Film: “Mulholland Drive” (2001)

When David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive”opened in 2001, the critics mostly swooned. Not that anyone understood what it all meant—someone called it “neo-film-noir”—and Lynch himself was no help. He left it up to audiences, critics, and even the film's own cast to speculate on its meaning.

The question remains: does it hold up after 24 years? The answer is most definitely yes, and then some.

The plot: a gorgeous brunette (Laura Elena Harring) is left amnesiac after walking away from a car crash. She wanders the streets of Los Angeles in a daze before finding refuge in an empty garden apartment. There she is discovered by Betty (Naomi Watts), a wholesome blonde who has come to LA seeking fame as an actress. Together, the two attempt to solve the mystery of Rita's true identity.

One night while they’re in bed (PS there’s a lesbian romance interwoven into all this), Rita begins talking in her sleep, whispering a word in Spanish: “Silencio.” She insists on visiting Club Silencio immediately. There, Betty and Rita watch Rebekah perform an art piece, in which she lip-sync performances a song that is eventually revealed to have been pre-recorded. The idea terrifies Betty.

After Rebekah's performance, Betty discovers a blue box in her purse matching Rita's key, and the two women return home. Rita is about to unlock the box, but finds that Betty has vanished. After unlocking the box, Rita also vanishes.

Cut to Diane Selwyn, a depressed and struggling actress who looks exactly like Betty, and who lives in the same apartment complex. A neighbor visits to pick up her things and warns that detectives are looking for Diane. Diane daydreams about Camilla Rhodes, a successful actress who looks exactly like Rita. She cries after recalling that Camilla broke up with her.

Confused yet? Don’t be. This all comes together eventually.

One critic wrote that the “real” person here is Diane who has cast her dream-self as the innocent Betty, reconstructing her persona into something like an old Hollywood film.

While Harding is stunningly beautiful (the late Roger Ebert commented that “all she has to do is stand there and she is the first good argument in 55 years for a Gilda remake”) Watts steals the show. In her breakthrough role she demonstrates the range that allowed her to play both Betty and Diane as well as Babe Paley in last year’s “Feud: Capote vs the Swans.”

“Mulholland” was also the last film Ann Miller appeared in; she plays Coco the eccentric landlady of Betty’s apartment.

At the 74th Academy Awards, Lynch was nominated for Best Director. Naomi won best actress from New York Film Critics Circle. Eery music by the late Angelo Badalamenti, who collaborated with Lynch on the scores for his other movies and TV shows including Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks.

“The movie is a surrealist dreamscape in the form of a Hollywood film noir, and the less sense it makes, the more we can't stop watching it.” So said Roger Ebert. Which is why I plan to see it again. And maybe a third time. On the Criterion Channel.

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