I haven’t yet. Monday perhaps as football on all weekend. Is it one of those films you need to be in the right mood/setting for would you say mate?
Film Mulholland Drive
- Thread starter lem8sh
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Oh yeah for sure, it’s one of those film where you need to be in the right setting(And definitely do not watch it on a iPhone!)
Being high as a kite probably helps.
Nice!
Thee only advice I would give is just go with the flow of the film, which sounds kind of silly but it’s far less structured than Blue Velvet or Twin Peaks season one.
I came away just as confused as when I started watching but in a good way. It fits Lynch own quote perfectly -
“I don't know why people expect art to make sense. They accept the fact that life doesn't make sense.”
I found watching it the first time to be more of a experience than anything else.
Enjoy!
There's nothing particularly complicated about Mulholland Drive. It's the process of psychic automatism in its pure state, by which Lynch proposes to express—visually, by means of the cinema—the actual functioning of thought. Dictated by thought, it lends to the absence of any control exercised by reason, exempt from any aesthetic or moral concern. Then the credits roll.
Weird to see this thread bumped as I rewatched this over Christmas. It’s a great movie. Like most David Lynch movies, it definitely requires more than one watch to understand what’s going on and appreciate more parts of it. Naomi Watts is great in this movie. Lynch goes from creepy to funny so seemlessly.
Best way to probably explain this movie to someone is the first two thirds of the movie is you’re watching a certain characters dream, and the last third is what its really like. The weird stuff you see in the ‘Dream’ part is just that… it’s weird dream stuff and it’s more of an idea within the certain character‘s mind or their interpretations (the old couple at the start of the movie, the hitman etc)
Lynch is pretty cool guy. He makes the most creepy, unsettling movies that aren’t Horror but he’s a wholesome eccentric in reality. I always thought Coop from Twin Peaks was kinda his self insert into Twin Peaks.
Best way to probably explain this movie to someone is the first two thirds of the movie is you’re watching a certain characters dream, and the last third is what its really like. The weird stuff you see in the ‘Dream’ part is just that… it’s weird dream stuff and it’s more of an idea within the certain character‘s mind or their interpretations (the old couple at the start of the movie, the hitman etc)
Lynch is pretty cool guy. He makes the most creepy, unsettling movies that aren’t Horror but he’s a wholesome eccentric in reality. I always thought Coop from Twin Peaks was kinda his self insert into Twin Peaks.
Watched this last night without knowing anything about it (had a vague idea it might be something along lines of Usual Suspects).
Will have to think and read up on it for a while obviously, but while I was intrigued the entire way through, I don’t think I can say I enjoyed the entire thing.
Will have to think and read up on it for a while obviously, but while I was intrigued the entire way through, I don’t think I can say I enjoyed the entire thing.
MUBI Notebook done a feature on one of Lynch's latest exhibitions: a series of disconcertingly shaped lamps
https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/the-riddle-of-lumen-lynch-s-lamps
https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/the-riddle-of-lumen-lynch-s-lamps
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I saw it a bit differently from that, but overall it was similar. I think that's one of the things about the movie which makes it great though as it can be interpreted in different ways and they all make sense.
I took the very last sequence to be reality, with the entire movie being the consciousness of somebody dying with the first two-thirds being how their life would ideally have been (with inserts of the reality creeping in) and then slowly moving more into how it was as they approached death
Lynch is the best film maker ever, in history, of all fecking time, of that there is no doubt.
Mulholland Drive is a mere snapshot of a portfolio of work which incorporates some of the best surrealist art ever put to celluloid.
A film that transcends what we deem to be real and what we perceive to be a dream.
Mulholland Drive is a mere snapshot of a portfolio of work which incorporates some of the best surrealist art ever put to celluloid.
A film that transcends what we deem to be real and what we perceive to be a dream.
