Review of Lost Highway (1997) by Giorgos T — 04 Apr 2014

Lost Highway sounded like a typical David Lynch fare, a lot of twisted surrealism and a complex plot. And that sounded to me to be exactly what I wanted to see.

After seeing Lost Highway on the cinema screen I ended up writing about what was going on in my head: I don't know what I'm feeling. I was shaking the whole time during Lost Higheay and now I can't even tell what is real anymore. Everything seeing feels dark and freaky to me. As I walked out of the cinema I simply could not get a grip on the idea that I was in the real world. I just couldn't believe it. I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror, trembling with a distortion of reality. I wondered who was looking back at me, and why his face was furry and leaking pus from the side of his nose. I had to get away. I walked at a hurried pace out of the cinema through the cold winds of Carlton until reaching a bus stop where a man asked me what movie I had just seen, and if it was good. I mentioned "I've never before walked away from a film with a bigger distortion of reality than I just did." Very slowly I began to piece the world back together by thinking of the theme song to Twin Peaks. I began to find my serenity, but I still couldn't look at the lights on a car without it piercing my soul like the state of Count Orlok in Nosferatu. This world was not one I could handle tonight, because every little thing I did such as riding the bus or looking out the window at the light piercing the darkness. The world was a dark place. I was in the headspace of someone drunk or high and the only drug I had taken was a dose of David Lynch. It was as if I was mentally directionless on a lost highway, the Lost Highway. That is the only way to describe how if feel having seen Lost Highway and then catching the bus back home while trying to realise it all. Lost Highway was a massively underrated brilliant surreal thriller, and there is a lot of have learned from it. Every thing I touched made me feel like I was just learning to feel again. I don't know where my head was, but my heart told me that I loved Lost Highway. I've never felt that way about a film before, and while it wasn't one of my favourite movies it was most definitely one of the greatest cinematic experiences of my life.

Critics pan the film for its hard to follow plow, but anyone who knows what a David Lynch film is should predict that. At least his story follows a chronological order unlike one of his most critically acclaimed pieces, Mulholland Drive. I was able to make more sense of Lost Highway, and I found that it's plot was intense and gripping. The story in Lost Highway is one of the best that David Lynch has ever worked with because the surrealism loads it with mystery and darkness give is just too fascinating. While some viewers may find that the plot may shake them too much I and that it doesn't satisfy them, those with an understanding of and appreciation for David Lynch's dark and twisted surrealism will really find an appreciation for Lost Highway. I'll admit that the plot was a little much for me at times and that it took a while for the film to get going, as well as the fact that some of the emphasis that David Lynch puts on red curtains during scenes was somewhat derivative of his work on his finest material ever, the TV show Twin Peaks. But aside from those minor elements, I found myself sucked into the story in Lost Highway in such a way that I simultaneously understood nothing and everything. I was on a certain high, and this must have been what it was like to be Schrodinger when his cat sat in a box and it was both dead and alive. And the structure of the plot is iconic of David Lynch because it follows two storylines tied together into one that manage to make impact with each other at several different points, and the result is mesmerising. Audiences that don't find themselves distant from the story will most likely find themselves under David Lynch's hypnotic spell in Lost Highway, and that is a kind of feeling that gives a new meaning to appreciating cinema.

Lost Highway has a story that is a challenge to tell, but not for David Lynch. Thanks to him, the film benefits from a lot of positive aspects, among them a very intelligent screenplay which is full of surreal dialogue and mysterious characters which roots the film firmly in grounds of mystery. It even has a twisted touch of dark humour which adds to the uneasiness of the film and gives the dialogue a little kick. Audiences that laugh at the dark humour in Lost Highway will truly be taking in the full experience of the film.

And visually, Lost Highway is unforgettable. Shot on location with a lot of strong scenery, Lost Highway has excellent cinematography which moves both fast enough to encourage the feeling of a rush and yet slow enough to support the gradually building noir atmosphere within. It captures all the amazing visual elements of David Lynch's surreal symbolism as well as the dark scenery which is lit well enough to be able to see everything as well as adapt to the darkness of the atmosphere. Lost Highway is a dark rude with moments of flashing light which leave the viewer spellbound, and quite frankly the entire experience is just refreshing. The art direction, the costumes, the spots the light emphasises, it is all incredible. Not to mention the face of Robert Blake, but I'll go into that later.

The musical score in Lost Highway is incredibly exhilarating. Angelo Badalamenti proves to compose another excellent musical piece on Lost Highway as the music is at sometimes very tense and eerie as it builds a chilling atmosphere in a noir fashion. There is no way to tell just what angle the scene is going to be, but the musical score always leaves audiences on the edge of their seat in a fearful state of mind, and it makes every inch of Lost Highway a very atmospheric experience.

