Skip to content
Dan Owen reviews
Universal
- Cert: R
- Cat.no: 21780
- Running time: 147 minutes
- Year: 2001
- Pressing: 2002
- Region(s): 1, NTSC
- Chapters: None
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: $32.98
- Extras: Trailer, Cast and Crew biographies
Director:
- David Lynch
Producer:
- Neal Edelstein, Tony Krantz, Michael Polaire, Alain Sarde and Mary Sweeney
Screenplay:
- David Lynch
Music:
- Angelo Badalamenti
Cast:
- Betty Elms: Naomi Watts
Adam Kesher: Justin Theroux
Rita: Laura Harring
Coco Lenoix: Ann Miller
Vincenzo Castigliane: Dan Hedaya
Detective McKnight: Robert Forster
Plot:A glamorous woman escapes death at gunpoint after her chauffeur drivercar is involved in a car accident along Mulholland Drive. Suffering fromamnesia, she befriends naive young actress-wannabe Betty, and both womenresolve to unlock the mystery of her identity…
David Lynch – the master of weirdness – is back with Mulholland Drive.The movie was originally conceived as a new TV series for ABC, with thePilot episode actually filmed but turned down by network executives.
Lynch was quickly asked to resurrect Mulholland Drive as afeature-film by French backers ‘Canal+’, and so he set about condensingan entire series of television into a movie. Fortunately every actorinvolved in the show agreed to shoot additional scenes, and soMulholland Drive rose like a Phoenix from the flames of TV Hell.
Mulholland Drive opens with the attempted murder of a glamorous woman(Laura Harring) in a car being driven down the titular stretch ofHollywood. She narrowly escapes with her life when the car is involvedin an accident, and finds herself wandering the steets with amnesia. Shelater meets Betty (Naomi Watts), a wannabe actress, who slowly becomesenamoured with the amnesiac stranger… and that’s before things getreally weird, involving a mysterious blue key, a stoic Cowboy, a bizarretheatre group, and a deadlocked monster…
David Lynch is a wonderfully gifted director. He effortlessly manages toportray everyday existence as if it’s a puzzle of strangeness, whereevery person, event, and situation is just slightly off-kilter. There’snothing overtly strange about most things in Mulholland Drive, butthere’s always a tangible threat of danger around every corner… and inevery piece of dialogue…
Lynch manages to build mood with ease, mainly by his effective use ofsound to drag users into his mindscape and play with their perceptions.As your rational mind tries to latch onto a semblance of “normal”plot… your imagination is constantly firing in the background ascharacters, events, images and sounds conspire against your levelheadedness.
The acting is also wonderful; Naomi Watts gives naive Betty realbelievability and a likeable upbeat attitude to contradict thesubversive nature of proceedings, while Laura Harring underplaysamnesiac Rita to a fine degree. Both actresses totally embody theirroles, and lend great weight and sensitivity to what could have been anexploitative lesbian angle between them.
The music score is simple yet effective, flowing throughout the movie -heightening mood and providing unsettling outlets for surrealism tocreep into otherwise normal situations. The screenplay, written by DavidLynch, is well paced and never lets the film’s long running time burdenthe viewer’s attention. Interesting things are constantly happening – beit the appearance of a bizarre new character, a quirky mannerism, or athreatening line of dialogue delivered with deadpan delivery.
Unresolved situations are weaved throughout the movie, each vying foryour attention and daring you to try and neatly sew them together. Butthis is one patchwork quilt only Lynch can knit. By the time the perfectfinal scene fades from the screen, you’re left to sit in silence – in awhirlwind of half-answers and a strange sense that things were answered,just not as you expected them to be. If there’s ever been a film thatlingers in your mind days after you’ve hit your ‘EJECT’ button,Mulholland Drive is it.
I really enjoyed and appreciated Mulholland Drive for its finequalities as an intelligent drama that tests an audiences imagination.If, however, you like films with fairly linear plots and definiteresolutions, I’d avoid Lynch’s latest like the plague!
Being a big David Lynch fan I was unsure whether or not he’d have moresurprises up his sleeve after so many years, but he can still”out-weird” anyone. True, some elements in the movie are are merelypolished versions of ideas he used in ‘Lost Highway’, but while ‘LostHighway’ was scarier, Mulholland Drive is more satisfying. Someaspects of Mulholland Drive didn’t really work – most being abandonedsub-plots from the failed TV-version of the project – but there’s nodenying this is one of the most intellectually satisfying movies inyears. Watch this film with a group of likeminded people, and you’ll bedebating its meaning for weeks… and any movie that gets people talkingafterwards is a winner in my book!
Mulholland Drive arrives on 1 disc in an Amaray case, together with aninside sheet that has some “clues” you should read after watching themovie to try and unlock the mystery. The artwork on the disc is,frankly, uninspiring – being merely a wistful Naomi Watts on a purplebackground. Not really a great indication of the movie or Lynch’s style.As a side gripe, it’s always annoyed me that Region 1 plastic cases seemmuch flimsier than their Region 2 counterparts. Mulholland Drive’scase threatened to snap in my hand on more than one occasion.
The picture is in anamorphic 1.85:1 ratio as intended by Lynch, and isas good as you can expect from a modestly budgeted film patchworked froma TV episode. There’s certainly nothing here that really grabs yourattention with pinpoint detail or particularly lush colours, but there’salso nothing to seriously frustrate people.
With Mulholland Drive originally being a TV episode, some of thescenes lifted directed from the television print have some graincompared to the scenes filmed for the big screen. Fortunately, the grainisn’t distracting, and a small price to pay for the chance to seeLynch’s latest vision.
Sound plays a big role in Lynch movies, managing to heighten the sensesand crank up tension with far more aplomb than his obtuse imagery.However, the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is lacking in surround sounddelights, but does a competent job with the film’s limited chances foraudio prowess.
One particular highlight for me is a sudden “muffling” audio effect inan early scene at a Diner, where the audio drops to a very spooky low(as if you’ve suddenly been dunked underwater). It’s very disconcerting,and the fact the audio perfectly matches the emotion onscreen is whattruly sends shivers of fear down your spine. Perfect.
Sadly, this release has no real features to speak of. There are verybrief Cast & Crew Biography pages, and the movie’s Theatrical Trailer…but that’s it. A great shame, as some background on the ratherinteresting genesis of this movie would have been great, as would someform of “Making Of” documentary. However, did you really expect aDirector’s Commentary from David Lynch? No, of course not.
At Lynch’s behest the disc also has no chapter selections, which meansyou either watch the entire movie from beginning to end, or have toendure an eternity of fast-forwarding to get to a particular scene.Frustrating, but a nice example of Lynch’s insistence people watch hismovies how he wants you to.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.