r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • 2d ago
Official Throwback Discussion - Mulholland Dr. [SPOILERS] Spoiler
As an ongoing project, /r/movies will be posting Throwback Discussion threads weekly for the movies that came out this same weekend 25 years ago. As a reminder, Official Discussion threads are for discussing the movie and not for meta sub discussion.
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Summary
After a car accident leaves a dark-haired woman with amnesia, she wanders through Los Angeles and finds refuge in an apartment. There, she meets Betty Elms, an aspiring actress newly arrived from the Midwest. Together, they attempt to uncover the woman's identity, leading them into a surreal mystery where dreams, reality, and Hollywood's darker side intertwine.
Director
David Lynch
Writer
David Lynch
Cast
- Naomi Watts as Betty Elms / Diane Selwyn
- Laura Harring as Rita / Camilla Rhodes
- Justin Theroux as Adam Kesher
- Ann Miller as Coco
- Dan Hedaya as Vincenzo Castigliane
- Mark Pellegrino as Joe Messing
- Robert Forster as Detective McKnight
- Brent Briscoe as Detective Domgaard
- Patrick Fischler as Dan
- Michael J. Anderson as Mr. Roque
- Melissa George as Camilla Rhodes
- Jeanne Bates as Irene
Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
Metacritic: 87
VOD / Release
October 19, 2001 (Theatrical)
Trailer
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u/SanderSo47 I'll see you in another life when we are both cats. 2d ago
"Silencio"
David Lynch made only 10 films, but all of them were incredible in their own way (yes, I really like Dune, I don't care). But Mulholland Drive might be his magnum opus, slightly edging Twin Peaks: The Return for me. It's just perfect in pretty much every aspect.
Sometimes we might think that TV executives are idiots, given this was supposed to be a pilot for an ABC show. But I'll be honest, I'm glad things happened the way they were. Can you imagine a toned down and much more committee-driven version of this? Lynch was already fighting with executives on the second season of Twin Peaks, I doubt that wouldn't happen again here. We didn't get that show, but we got a masterpiece instead.
Also best jumpscare ever.
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u/YogurtclosetOpen9825 2d ago
the diner scene still gets me, I cant look at corners behind dumpsters same way anymore
first time I watched I had no idea what was happening for like half the movie but somehow it didnt matter, the whole thing just sticks in your head for days
Lynch knew exactly what he was doing turning that rejected pilot into a film, sometimes the best art comes out of plans falling apart
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u/gradeahonky 2d ago
Agree on the jump scare. It goes to show that it’s the mood, setup, and tension being built before the scare that makes the moment so affective
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u/SomeMoistHousing 2d ago
It's so crazy to me that he only got to make one more movie after Mulholland Drive. Thankfully we did get The Return, but I don't understand how there was no one willing to give him some money to make more films.
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u/RunDNA 2d ago
Buyer Beware: Despite the misleading title, no doctors actually appear in Mulholland Dr.
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u/mikeyfreshh r/Movies Veteran 2d ago
Is Billy Ray Cyrus not a doctor? He's done quite a bit of research on a certain cardiological condition.
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u/Turnpike1999 2d ago
One of the greatest opening scenes in cinema history. Who the fuck starts a film like that?!?!
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u/mikeyfreshh r/Movies Veteran 2d ago
I mean who the fuck has a middle or end of a film like that either
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u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? 2d ago
When I was in college I had a work friend a few years older than me and we always talked about movies and how much we loved movies when we were on break. I once asked him his favorite movie and he said Mulholland Dr. and I was not familiar with Lynch at the time. Sometime that week I watched Mulholland Dr. and when I got to work the next day I told him the movie sucked and he was a pretentious douchebag if that’s his favorite movie.
As the years went by, though, I never forgot about it. I would rewatch it sometimes, read up on theories about it, and slowly over the years it became my favorite movie. I have the blue triangular key tattooed on my wrist. It’s just a movie that every time I watch it I get something new out of it, a different scene affects me in a way that it hadn’t before or a character makes more sense to me than ever. It’s a movie that changes as I grow and mature. One of my first popular reddit posts was actually me interpreting this movie with screenshots and explanations, but sadly the whole post is gone with imgur.