And working straight into the mind of David Lynch's excellent direction, the cast all manage to contribute their own efforts to the film which make it even more of an amazing spectacle than it already was.

Bill Pullman's lead performance in Lost Highway produces scattered timeframes for when he is on screen, and there is essentially two major periods of time when he is on screen. During each of them, he is playing someone different. One is a man in fear about the darkness of the world, and one who has embraced it and uses it to his own benefit. The experience is incredible, and Bill Pullman nails both characters which makes him a great lead for the film. The way he engages with the surreal universe so well and with all the other characters manages to make a major atmospheric benefit to the story in Lost Highway.

But it is Patricia Arquette who stands out. Playing a character both sexy and seductive as well as very mysterious at the same time as playing another character with the exact same qualities is challenging because it requires the actor to do a lot to separate them. Luckily, Patricia Arquette manages to do just that, portraying two characters with complete ease and sex appeal. She is the real product of all the mystery in Lost Highway because her dark and shady line delivery shrouds her in mystery and her performance always leaves audiences asking questions about the character. Patricia Arquette is a fierce and strong screen presence who is unforgettable, and her twisted performance in Lost Highway is one of the greatest of her career.

Balthazar Getty's youthful charisma is excellent in Lost Highway. As he seems like the one character really questioning the dark universe instead of being able to embrace it at all, he is the character audiences are most likely to connect to. He makes a compelling effort which audiences are likely to sympathise for, and it is so strong that as he falls in love with Alice Wakefield, so do we. It is not a challenge to connect to him in Lost Highway, and his performance is a strong effort. He does a great job leading his portion of the story, and his edgy line delivery and dramatic emotional projection is excellent. Whoever Balthazar Getty is, he makes a name for himself in Lost Highway, and the experience is shockingly truthful.

Robert Loggia's villainous performance in Lost Highway is unforgettable. While he constantly maintains a sophisticated grit which suggests that he is man of power, once he begins to show off his aggression, audiences are witnesses to Robert Loggia's endeavour as an actor. It's interesting how he got his role in the first place by expressing rage at David Lynch for making him wait 3 hours for a part he would never audition for during the production of Blue Velvet. We can see that exact aggression and anger in his moodswings in Lost Highway, and it is shockingly powerful which will leave audiences mesmerised. The realism of the anger in Robert Loggia's performance in Blue Velvet is some of his strongest skill as an actor, and his antagonistic nature makes him an intimidating antagonist.

Robert Blake's face in Lost Highway is without a doubt one of the scariest sights I've ever seen on the cinematic screen. Once in a while in films we see a certain face which is so full of character that the stare pierces the screen and scares the soul of the viewer. Such cases include Count Orlok's stare in Nosferatu, Angela Baker's demonic face in Sleepaway Camp, and everybody who has ever done The Kubrick Stare correctly. And now Robert Blake is an addition to the list, because from the first moment in the film that he approaches Fred Madison with a cold and dark smile, the fear sets into the hearts of viewers. And from there he just makes things creepier and creepier. Thanks to a touch of makeup and an unflinching stare, Robert Blake manages to make an unforgettable impact with his appearance in Lost Highway, and combined his eerie line delivery it forms the source of his intimidation which isn't reliant on his aggression or stature. It is simply the fact that he is essentially a realistic visual representation of a nightmare. Robert Blake is a scary presence in Lost Highway, and he doesn't have to do much to establish that impact.

Gary Busey doesn't have too much to say during his brief time on screen in Lost Highway, but his rough appearance and his genuine persona makes him a key asset to the gritty themes in Lost Highway and his performance is a good touch to the cast. Gary Busey is an amiable presence in Lost Highway.

Lastly, in a movie full of twisted and mysterious characters, Richard Pryor is the only one who feels all that normal because the role he plays is essentially himself, only with his usual humourous anecdotes restrained. His cameo in Lost Highway reminds us of the humanity in the characters by simply being the most down to earth of everyone there, and his general presence is simply good to see for his last film role.

So triumphing over both The Elephant Man and Wild at Heart, Lost Highway is now my favourite David Lynch film. While it takes a while for the story to kick off and some audiences may be frustrated at the difficult to follow plot, the intense surreal mood involves the audience deeply in its story which combines with the visual elements and the atmosphere to leave viewers truly mesmerised by the masterful art of David Lynch's mind at work in Lost Highway.