And boobies
Lesbians and nudity. The two hallmarks of a Lynchian dystopian alternate reality.And boobies
Speaking of which, I think Andre Breton's surrealist manifesto is possibly the best explanation of any of Lynch's work. I don't expect anyone to actually read it but it sort of outlines all of the unconscious ways in which we try to make sense of everyday life and how regularly out of order and chaotic these thoughts can be, particularly in terms of dreams. Lynch's work seems to me to be underpinned by this same thinking: Eraserhead in terms of the fear of family values, Blue Velvet the uncomfortability of suburban life in Middle America, Mulholland Drive with the culture of media/filmmaking, Twin Peaks with the loss of law and order, Inland Empire with whatever the hell that movie was trying to talk about (Rabbits?). Etc.
The fact Lynch hasn't disappeared up his own arse reflects it well because he's displaying quite ordinary modes of thinking we all have and can't put into words. Instead he puts them into visual/performative imagery.
I've also tried to not disappear up my own arse expressing this point so hopefully I haven't
Nice, thanks for that. May well give that a look.Speaking of which, I think Andre Breton's surrealist manifesto is possibly the best explanation of any of Lynch's work. I don't expect anyone to actually read it but it sort of outlines all of the unconscious ways in which we try to make sense of everyday life and how regularly out of order and chaotic these thoughts can be, particularly in terms of dreams. Lynch's work seems to me to be underpinned by this same thinking: Eraserhead in terms of the fear of family values, Blue Velvet the uncomfortability of suburban life in Middle America, Mulholland Drive with the culture of media/filmmaking, Twin Peaks with the loss of law and order, Inland Empire with whatever the hell that movie was trying to talk about (Rabbits?). Etc.
The fact Lynch hasn't disappeared up his own arse reflects it well because he's displaying quite ordinary modes of thinking we all have and can't put into words. Instead he puts them into visual/performative imagery.
I've also tried to not disappear up my own arse expressing this point so hopefully I haven't
Think you've put it very eloquently.
I've read a few books about Lynch and breaking down the puzzles he seems to create, it's all extremely interesting.
Happy Biffday
It’s on Film 4 right now! @TheReligion
It's back up on Channel 4 Streaming service 4OD
Is a great filum
It was the first Lynch film I watched and it's probably the worst way to be introduced to him.
I'd probably have a more favourable opinion of the film now if I were to rewatch it.
I'd probably have a more favourable opinion of the film now if I were to rewatch it.
The theme is my personal favourite of Lynch/Badalamenti work. Something so beautiful but sad about it.
Imo Blue Velvet, Wild At Heart or Twin Peaks season 1 is the best place to start.
I'd say so too
For some reason I still have the receipt inside my DVD copy. Bought it second hand for 4 quid from CEX on 21/04/2007, served by Daniel B.
I wonder what that guy is up to these days.
I wonder what that guy is up to these days.
Lucky I seen this as you didn’t tag me
Lucky I seen this as you didn’t tag me
Whoops! Completely forgot. Funnily enough I was going to tag you today but for a different film. The underrated imo Ryan Gosling film - The Place Beyond The Pines is back on the BBC iplayer.
This was on BBC last night as I was scanning through. That first half is just
Whoops! Completely forgot. Funnily enough I was going to tag you today but for a different film. The underrated imo Ryan Gosling film - The Place Beyond The Pines is back on the BBC iplayer.
oh great! I’ll watch that too, probably weekend . Box them both before they go!!
Whoops! Completely forgot. Funnily enough I was going to tag you today but for a different film. The underrated imo Ryan Gosling film - The Place Beyond The Pines is back on the BBC iplayer.
This was on BBC last night as I was scanning through. That first half is just
Yeah agree. Love the first half especially the bank robberies. Although respect the film for killing off Gosling.
Nice.
It’s not on the channel 4 player anymore. Did you watch it @TheReligion ?
Anyone seen Inland Empire? Now that's a fecking trip. Features a jump scare that rivals the dream sequence at the start of Mulholland Drive imo.
Having finished The Return, I think that's his masterpiece.
