Mulholland Drive

In my opinion, one big clue to the movie is in the opening shot (not the beginning credits, but the first "film" frame). It is of a pillow and a sheet...that quickly dissolves into a rather nostalgic ride down Mulholland Drive (the road that runs behind the famous HOLLYWOOD sign). The movie does not return the viewer to that shot ... of the pillow again until Diane wakes up nearly 5/8's of the way through the film. It can be assumed that this whole portion of the film has been one long dream, a dream that gives us a great deal of insight into the personal desires and fantasies of Diane. The rest of the film is a mish-mash of (in my opinion) drug-induced daydreams and paranoia, seen through the beer-bottle goggles of Diane. She over-emphasizes the importance of things she is suspicious of, and sees things that are not really there--ultimately leading to her making some bad decisions that she cannot deal with.

Several characters appear in both worlds (the dream, and the warped/drug altered reality of the end). These characters, we assume, have had some kind of impact on Diane's life. Her fantasy/inner vision of the characters is seen in her dream, the somewhat-subjective reality of them revealed only in the latter part of the film. There are really only two characters that are enigmas: the person behind the diner, and the cowboy. In my opinion, the person behind the diner represents a drug dealer (making things happen) whom Diane buys from (who controls Pandora's box). The cowboy, to me, represents the simple, logical, American person that Diane hopes is out there, striving to right the wrongs of LA.

The dream sequence is Diane's subconscious exploring her feelings for the people and places in her life, and rewriting her experiences in a version she likes better (she is an amazing actress, who is only deterred from certain stardom because of a conspiracy, and who loves someone that would love her fully too, if only she really knew who she was). When she wakes up, she must then come to terms with her life, and muddle through the confusing haze of people and relationships in her life within LA culture...confusing matters incredibly with her drug/fantasy/day dream visions.

The movie is a masterpiece of writing, direction, cinematography, and ultimately conviction to telling an unconventional story...Lynch, Herring, Watts and others never waver in their commitment to the story...even when it gets scary, erotic, or convoluted. The result is an incredibly entertaining and though-provoking experience that will leave you wanting to see it again and talk to others about it. The casting is largely from television actors and recognizable faces (no doubt attributed to the fact that the film was originally going to be a television series), revealing and introducing some amazingly talented actors and actresses (Naomi Watts--clearly stretching beyond the matronly parts she has previously played, Laura Elena Harring, Justin Theroux, and Dan Hedaya in the most obvious occurrences).

The DVD is an interesting example of the mind of David Lynch. It was his express directive that there be no chapter breaks in the movie. It was also his express directive to disallow additional information beyond a cast list and the trailer. His reasoning is that the additional material detracts from the experience of the film. And in this case, he is right. The additional material would allow the viewer to remove him or herself from the film, reminding them that it all was make-believe and without meaning. In his own way, by starving the viewer of these extra tidbits, Lynch has created even more of an enigma for viewers to question well into the future.


Explained.   March 10, 2004
William Krischke (Portland, OR United States)
47 out of 49 found this review helpful

DO NOT read this review if you want to figure out the puzzle of Mulholland Drive on your own. You have been warned.

For those who are tired of being puzzled by it, here is the explanation.

One of the first shots of the movie -- right after the jitterbug credits -- is of a head falling to a pillow. Everything that follows after that -- until the cowboy says "It's time to wake up" is Diane's dream.

Here is what is real: Diane Selwyn(Naomi Watts)is a struggling actress. She became friends with Camilla Rhodes, a much more successful actress. The two became loves, then Camilla broke it off. Camilla gets together with Adam, her director, and at a dinner party the two announce their engagement (or perhaps they announce their pregnancy. It's ambiguous but doesn't really matter.) Diane is falling apart after breaking up with Camilla, and the announcement pushes her over the edge. She hires a hit man to take out Camilla. And then she falls asleep. And the dream begins.

