Mulholland Drive (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
A young, eager actress travels to Hollywood for stardom, only to be caught-up in a dark, deadly conspiracy involving a woman who was almost murdered; and suffering amnesia from a brutal car wreck on 'Mulholland Dr.', a film directed by David Lynch. The perky Hollywood hopeful, Betty (Naomi Watts) will help Rita (Laura Harring) search for clues & answers as to who she is & why she was a victim of attempted murder. Putting aside her aspirations of fame, Betty pursues this mystery as if it were a movie she'd watch on TV. But she & Rita will soon discover that nothing is as it seems; as both women embark on a twisted, psychotic adventure that blurs dreams with reality. It took me a good 3 viewings to get everything straight. But now that I do, I consider this film a minor masterpiece.
The plot weaves in & out of several threads: 1) Canadian-born Betty steps off the plane with a good deal of acting talent, & stars in her eyes. 2) Coincidingly, an established actress, Rita, avoids being murdered by the freak car accident that killed everyone in the car except her. 3) A director (Justin Theroux) is being pressured by a gaggle of ominous producers to cast a particular woman in his new movie (not the talented woman of his choice). Slowly, methodically, intrigue is piled upon intrigue. Sprinkled throughout the proceedings are a myriad of oddities. Intertwined with Betty & Rita's self-investigation are such additions as: a neurotic man believing a monster lives behind the dumpster of a local diner (the revelation of this 'monster' almost made my heart stop).
There's also the appearance of a dwarf in a wheelchair. An eerily calm cowboy stalks the director of the film-within-a-film (his calm is more unsettling than if he were maniacal). An elderly couple the size of a thumb keeps popping up. A dangerous blue box holds the key to the mystery of Betty & Rita's strife. And most haunting of all (near the end of the film), Betty & Rita a drawn to a night club called 'Silencio', where optical illusions are the specialty of the night. A ghost-like singer (Rebekah Del Rio) sings a Spanish version of Roy Orbison's "Crying" before collapsing onstage. And a blue-haired woman looks on at her from the balcony. Weeiiirrrd stuff. And after this scene, the movie takes a completely different direction. If you stay with it, & think hard, you'll figure out what the Hell is really going on. Who, really, is this Rita? What's her connection to Betty? Is there one? Who wanted Rita dead in the 1st place, and why?
So many aspects of this film are commendable. The suspense, tension, & overall atmosphere are as dense as you can get. The cinematography is unique (scary images, blurred visions, odd camera angles, new looks at L.A.'s iconic venues). The music is both beautiful & un-nerving. Naomi Watts is incredible as Betty; her Betty goes through enough transformations than you can shake a stick at; nailing all the complexities of this seemingly straightforward character. Laura Harring is great as Rita; she doesn't know who she is, WE don't know who she is, but as it becomes clearer (near the end), it turns out to be quite the revelation. The script requires us to pay attention to details. If you don't, it may take a while to get back on track.
So that's the main complaint of this film. Though the narrative makes complete sense by the time it's all over; we're talking about David 'weirdo' Lynch, here. If you don't accept the initial confusion(s) early on, you will probably consider this movie pretentious, exploitative trash, and not be in the minority with that opinion. But I looked at it a different way. The movie is SO surreal, so erotic, so creepy, so absorbing, that even though I was frustrated & couldn't figure everything out right away, I wanted to watch it again immediately, and I did. The lay-out of Mulholland Dr.'s script is schizophrenic by nature: happy & sad, love & despair, innocent & corrupt, beautiful & ugly, thrilling & mundane. Though it skirts with going off the deep end, I'd rather be engrossed & emotionally involved with a daunting, challenging plot such as this, than have my eyes half-opened with mediocrity of whatever generic Hollywood film comes down the pike next week.
The plot weaves in & out of several threads: 1) Canadian-born Betty steps off the plane with a good deal of acting talent, & stars in her eyes. 2) Coincidingly, an established actress, Rita, avoids being murdered by the freak car accident that killed everyone in the car except her. 3) A director (Justin Theroux) is being pressured by a gaggle of ominous producers to cast a particular woman in his new movie (not the talented woman of his choice). Slowly, methodically, intrigue is piled upon intrigue. Sprinkled throughout the proceedings are a myriad of oddities. Intertwined with Betty & Rita's self-investigation are such additions as: a neurotic man believing a monster lives behind the dumpster of a local diner (the revelation of this 'monster' almost made my heart stop).
There's also the appearance of a dwarf in a wheelchair. An eerily calm cowboy stalks the director of the film-within-a-film (his calm is more unsettling than if he were maniacal). An elderly couple the size of a thumb keeps popping up. A dangerous blue box holds the key to the mystery of Betty & Rita's strife. And most haunting of all (near the end of the film), Betty & Rita a drawn to a night club called 'Silencio', where optical illusions are the specialty of the night. A ghost-like singer (Rebekah Del Rio) sings a Spanish version of Roy Orbison's "Crying" before collapsing onstage. And a blue-haired woman looks on at her from the balcony. Weeiiirrrd stuff. And after this scene, the movie takes a completely different direction. If you stay with it, & think hard, you'll figure out what the Hell is really going on. Who, really, is this Rita? What's her connection to Betty? Is there one? Who wanted Rita dead in the 1st place, and why?
So many aspects of this film are commendable. The suspense, tension, & overall atmosphere are as dense as you can get. The cinematography is unique (scary images, blurred visions, odd camera angles, new looks at L.A.'s iconic venues). The music is both beautiful & un-nerving. Naomi Watts is incredible as Betty; her Betty goes through enough transformations than you can shake a stick at; nailing all the complexities of this seemingly straightforward character. Laura Harring is great as Rita; she doesn't know who she is, WE don't know who she is, but as it becomes clearer (near the end), it turns out to be quite the revelation. The script requires us to pay attention to details. If you don't, it may take a while to get back on track.
So that's the main complaint of this film. Though the narrative makes complete sense by the time it's all over; we're talking about David 'weirdo' Lynch, here. If you don't accept the initial confusion(s) early on, you will probably consider this movie pretentious, exploitative trash, and not be in the minority with that opinion. But I looked at it a different way. The movie is SO surreal, so erotic, so creepy, so absorbing, that even though I was frustrated & couldn't figure everything out right away, I wanted to watch it again immediately, and I did. The lay-out of Mulholland Dr.'s script is schizophrenic by nature: happy & sad, love & despair, innocent & corrupt, beautiful & ugly, thrilling & mundane. Though it skirts with going off the deep end, I'd rather be engrossed & emotionally involved with a daunting, challenging plot such as this, than have my eyes half-opened with mediocrity of whatever generic Hollywood film comes down the pike next week.