Mulholland Drive

UK Release Date. 4 January 2002
Certification. 15
Running Time. 2 hours 27 mins
Director. David Lynch
Cast. Robert Forster, Laura Elena Harring, Mark Pellegrino, Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts.

Rating. 78%

Review.

In August 2016, the BBC polled 177 film critics from more than 30 countries around the world to produce a list of the greatest films of the 21st century. Mulholland Drive topped the list ahead of the likes of In The Mood For Love and There Will Be Blood.

Mulholland Drive is perhaps, David Lynch's most accomplished work despite a surreal narrative to rival Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me or Lost Highway. The film is simply spellbinding or incredibly frustrating depending on your relationship with the enigmatic director.

Lynch cast the then relatively unknown Naomi Watts in the lead role of the aspiring actress, Betty Elms. Whilst Betty initially appears somewhat of a cliché, Watts directs the character to some particularly dark depths as she tries to aid the mysterious amnesiac, Rita (Laura Elena Harring). Almost from the outset, the sexual chemistry between the two female leads is intense and evokes comparison with the antonymous relationship between Laura Dern and Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet.

As the film develops, hints that all is not as it seems are increasingly evident, and soon the neo-noir storyline breaks down, replaced by a more sinister and disturbing narrative in which the two women take on very different roles. 

Mulholland Drive may be seen as a metaphor for the Hollywood dream turning sour, or nothing more than a suicidal woman's subconscious attempt to put a brave spin on dark times. If the latter, then the film's overwhelming sadness becomes profuse - Betty, and her steadfast optimism, were never more than an illusion.

Clues were there, in front of our nose, throughout Mulholland Drive. As Betty enthusiastically proclaims, "I'm just so excited to be here. I mean I just came here from Deep River, Ontario, and now I'm in this dream place." Or when Cowboy (Lafayette Montgomery) appears to usher Betty back to reality, "Hey, pretty girl, time to wake up." And Lynch punctuates the change in narrative with Rebekah del Rio's haunting acapella version of Llorando, which serves as a bridge from the dream to the nightmarish reality. A mesmerising piece of cinema.

For some, the sense of ambiguity will be one of Mulholland Drive's enduring charms and the film's hypnotic power to pull viewers back time and time again to watch, rewatch and re-evaluate is significant. Until next time, Betty...