Everything in the dream is some element of Diane's life rearranged so that she is the desirable one, the one in power and control. Betty -- Diane's dream-ego -- is innocent but clever, resourceful, and talented. The cowboy represents Diane's subsconscious; he is ultimately in control of everything. At one point he says, "a man's attitude goes some ways toward how a man's life will be." Definitely true of a dream sequence: one's attitude determines the reality of the dream. Diane's relationship with Camilla is rewritten so that Camilla is needy and Diane can help her. Diane's hatred of Adam is represented by her dreams' desire to strip him of power: the cowboy forces him to cast the lead role his way, while at the same time, he is oddly attracted to Betty. The director who once told Diane she wasn't any good instead tells Betty she is amazing -- but at the same time, Betty turns him down, going instead with the casting director who will take her bigger, better places.

The strange blue box is a subconscious representation of Diane's guilt over killing Camilla. Remember that the hit man used a blue key as the sign that the hit had taken place.

Teatro Silencio is both a signal from the director to the viewer and from Diane's subconscious to her conscious mind: what appears real is actually fake.

The scary man behind Winkie's is the truthteller, and everyone is afraid of him. He holds the blue box that is Diane's guilt, and from it runs her innocence -- symbolized by the nice people Betty meets on the plane to LA. Her former life.

Diane wakes up when her subconscious (the Cowboy) tells her to. Her neighbor comes over to collect the last of her stuff. She sees the blue key on the table which means the hit has taken place. But she is cracking; she also thinks she sees Camilla. As she continues to crack, she is terrorized by the spectors of her lost innocence (the old people) until she kills herself.

See? It all makes sense.


Do Not Read Unless You Want The Ending.   April 3, 2006
Jabberwocky (Elsewhere, USA)
31 out of 32 found this review helpful

I know others have explained or tried to explain this movie, but I think we need an explanation review every page. We owe it to this movie.

Here be spoilers:

-The first 3/4 of the movie is a dream.

-The last 1/4 of the movie is the REAL story told in flashbacks.
The real story is this...

-A girl from Canada named Diane moves to L.A. to become an actress after winning a jitterbug contest.(Beats me how jitterbugging can lead to a desire to act.) You see people jitterbugging at the beginning of the movie, then you see Diane winning the contest and posing with the judges/grandparents/elders of the town etc.

-In L.A. she meets another actress named Camilla Rhodes, who beats her out for a movie. Camilla is more popular and more talented.

-Diane falls in love with Camilla, and Camilla in turn gets Diane small parts in her films.

-Camilla eventually dumps Diane for a director named Adam who she is going to marry.

-Diane is so angry and hurt, she hires a hitman to kill Camilla.

-After Diane learns Camilla is dead, she goes into a drug-induced sleep where she dreams the first 3/4 of the film. In her dream she is the talented, loveable one who has to rescue her helpless lover, and where the man who stole the love of her life is financially ruined and stripped of his power by mobsters. Everyone in the dream are people Diane has seen in real life in the days leading up to the hit and her dream.

-After Diane wakes up, she is so shaken with remorse and guilt, she kills herself.

Symbols?

-The monster man behind Winkie's signifies Diane being haunted.

-The old couple are the judges/grandparents from the jitterbug contest and represent her past.

-The blue box and blue key represent the switch from fantasy back to reality.

Hence, the monster letting the couple out of the blue box at the end is the REALITY of her PAST, HAUNTING her, therefore, driving her to suicide.

I didn't need to look this explanation up on the Net. Just watching it a couple of times and actually thinking is what clued me in.

This is my favorite or second favorite movie. I fell in love with Naomi Watts after this. No other film she has done lives up to this one, not even 21 Grams or The Ring. It's sexy, suspenseful, and the film has a beating, quirky heart. It's a legitimate love story.

This movie is surrealistic, just like Follywood, I mean Hollywood. It's supposed to be real, but doesn't quite get there. Just like a dream.