Mulholland Drive

So it'd been a while since I'd watched a movie that left me brain-chewed. But I've been working through David Lynch's amazing filmography and last night I ended up on Mulholland Drive. Apparently when you buy this film it comes with a list of 10 clues to help you figure out the movie, or at least guide your interpretation. Well, needless to say, the video store forgot to include that little detail and my friend Eric and I (the only ones determined to see the end after everyone else got too frustrated to finish,) gave each other blank stares when the credits rolled.

So it makes sense now; it makes sense now that I've gone online and looked up a few interpretations of the film and discovered the clues I never had at my disposal. The last movie I took this way was Donnie Darko, a movie with even less resolution that I enjoy, regularly, but which has been blown out of proportion in my mind. These movies really gather a following by demanding that the viewer take ownership. It's brilliant in one way, but at the same time it sort of masks some shoddy film making. I don't mean this about Mulholland Drive. Even if it had ended a random assortment of 3-5 minute puzzle pieces with no picture it would still be a beautiful and intriguing film. Donnie Darko: not so much.

I think people, once they've been suckered into "figuring out" the film they just watched, take possession of their entertainment in a way that makes them unable to criticize some of it's flaws. They want it to work, so they don't feel they've wasted their time, so they make it work. I think Vanilla Sky's failure was that it didn't leave viewers confused enough at the end. It has you pretty bewildered right up until the last ten minutes or so and then it spills the beans. So with Vanilla Sky, you can remain aloof, tie the film up in a little bow and add it to the list of films you saw. It never ascends to the list of movies you "figured out" like Donnie Darko or Mulholland Drive, these movies you have to do extra-curricular work to make sense of.

Anyway, on to Eraserhead and Lost Highway.