Notes for Mulholland Drive

Film: Mulholland Drive

Year Of Release: 2001

Director: David Lynch

Notes from viewing number 2 (22.10.2021)

Rating: 10/10

- Mulholland Drive holds the greatest "It was all a dream" twist in cinema. This kind of twist is known as the worst and most cliche twist that has ever existed, but David Lynch manages to make it work.

- There is no piece of cinema that replicates dreams as well as Mulholland Drive's first three fourths. Lynch uses some amazing filmmaking to replicate the feeling of being a dream better than anyone ever has. 

- The dream in Mulholland Drive is a metaphor for the Hollywood dream. The film opens with the jitterbug scene, but after that, we get a scene that replicates falling to sleep. This marks two things: The point where the audience enters the two hour dream, but also the moment Diane starts her Hollywood dream, as we learn that her dream of succeeding as an actress came after she won a jitterbug contest. And after the dream ends, we see Diane waking up. This is the moment the audience wakes up from Lynch's dream, but also the moment Diane wakes up from her Hollywood dream and gets hit with cold reality. And in the end, dream and reality blend together to represent Diane's decline in mental health. Genius.

- No scene better represents David Lynch's talent as a director as the Winkie's scene. You know what is coming through the whole scene, but the way the nightmare is described is chilling, and the way it constantly builds suspense is incredible. I jump each time, even though I know what's going to happen. If David Lynch isn't one of the best directors of all time, I don't know who is.

- Naomi Watts gives one of the greatest performances of all time as Diane. She really plays two characters: Dream Diane, and real Diane, but there's a point where you realize that the innocent dream Diane was the real Diane when she first started her journey for Hollywood fame, and that Hollywood has broken her down completely. Great performance.

- The general sypnosis of Mulholland Drive is agreed upon by most, but there's still a lot of things that remain unexplained in the first two hours. There's a lot imagery that still remains ambiguous 20 years after it was released, especially the imagery from the two first hours. It may be frustrating to some, but to me, it is an essential part of what makes Mulholland Drive one of cinema's great mysteries.