Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)

What is the film about? How is the story told? Who are the main characters and what happens to them? How is the narrative structured?

Mulholland Drive is a 2001 surrealist film by American auteur David Lynch. It follows the fantasy of Diane Selwyn, who reimagines her life as a Hollywood actress with her ex (ish) girlfriend Camilla Rhodes. In Diane’s dream, Camilla is now Rita- a mysterious amnesiac who was in a car accident on Mulholland Drive. When Betty (Diane) arrives in LA to stay in her aunts apartment after winning a dance competition and therefore becoming a movie start (a logically and not at all delusional career progression,) she finds Rita taking a shower and assumes she’s one of her aunts friends. While Rita takes a nap, Betty calls her aunt who confirms she has no idea who Rita is. When Rita wakes up, she confides that she has no idea who she is or how she got there other than the thousands of dollars cash in her purse and an otherworldly looking blue key.

Simultaneously, a seemingly unrelated man is sat in Winkie’s Diner- confiding in a friend his reoccurring dream about an evil presence round the back of the cafe. They leave before eating, and trembling and sweating with fear he goes round to behind the building, only to reveal the evil presence is 100% real and pretty damn scary. Back in Betty’s flat, Rita remembers something about Mulholland drive and the pair decide to call the police via a phone box to stay inconspicuous- they gain conformation of the accident there the night before. Afterwards, they go to the same diner where Rita recognises the waitresses name; Diane. Back in the flat, they find the address of one Diane Selwyn and agree to go the next day after Betty’s audition.

Slotted inbetween all of this is director Adam Kesher and his battle with the production company owned by the Castigliane Brother’s. They try to convince him to cast Camilla Rhodes as the main actress to which Kesher refuses, and in a flash of spitting out bad coffee and breaking car windows with golf clubs, he loses the right to direct his own movie. Back at his hilltop mansion, Adam finds his wife cheating with the pool guy (Billy Ray Cyrus jumpscare) and then later in a downtown motel is told all his cards have been cancelled. In a final desperate attempt, he visits “The Cowboy” who confirms the only way for him to get his life back is to accept the cast chosen for him. Sort of at the same time, an amateur hitman accidentally kills three people and sets off a fire alarm to retrieve a phone book.

Now back to reality, (or is it…) Betty has an audition for a small film, but, realising her potential, she is taken to Adam Kesher’s set by an agent. There we see Camilla Rhodes perform and Adam begrudgingly accept her as the main actress. He keeps looking back at Betty, however, but she has to leave to help Rita before they can speak. Rita and Betty go to Diane’s flat to find another woman has swapped with her- so obviously they break into Diane’s new apartment. There they find her decomposing unidentifiable body on the bed. In a panic attack Rita tries to cut her off but Betty logically convinces her to wear a blond wig exactly the same as her hair instead. They then sleep together, and go to a club at 2am. In “Silencio” a woman performs acappella and the pair sit crying, at the end of the song Betty pulls a mysterious blue box from her bag and they rush home to try the key from earlier. As Betty goes to open the box, Rita disappears and the camera pushes into the darkness.

Diane Selywn (Betty) is asleep in her apartment. She is clearly very depressed and delusional, believing Camilla (Rita) is there and still in love with her when in reality Camilla has left her for the director Adam. Camilla asks Diane to join her at Adam’s party; where all the people seen there make up the characters in her “dream.” Camilla taunts Diane by kissing a similar looking blonde woman to her, who was the previous Camilla from the dream (a manifestation of her jealousy.) At the end of the party, Adam and Camilla announce their marriage. Back in Winkie’s Diner, a very disheveled looking Diane hires the amateur hitman from earlier to kill Camilla, who agrees to leave a blue key in her apartment one the job is done as a signal. Later, Diane sits guiltily in her flat staring at the key. Plagued by hallucinations of the uncannily happy old people from the start of the film she shoots herself (hence the Diane’s body from the dream.) The film ends back at the club, where an ethereal looking blue-haired woman whispers “silencio.”

Does the film belong to a particular genre? How does it conform to or deviate from genre conventions? Does the film belong to a notable genre cycle?

This film is a Lynchian take on a mystery or thriller or drama. As a more surrealist and experimental film, it doesn’t perfectly fit into any one genre and depending on interpretation can also be comedic for example. However, the tense atmosphere and strong emotion defiantly resemble a psychological thriller.

Who made the film? Does the film exhibit auteur qualities?

The film was made by auteur David Lynch, and is said to be the most typically Lynchian of all his work. This is seen in the close attention to detail, use of colour to amplify emotion, random floaty anxiety-inducing tracking shots and the deeply uncomfortable confusion the film leaves you with.

What do you think the filmmakers wanted to say? Does the film attempt to convey a message or ideology?

Lynch often admits that he doesn’t know (or straight up refuses to explain) the meaning of a lot of his work, so maybe this question can’t actually be answered. But to me this film is about the betrayal, corruption and death of the Hollywood Dream, which Camilla ultimately represents.

Do the filmmakers use any interesting techniques to convey information to the audience? Are the key elements of film form innovative or particularly effective? Does the film have a distinct aesthetic?

The key elements are used to further obstruct the truth and heighten the delusion and mystery. Through focusing on seemingly pointless and irrelevant scenes such as the diner at the start or the hitman, the information is disjointed and the audience is made to decide what actually means something or not rather than having the plot just handed to them. The key elements mimic this by being equally random; some points fluid and handheld, others long tedious wide shots. Like every Lynch film, there is no obvious pattern or logic; but that’s what makes his aesthetic.

Does the film hold a significant place in film history? How does the film reflect the social, cultural, historical, and political context in which it was produced and exhibited? How is the film representative of the institutions and technologies that made it?

Mulholland Drive was released in 2001 and is David Lynch’s 9th feature film. It won best director at the Cannes Film Festival and earned Lynch an Academy Award Nomination. Arguably, it is Lynch’s most critically acclaimed film as it was named greatest film of the 21st century by BBC Culture and is currently ranked 8th on Sight and Sound’s greatest films of all time list.

How does the film represent particular individuals or groups of people?

The film represents the film industry in quite a negative way; as something unachievable and ultimately heartbeats. It also plays on lots of classic tropes and stereotypes in media, such as the “murder your gays” trope or the femme fatale.

What was your personal reaction to the film? Do you think your reaction is typical of most spectators? Which sequences were particularly effective or enjoyable?

Having seen this film once before a few years ago, it was actually a lot more understandable this time (either because the plot was easer to piece together or because I was too young to really appreciate it before.) This film is in no way a casual watch or particularly enjoyable, but the range of emotions it evokes in such a small amount of time make it worth it. I remember thinking the scene in Winkie’s Diner was a lot scarier that it actually was on rewatch, but on rewatch the scene in Club Silencio made me want to cry along with them, which it definitely didn’t the first time. And I think fundamentally that’s what David Lynch wanted to share through making; something that can be seen over and over and still interpreted differently. A proper dream with details you forget or over exaggerate, but either way is never the same.

That being said… it is kind of objectifying. And I’m not sure if it’s from Betty’s fantasy or the gaze of a male director. Or maybe objectification is just another device to further the surrealism? I can see that a lot of people would hate the uncomfortable viewing experience or the unexplained plot, but to me a good film makes you feel something more or question what you know- and this is definitely the stays in your head for weeks type so it gets five stars.