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Dreary, perverse, reminiscent of Los Angeles despair,
sporadic, surreal, demonic, obtuse and minimalist are all terms and phrases
that could to some degree describe David Lynch’s mutli-narrative expose into
California disillusionment that is Mulholland Dr. However, no one of these statements fully
encapsulates the complexity that is this film, transcending logical linear
narrative and taking mundane and comforting images and completely turning them
on their heads is a result of what has by now become known as Lynchian
filmmaking. It is a scary film, not in
the sense that Halloween or a zombie film is scary, but instead horrific in its
incomprehensibility and reliance on the darkest corners of unconscious fear
that allow the film to be broodingly gruesome.
Despite having a rather lengthy runtime and multiple plots to follow,
Mulholland Dr. consumes viewers into its world so much so, that when the power
went out at my house unexpectedly during my viewing of this film, I felt myself
preoccupied not with taking care of my quickly thawing food items, but instead
fixing power so I could return to the enthralling story being depicted by David
Lynch with poetic. Perhaps though, the
most notable thing about Mulholland Dr., as is the case with most of Lynch’s
work is that it borders ever so evenly between dream and reality, we as viewers
are never certain about the actuality or probability of anything occurring in
the film and whether the collective imagery shown even matters at all. For in the world of David Lynch, individuals encounters
are both fabrications of unconscious desires and happenstance occurrences
within the nightmarish world of reality.
Simply put, nobody is safe in the world of David Lynch, because nobody
is who they seem to be, something that becomes quite clear in Mulholland Dr.,
several times within the film.
I will make a passing attempt to explain the plot of
Mulholland Dr., but given its rather convoluted and grand nature, what I
attempt to discuss may seem like a stream of conscious reflection more so than
anything. The film begins with one Rita
(Laura Harring) taking a ride through the hills of Hollywood, only to be pulled
aside by her chauffeurs and held at gunpoint.
Her death seems imminent, until the men and the car they are driving is
hit by a group of speed crazed teenagers coming around a corner farther
ahead. At this point Rita flees the
scene and takes up residence in a recently evacuated house in suburban Los
Angeles. At this point, we are
introduced to Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) who is an aspiring actress, despite
having clearly sheltered upbringings.
Thanks the generous help of her aunt she is allowed room and board at an
apartment in the city. Upon her arrival
to apartment, she discovers Rita in her bathroom completely distraught and
suffering from amnesia. Being the
helpful person that she is, Betty agrees to help Rita find out what happened and
get answers to her attackers’ motives.
Their relationship at first seems innocent, but as the plot advances,
the two become romantically involved and end up sleeping together, a decision
which proves rather fatal. Along with
this storyline is the experience of Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) who is a big
time movie director suffering the wrath of illogical movie producers who demand
that he hire specific people for his cast, particularly Betty. We as viewers recognize her from earlier
scenes, however, at not point is a logical connection made as to why she must
be hired, we are only shown an Ozesque character behind a curtain whispering
demands. There is yet another layer of narrative,
which involves a bounty killer (or cop, it is never clearly specified) named
Joe Messing (Mark Pellegrino) knocking off various individuals for what appears
to be no reason whatsoever. These three
narratives collide together in a jarring fashion and it appears that they have
nothing in common, but as we have come to expect with Lynch, perhaps they are
intimately related. The film closes with
a rather unusual scene of repetition to the beginning moments, with little to
no reason. We as viewers are left
pondering existence and the very fabrication of our reality.
What then are we left to make of with such a surreal and
nonlinear plot such as that of Mulholland Dr.
I will admittedly say that I know nowhere near enough about Freudian or
Lacanian theory to properly analyze the subconscious nature of the filmic text,
however, I will attempt to explain how Lynch’s film exists within the state of
unconscious, particularly in a Surrealist sense. The surrealist movement, headed by greats
like Breton, Dali and Bunuel, desired to tap into something inherent to human
desire that was repressed for a variety of reasons, in their times mostly
political and religious. The result was
artwork and cinema that was violent and sexually perverse. A second intent of the surrealist was to
invoke shock and awe in those who witnessed their works as being something both
obviously wrong in terms of ethics, yet seemingly inherent to human nature as
well. With this in mind, a film like
Mulholland Dr. is clearly the next evolution in Surrealist filmmaking. One can look at any work by Lynch and see
this, although it is mot apparent in his early work Eraserhead. Lynch’s film is arousing to viewers, not
because it is formally obvious or melodramatic, but because it is eerily close
to each individual that watches it, even the most bizarre of scenes in the
films appears to ring true to a viewers innermost workings. We, as humans, have a capacity for inner
turmoil that often remains unanswered and Mulholland Dr. forces us to
acknowledge such issues. As for the
films repetition and seeming déjà-vu nature, one needs only to reflect again,
on how their mind works. I know I am
constantly replaying particular life events through my head, particularly those
that prove to have a traumatic effect on me; it is perhaps a ploy on Lynch’s
part to replay the traumatic events of attempted murder to further its
importance to the overarching narrative.
Of course, there is always the possibility that none of it matters, that
is an equally plausible reading of Lynch if you ask me.
Lynch is a staple of American independent cinema,
considering his masterful mixture of the experimental and traditional
narrative. Owning his film makes you
look cool, and if you can quote them or provide a copy for a viewing party,
that makes you even cooler. Oh yeah, and Billy Ray Cyrus is in this movie
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