| Written by Mulholland Drive,
on 29-12-2001 08:00
|
Published in : Reviews, Movies |
I loved this movie and I'm still having a hard time explaining exactly why. It's confusing, maddening, strange, murky and quite possibly brilliant. Linear time is not important in this film. Neither is logic or coherent story telling. This might seem like a list of shortcomings for the movie but director David Lynch does such a great job of creating atmosphere and fascinating characters that what could be devastating shortcomings somehow add to the overall fascination.
 The story starts with a limo ride. A voluptuous brunette beauty is being delivered somewhere but the ride stops early and a plot to kill her emerges. A freak accident saves her life and she stumbles away confused. She sneaks into an apartment that is being temporarily vacated by its owner. She is discovered by an overly perky blonde named Betty who thinks she is a friend of her aunt, who is loaning Betty the apartment while she's away. The brunette has lost her memory in the accident and spotting a movie poster, calls herself Rita. The two then set out like a pair of amateur sleuths to discover who Rita really is and what happened to her.
The movie then detours into a separate plotline as we meet a movie director who is being pressured by some thugs to cast a certain actress as the lead in his new movie, or else. He then discovers that his wife is cheating on him and that he's now broke. His only hope is to meet with "The Cowboy" and do what he says to get his life back in order. If all of this sounds strange, don't worry about it. It only gets more confusing as the movie proceeds.
Originally Mulholland Drive was shot as the pilot for a potential new ABC television series. It would have followed in the footsteps of Lynch's popular and equally bizarre series Twin Peaks. However ABC brass took one look at it and sent Lynch packing. Undaunted he acquired additional funding and shot new footage so that he could convert it into a feature film. It's fairly easy to see where the additional footage comes in as the story turns from strange to full out bizarre. Suddenly we are treated to blazingly hot lesbian sex scenes, strange theatrical performances, and a plot that turns on its ear throwing character names, behaviors and logic to the wind.
The sudden shift in tone is a result of a little blue box that Rita and Betty discover after visiting a theater. They, and we, are confused and rattled by a performance that mixes lip synching with soul searing singing for impressive if unsettling effect. Returning home the box is unlocked and the world takes a 180º shift. Almost everybody is a different person and the story seems to have changed as well. It's like having a dream where you know who people are even if they don't look like they should. Also like a dream, pieces of the story float in and go nowhere, skipped over in favor of more promising ideas. Time jumps back and forth and we're soon lost as to where in the storyline any particular scene should go. It creates a feeling somewhat reminiscent of Memento where the urge is there to see it again to try and discover what is really happening. The difference between the two film is that the unusual plot structure exists to obscure a mystery. Mulholland Drive doesn't necessarily have a mystery to obscure.
This movie is more about exploring the nature of dreams. It practically drips with atmosphere and intrigue. The urge to piece it all together into a coherent whole is overwhelming but likely fruitless. That's not to say that there isn't a story here. There is one but it's less interesting than the way it is told. A deeper story would have actually been an impediment to a film like this that is obsessed with emotion and the feel of a dream.
The acting from the two lead women is wonderful. Naomi Watts as Betty, the young beauty come to Hollywood with stars in her eyes, is astounding as she gives us multiple looks, all of them convincing. Perhaps her best work is an audition where she has act someone acting. We get cheery perkiness, vicious jealousy and smoky passion. Laura Harring as the mysterious Rita is a bombshell. She could have been great just standing around letting the camera love her. But she also acts up a storm, also giving us the look of more than one character. This is a woman who makes the tired amnesia idea seem interesting yet again. It's impossible not to want to know more about this character.
This isn't a film for everyone. It is highly confusing and offers things that aren't terribly concrete. Some viewers will judge this as simple nonsense, dismissing it outright. But for those who want to look closely there is a wealth of delights here. Me, I'm going back for another viewing.
- John Shea
Related Items:
|
