Review of Mulholland Drive (2001) by Richard F — 03 Apr 2012

A staggering piece of work from the bizarre mind of David Lynch that is quite possibly his greatest work to date and certainly my favourite of his films. All the lead actors excel, most notably Naomi Watts whose performance is majestic and which I strongly believe should have been oscar nominated.

Lynch brings his usual themes of surrealism and darkness lying beneath the surface to the table right from the start with the opening scenes seeming to have no context but which we later realise are of great importance to the narrative.

The film is given an energy and typical quirkiness by it's sassy, instantly quotable script that Lynch wrote as a pastiche to classic noir films; which gives it especially during the scenes Betty features in a deliberately dreamy, squeeky clean feel and makes it seem too good to be true, which it is, as mysterious Hollywood producers and a horrific man who presides round the back of a restaurant, seem to be up to no good.

Lynch is certainly good for his best director oscar nomination in my mind, showing all his usual auteur signatures and pulling out all the stops in several scenes including the one inside club silencio and the whole finale sequence both of which are spine-tingling and filmmaking at it's best.

In summarising, this is a simply unforgettable film that you won't see the likes of that often, it is purely cinematic as it builds up an eerie, tense mood throughout the film due to the great score by Angelo Badalamenti and several frightful but memorable characters.

Lynch's sublime usage of a fractured, non linear narrative that may not make sense at first but which we eventually come to understand, in many ways is still enigmatic and ambiguous even after the twist is revealed and leaves us almost trying to answer as many questions as those that have been given.

Dark, intense, strange, complex, a journey and exploration of the human condition, this film has bits of everything in it from humour to horror and is essential viewing, being to me one of the best films of the past decade.