these aspiring actresses out there think about ‘the Hollywood dream’ but they forget the nightmare and reality element. I’ll give them the dream but not without its nightmare and reality elements. My fans will know what I’m on about, but it won’t prevent people coming to LA thinking Hollywood is 100% fantasy/dream, etc. (Have you seen Boxing Helena - Lynch's daughters debut film?).
I’m sure you’ll know what I’m going on about. That’s my take on it. It’s such a good post. Here are the sections I liked most:
It is best to consider each occurence in the story for what it could represent, rather than what it actually is.
Mullholland Drive … delve[s] into the evils of Hollywood, which in itself is a surreal kind of world, removed from the real life us plebians know.
Betty … is … played to perfection by Naomi Watts.
Mal.
Comment by Mandy
Love of Pop
First of all, I don't think I'm that Mandy. Didn't the lyrics originally say "Brandy"? Anyway, I'm too young to be that Mandy
I think that your comment might be as long as my actual post! Good to know there's more Lynch fans about. I pretty much agree with all your points re. Mulholland Drive. One of the things I love most about the dream sequence- or the first two-thirds of the movie, really- is how every so often and increasingly, reality pokes through the fantasy, and elements from Diane's life intrude upon Betty's life. That is true brilliance, I think. I agree with what you said about the double nature of trying to make it in Hollywood, I think the darkness and tragedy is something that isn't often considered on the path to stardom. I have been wanting to see "To Die For" for a while now, but can't find it in video shops. I haven't heard of "Boxing Helena". I'll check it out.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Mandy
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Lynch's quality shines through... little details, like the bright colours of the first half, give it much more emphasis.
Also, Boxing Helena is great, but spectacularly chilling...
Comment by Mandy
Love of Pop
Thanks for reading and the kind comments... I agree about Lynch's use of the entire spectrum of light and colours, it really enhances the dreamlike quality of... the dream. Well, that was redundant.
You guys are really making me want to check out Boxing Helena! I'll have to look for it. Is it in wide release?
Mandy
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Boxing Helena on IMDb