Mulholland Dr. Review
David Lynch's Mulholland Dr. is a film that sits high upon the lists of great films of it's decade, and one that is considered by many to be a sort-of can't miss masterpiece. I have seen the film and while I can understand why it is so well-liked, I do not personally hold it in such high regard.
The film mostly concerns a car accident involving a dark-haired woman who calls herself Rita in lieu of her own name, which she has forgotten as a result of the crash, (Laura Harring) her relationship with a younger blonde women named Betty (Naomi Watts) and their attempt to piece together the events of Rita's night, and discover her true identity. Along with this plot though are two others, which are seemingly unrelated for a great deal of the film.
For a stretch of the film, the plot is relatively straight-forward, following the two women in their attempt to piece everything together. Within this stretch though are countless examples of outlandish, unexplainable occurances ranging from the discovery of a mysterious blue key which seems to unlock nothing, an unexplected sexual relationship between Rita and Betty, and an encounter between a man and a monster that he had previously seen in a nightmare. The film takes a real turn though when the women discover a blue box during a night out at a club. It appears that the key they had found earlier will unlock this box, and so they return home to test this theory. When they arrive back at the home, one woman seems to go missing and when the other tries to unlock the box without her, she is apparently pulled into the box.
This is where I feel that this film ultimately becomes a failure. From here it as if everything that has happened previously has become utterly irrelevant. The film stumbles through a number of remarkably confusing, mildly connected dream-like sequences. It has been said that David Lynch is a director far more concerned with mood than with plot. While I can certainly respect this as an artistic choice, it feels to me as if Mulholland Dr. is entirely devoid of plot. While many may argue that this is a simalar case in Joel and Ethan Coen's The Big Lebowski, or Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, I feel that there is a message there, something to take away from the film. I do not find that here. The film, although always at least a bit confusing, leads the viewer in one way for a great majority and then completely disregards this all, going in an entirely new direction and making only minor references to the other three quarters of the film. It feels less like dreams and more like delirium, and I do not know that a single loose-end is tied up, absolutely everything is left without even a shred of explanation. As I mentioned previously, I can respect Mulholland Dr. in some sense as a sort of surrealist piece of art but to me it simply feels rough, unfinished, devoid of plot, and unsatisfying. The mind-bending, enthralling piece of cinema it is considered it just not here for me. I am not saying do not see this film, perhaps it will intoxicate you like it has so many others, but for me, I reach and there is nothing there.
2/5 Stars