Having finished The Return, I think that's his masterpiece.
/ SPOILER ALERT /
So I watched this again recently and have been thinking about the meaning behind it. I'm fairly sure the whole thing is split into two sections where the last part is reality and the first part is a dream sequence from the perspective of Naomi Watts character. There's a few references to sleep throughout the film, most notably at the end when the Cowboy says "wake up pretty girl" and thereafter the whole thing descends into a horrible realisation for her. Or waking nightmare, if you will.
It feels like Laura Herring's character (also feck me, she's beautiful in this) is this idealised version that Betty dreams up given that she's a more manipulative and scheming character towards the close. It therefore plays like Betty is imagining what life would be like if she were new to Hollywood and met a completely different person – the two of them ending up romantically involved and almost like their two personalities are merging. I also think this is intended to be a reflection of how old Hollywood would idealise female leads because she adopts the name Rita based on the poster she sees of Gilda in the background. Lynch seems to be picking up on the the image of Hollywood as if it were a mystery into its very nature.
The scene at the Silencio becomes an awakening where Betty is shook (literally) into remembering the truth. After this, she picks up the box and it seems like the key she finds is a symbolic reference to opening the door back to reality.
While Lynch obviously intended to keep the film ambiguous, it feels like the whole thing is some kind of 'theatre of the absurd' massacre about Hollywood where rose-tinted views of life in the movies come crashing down under the weight of the industry's nefarious aspects. I read Lynch's biography recently and there's lots in there about studio execs not getting his work and him feeling like an outsider artist who happened to make it big. Dune is probably the most obvious example.
What say you. How did you "read" the film?
So I watched this again recently and have been thinking about the meaning behind it. I'm fairly sure the whole thing is split into two sections where the last part is reality and the first part is a dream sequence from the perspective of Naomi Watts character. There's a few references to sleep throughout the film, most notably at the end when the Cowboy says "wake up pretty girl" and thereafter the whole thing descends into a horrible realisation for her. Or waking nightmare, if you will.
It feels like Laura Herring's character (also feck me, she's beautiful in this) is this idealised version that Betty dreams up given that she's a more manipulative and scheming character towards the close. It therefore plays like Betty is imagining what life would be like if she were new to Hollywood and met a completely different person – the two of them ending up romantically involved and almost like their two personalities are merging. I also think this is intended to be a reflection of how old Hollywood would idealise female leads because she adopts the name Rita based on the poster she sees of Gilda in the background. Lynch seems to be picking up on the the image of Hollywood as if it were a mystery into its very nature.
The scene at the Silencio becomes an awakening where Betty is shook (literally) into remembering the truth. After this, she picks up the box and it seems like the key she finds is a symbolic reference to opening the door back to reality.
While Lynch obviously intended to keep the film ambiguous, it feels like the whole thing is some kind of 'theatre of the absurd' massacre about Hollywood where rose-tinted views of life in the movies come crashing down under the weight of the industry's nefarious aspects. I read Lynch's biography recently and there's lots in there about studio execs not getting his work and him feeling like an outsider artist who happened to make it big. Dune is probably the most obvious example.
What say you. How did you "read" the film?
Old bump but what makes you say this?
Why didn't you just put this in a spoiler?
Cause this movie is 21 years old and probably isn't going to be discussed by anybody who hasn't seen it. The spoiler alert is just a pre-warning for those who may stumble in here accidentally. There's method to this madness.
Reading Lynch on Lynch, he really hates having to explain his art. His mantra is basically, it means whatever it means to you in the moment.
That said your take above I think is the common theory I've encountered online. Not going to say it's something that was clear on first viewing (what the feck were my main thoughts) but on later viewings - yeah I'd subscribe to that.
Watched this for the first time. Goes in the incoherent nonsense category for me.
Inland Empire is available to rent on google. I must get it some day, though i might split it into two days as its three hours long.
Mulholland Drive is one of the best films ever made.
Mulholland Drive is one of the best films ever made.