STORY STUDY - CRITERION WEEK “779. Mulholland Drive”

A blue key, a homeless looking monster, and a mysterious theater called Club Silencio. No, it’s not Hell, It’s just Los Angeles… or is it?

Directed and written by David Lynch, Mulholland Drive has two intersecting stories: one about two women, Betty and “Rita”, whom they investigate “Rita’s” identity after her memory is wiped after surviving a car crash.

The other story is about director Adam Kesher who is forced by his new producers/mobsters to cast an unknown actress as the lead for his film. He resists, but as his day spirals into disaster, he finally relents.

My experience with Lynch’s films is that they’re very slow paced. It’s meant to be a buildup, but what’s necessary is intrigue: The plot points have to be interesting enough to keep our attention. He tends to be very surreal with his films, and this is no exception. The question that kept coming to my head when watching the film was “what is this leading up to?” When it does its reveal, the next question that popped was “is this really happening?” For film aficionados, that’s intrigue. For others, it’s probably just confusion.

Lynch is really good in creating debate for his films, the first one being “what does it mean?” I find this film to be the easiest to dissect, but it’s not completely straightforward. Whatever answer or decision you come up with, it’s as valid as the other person’s.

However, like a proper film, each scene does properly set up and gives a payoff in terms of the characters. Some of them show up for one scene, leaving the audience wonder why they were there. When they show up again, it all makes sense.

I can’t remember how I knew about this film. Was it a film class where I was introduced to the film? Was it a film class that introduced me to David Lynch? Was it even a film class at all?

Mulholland Drive is one of the uniquely told films that very much simulate a dream state. It bounces genres, from horror to dark comedy to mystery to thriller. It raises a lot of questions and interpretations that can be equally valid.