Mulholland Drive (2001)
Never seen anything by Lynch, so very keen on seeing what all the fuss is about. Right after it finished it hadn’t made that big of an impression on me. Some interesting elements and scenes but also very fragmented and incoherent. After letting it ruminate for a day it has grown on me a bit, and I can see why this might be a movie that could improve for me over time, but the initial impression was - with some exceptions - mostly one of disinterest. At least I am not rushing to watch more Lynch right now.
I try to watch movies intuitively and while that is certainly possible here, this movie is extremely popular among film scholars and film school students to pick a part and analyze to death with countless interpretations. Of course it is not a requirement to pay much attention to all that, but I did find that aspect of Lynch to be a little off putting.
It is clearly a movie with lots to unpack - and that is part of the problem I have with it, that is too much to unpack. I can respect the viewpoint that the director just throws things out there and let the audience pick up the pieces, but personally I feel the director lacks focus. Maybe it is a leftover from it being a tv series pilot, because it does seem like various character threads and themes are started but left hanging, like something that could have been picked up in later episodes. Lynch just left those things in there after remaking it into a movie.
I am generally attracted to movies that explores the theme of loss of identity and this is certainly a main focal point for the two primary characters. Rita with the memory loss and Betty who throughout the movie dreams up a version of herself to deal with what her chase to become a movie star had made her into. At least if you subscribe to the default dream interpretation. I connected with that aspect of the movie, less so with the various Hollywood industry meta layers. Though I did like it better here than in for example Babylon, with how it is definitely not simply praise and tributes. It gets a bit deeper with how trying to make it as an actress made Betty/Diane to do what she did. And the silent theater club scene showing that everything is fake with the song continuing after the singer collapses, was a much more interesting take on what movies is for us than the glorified “movie is magic” thing from Damien Chazelle.
I cannot rule out a rewatch will change some things for me, but for now Lynch have not been love at first watch like it was with directors like Kieslowski and Wong Kar-Wai.
Rating: 3.5