Blog #11

Mulholland Drive (2001)

Directed by David Lynch

The film, Mulholland Drive, directed by David Lynch invites the audience into a thriller mystery uncovering who “Rita” is after she escapes a car accident. This film draws many parallels to Sunset Blvd., which we watch earlier in the semester. Both of the films open with winding roads, the name of the film on a street sign and with a crime investigation. Although they are two very different storylines, they are similar in numerous ways.

Personally, I didn’t love this film. I was confused a majority of the time on what was going on and the emotion behind each of the characters. It almost felt like more of a drama. Rita, as a character, was hard to unravel. She became a sexual attraction for Betty and I couldn’t understand why. My reasoning was that Betty was in love with the thrill of Rita and how she provided something interesting in her life. She took on all of Rita’s issues which is another reason why she possibly fell in love or felt a lust for her. This story took a lot of turns and it was simply very hard to follow for the most part.

I thought it was interesting how the director provided clues and foreshadowing within the film. For example, the opera house scene where the song was a metaphor for the death at the end. The clues of the key for the blue box was cool too and how that was referenced multiple times throughout the whole film. I think the director did a great job at displaying suspense through the score and the lighting in the scenes. For example, when Rita walked in to the room and saw the dead woman, we couldn’t see the face or the whole body until the lighting adjusted to do so. Overall, this film had a lot of cool aspects but I get confused between what’s real and what’s fake. I am excited to explore the discussion involving this film!