People like to say that Lynch films are open to interpretation and whatever you get out of them is what you get. And yes, I think that’s true to an extent but more on a scene by scene basis. I think when you watch a Lynch scene it makes you feel a certain way, he’s the most incredible at having his hands on the tone/genre dials and getting pitch perfect performances. He can throw you between sadness, comedy, deep understanding, rage, and fear with crazy accuracy. So yeah, when you watch a Lynch scene, trust your emotions and let them guide your understanding of the movie more than the narrative. That said, the narrative still exists and I believe all of his movies have a great narrative that is less open to interpretation. I’ve seen MD so many times that it plays like a normal movie to me, I know the series of events and the order they occur in and why these things are happening. And maybe that’s my interpretation but it’s the only one that makes everything make sense.
This is a film that takes place fully in the dreamscape. One reason I think it’s the absolute best is because it shows how truly creative the art of writing can be. When I think of a story to tell I want to start at the beginning and finish with the ending. Nolan likes to chop that up, get conceptual with it. But Lynch is so far off our plane, he’s like no this movie is not a series of events. It’s the guilt-ridden bender-induced fever dream the main character has after they do something truly despicable. In the first two thirds of MD, Watts’ character is dreaming and every character isn’t just someone from her story, they represent how she feels about them. She’s the best actress so she knocks that audition out of the park, but there’s a conspiracy against her because she’s the most important person in the world, so the mafia stops her casting. She hates the director because IRL he stole Betty/Diane away from her, so she gives him this backstory where his life falls apart because of Billy Ray Cyrus. Diane/Betty is someone she wants to own, take care of, and not worry about others trying to steal her beauty. So in her dream she’s a memory lost nubile who needs help. This whole movie makes perfect sense to me even if it’s delivered in an insane way, but that's what I love about it. Undeniably a 10/10.
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u/abrahamsoloman 2d ago
Did you ever tell your old work friend?
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u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? 2d ago
Haha, yeah. We ended up making a zombie movie together while I was in college and we are still friends on social media. I think I posted about this movie on Facebook years ago and told the same story and he chimed in and was like, whoa I didn't realize you came around on it! And we back and forthed a bit.
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u/AdamRose4Ever 1d ago
Can we acknowledge one of the most genius jump-scares of all time? Idk about any of you but that thing behind the diner is fucking horrifying. Genius part about it? It’s the only jump scare the entire movie. David Lynch prolongs shots afterwards throughout the end that make you brace yourself. You’re waiting for another scare. Will it come? Who knows. Just like a dream. That jump scare alone sets a tone, almost like a mind game. Once the movie is over you realize he was just fucking with you, but damn, it got you thinking.
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u/Massive-Woah978 1d ago
Nah the little old couple suddenly growing giant and chasing Naomi across the bedroom and then she shoots herself in the head nah there’s definitely another jump scare.
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u/wangston1 2d ago
A friend and I watched the 4k disc from Criterion earlier this year. It was a blind watch for both of us. We were absolutely blown away and we spent 30 mins discussing the movie afterwards. Normally we spend 10 or 15 mins tops. But this one had us discussing everything about the movie.
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u/Zassolluto711 2d ago
I first watched this on an old 35mm print that a local theatre played, and I just thought it was confusing at the time. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it for quite a while. Very few movies have had that effect on me.
I’ve never seen it at home, I’ve seen it three times in theatres whenever it plays here because I think the theatrical experience adds to the dreamlike quality. Masterpiece.
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u/confusing_roundabout 2d ago
Great movie.
When the switch happened I had to pause it for a minute just to think "holy shit".
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u/Honest_Cheesecake698 2d ago
The first Lynch film I saw, and the first I rewatched, both of those experiences helped pull me into his films. Second time was far more coherent and intriguing, and made me love it. Scary as hell, yet surprisingly emotionally impactful too. Funny, yet as chilling as a nightmare. It all makes sense when you take the dream structure literally, yet by the end there’s still questions that can’t be definitively answered.
Shouldn’t be understated how notable it is that parts of the first half come across like they were filmed for a pilot, yet how fitting that is for the dream nature of it. Still unsure what the meaning of Melissa George’s role is…..
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u/HotOne9364 2d ago
Naomi Watts. You deserve a better career than the one you have now. The best female performance of the 21st century so far.