Review of Mulholland Drive (2001) by Adam S — 31 Dec 2013
David Lynch's extraordinarily fascinating mystery has the hypnotic aura of a dream that you want to return to again and again. It just about demands multiple viewings. (I saw it four times in the theater.
) Naomi Watts gives a virtuoso, multi-dimensional performance as a naive, aspiring actress new to Hollywood who discovers an amnesiac woman (Laura Elena Harring) hiding in her aunt's home after a car accident.
It begins as a Nancy Drew mystery as the two women investigate the events that caused the accident and Watts enthusiastically pursues an acting career. As the mystery unfolds Lynch reveals a haunting abstract nightmare on the failure of the illusion of the Hollywood Dream.
The female characters have their roles reversed and the dream logic forces us to decipher what we've seen as Hitchcock did in "Vertigo." The structure comes full circle to arrive at a logical conclusion that is tragic.
Lynch primarily works from the subconscious; he's among the most experimental of aural-visual poets. The visual imagery displays Lynch's avant-garde sensibilitiy. No other filmmaker uses sound as expressively as Lynch.
The use of symbolism and dream analysis allows us to form varied interpretations. A surreal, sensual feeling envelops us into Lynch's world as the movie is surpassingly erotic. Improbably the project began as a rejected TV pilot.
It ranks with "Blue Velvet" as the best movie of Lynch's career. Selected by Film Comment and Cahiers du Cinema as the best picture of the decade. Written by David Lynch; Cinematography by Peter Deming; Editing by Mary Sweeney, Production Design by Jack Fisk; Score by Angelo Badalamenti.
With Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Brent Briscoe, Dan Hedaya, Robert Forster, Chad Everett.
This review of Mulholland Drive (2001) was written by Adam S on 31 Dec 2013.
Mulholland Drive has generally received very positive reviews.
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