Mullholland Drive

This movie was indeed one of the most mind-blowing film I've ever watched!

Our professor warned us at first that the movie that we'll be watching will somehow be difficult to understand. That's why we must really concentrate on the movie. At first we knew that we're on the right track; Even though there are a lot of things and scenes on the movie that symbolizes something, we can still understand what was happening. But later on, a number of characters were introduced, with different story lines. These characters were all connected to each other. As the story goes, the identities shift and merge and we became more confused of what really is happening. Its like a roller coaster ride of scattered puzzle pieces.

After we watched the movie, a lot of things and questions are bugging my mind. Like what's the role of the old couple in the movie? The creepy monster? The blue box? What is the connection of the club Silencio to them? Are Betty and Diane connected? Who is that cowboy? Why do they want Camilla Rhodes to be the lead girl? Is the end the beginning of the story? Why is the movie entitled Mullholland Drive? I didn't have a good sleep because of these questions. I can't move on from the movie without looking for answers. 

As I've researched about the movie, I've found out that Mullholland Drive is a surrealist neo-noir film; That explains why the movie is very confusing. David Lynch is also known for making surrealist films with his own unique style. According to the book review of Allen Ruch, Mullholland Drive is a puzzle-box of a movie, one that presents hallucination and reality as equal and indistinguishable partners. 

As I read some articles, I finally understood that the movie is about Diane's dream and reality of her life. There are a lot of interpretations about the movie, but as I understand the story, the first part is Diane's dream, where she plays the character of Betty. After the box was opened, we are now introduced to the reality. Diane and Betty are the same person. In her dream, she sees herself as an aspiring actress who's succeeding in Hollywood and succeeding the woman she loves, which is Camilla. Her dream represents the opposite of the reality of her dwindling career and love life.

"The movie is hypnotic; we're drawn along as if one thing leads to another but nothing leads anywhere, and that's even before the characters start to fracture and recombine like flesh caught in a kaleidoscope. Mulholland Drive isn't like Memento, where if you watch closely enough you can hope to explain the mystery. There is no explanation. There may not even be a mystery." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times

David Lynch was successful in making us think about what really happened in the movie. After researching about explanations, I somehow understand more the real meaning of the movie. But there are still a lot of questions left unanswered. I somehow believe that Lynch just re-arranged the parts of the movie to make us think. Maybe there is really no explanation, maybe we are just lead to a direction that leads to nowhere. This is one of the strengths of Mullholland Drive. This is the power of Surrealist films.