the Ultimate Mulholland Dr. Round-up
Published April 15, 2005
So "opening the box" isn't just "waking from a dream"--it is, literally, death. Whatever's in there cannot even be thought by human beings--despite the fact that getting in there is pretty much all we think about! The way of "optimism" and the way of "despair" intersect at the abyss (although, as Camila notes, the second way is a "short-cut"!), and Lynch's vertiginous transition between narratives at the Utopian moment of expected fulfilment (after Betty and Rita have found the box together) is one of the most incredibly affecting evocations of the Sublime in the history of cinema. Without all of this preparation, the Diane scenes (masturbating, deliberating in the darkness about whether to accept Camilla's purred invitation, the walk from the car to the party, her quiet breakdown at the dinner table, and her suicide: the nightmare counterpart of Betty/Rita's lovemaking--both are the logical climaxes of their respective narratives, and neither succeeds in rescuing the dreamer from the necessity of dreaming!) wouldn't have nearly the impact that they do. **********
Ian Brill:
When my friend and I saw this in the theaters how many years ago we came out of that theater with the same sense of awe.
It might be the circumstances of my surroundings but I've always thought of this film as all types of genres of film (musicals, horror even porn) put into one film to create a type of "movie stew."
While I thought the first 2/3rds of the film was just a dream of a wannabe actress I never considered all of the film as a dream but I like the sound of it. I do like your interpretation and think I'll try to watch my DVD of this over the weekend now that I've read your post.
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Charles Reece:
I love MH, and wrote a synopsis of its structure back when it came out on dvd for some friends. There's 2 schools of thought on Lynch, that he's a irrationalist (an image that he tries to spread in his popular interviews) and that he's quite rational (but a certain type, namely one who doesn't provide answers before the question). I believe his narratives are too tightly structured to place him in the former category, as MH demonstrates (contrary to the outlook of, say, Martha Nochimson).
Your dream within a dream scenario points to what I see as Lynch's dismantling of the Hollywood dream while still using film's oneiric qualities (what's Reason to do when it falls through the rabbit hole? The only rational thing it can, adapt). There's too many specific connections between the earlier dream sequence and the later reality sequence and the embedded flashback sequences (e.g., the key being there and then missing and how it clears up the significance of the box) for me to believe that this segment is on the same plane as the earlier one. But the last shot of the ghosts over Hollywood, in what seems a nod to Anger's cover to Hollywood Babylon (but it's a been a little while since I've seen the film), seems to either be a nod to Hollywood's potential and inevitable lure, or a final bit of cynicism, or (probably) both. Anyway, the film strikes me as using dream (i.e., film) to critique dream (i.e., the Dream Factory) while casting a skeptical eye on itself (i.e., being a continuation of the factory through it's allusions to Classic Hollywood to reinforce its meanings, such as the reversal of the homosexual love triangle from GILDA, from which Rita gets her name). But I look forward to hearing the commentary to see where they go with it. Thanks.
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#2: Let's Keep Talking About Mulholland Drive, Shall We?
- the Ultimate Mulholland Dr. Round-up
- Published: April 15, 2005
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Video
- Writer: David Fiore
- David Fiore's BC Writer page
- David Fiore's personal site
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