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Way back in the Time Bandits section, I mentioned that a lot of directors try to be quirky and weird, but very few prove it in their work. Terry Gilliam is one such fellow, and David Lynch is definitely another. Painter, musician, practitioner of transcendental meditation, David Lynch has blazed a trail of success in spite of the often strange, surrealistic quality of his films. From cult nightmare Eraserhead to science-fiction epic Dune and the wildly popular crime thriller TV series Twin Peaks, there is no mistaking the unique look and feel of a David Lynch project, that persistent tension that hangs in every scene, the sense of discomfort. What better way to spend the scariest day of the year than by being really uncomfortable.
Trying to explain the story of Mulholland Drive is like explain the plot of every other David Lynch movie: pointless. The cause and effect in Lynch movies are muddled, scenes and characters arrive, disappear and change form constantly, and plot points are often unresolved. Like a dream, really. What I will say is that the film opens with a beautiful woman (Laura Harring) who is involved in a mysterious car crash on Mulholland Drive in Hollywood, California. Miraculously she survives, but now suffers from...amnesia! (#futuramareference) Ms. Amnesia decides to hide out in an apartment, which just so happens to be the new home of Betty Elms (Naomi Watts), who has arrived in Hollywood to become famous actress. Becoming fast friends, the two women decide to investigate Ms. Amnesia (now known as Rita) and her accident, to attain some clues as to her identity. Throw in some sex, murder, lies, revenge, and mysteries, cover it up with a bit of sand and take a lot of cough syrup and you got yourself.
So yeah, David Lynch films, like those of Godzilla, are very hit-or-miss kinds of affairs. You either ride along with along with the weirdness or get consumed by it. If you’re a fan of surrealism, or if you’ve seen a Lynch film before, then you’ll know what to expect, and there’s plenty of things about Mulholland Drive to like (people who have seen it before know what parts I’m talking about). For the uninitiated, this is often considered one of his better films, so if you’re going to start anywhere it might as well be here. If you’re looking to take a trip through your psyche this Halloween, consider taking a ride down to Mulholland Drive.
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