I found the movie Mulholland Drive to be quite interesting. Throughout class discussion we were told to not over think the films elements because in a way the movie did not have a solid meaning that could easily be summed up. There simply existed too many elements to piece together as a whole. I guess my question is why and how did the director David Lynch formulate this style of film with so much happening that its hard to even comprehend; how does his mind fathom all of these elements?
As the viewer we are constantly watching Lynch manipulate time and space as well as the characters identity. Through watching this movie, I couldn’t help but think of the film Last Year in Marienbad. Like the main male character in that film, I felt as though we as the audience were being transcended between Betty’s reality and her dream world; in which she is desperately trying to rationalize how it could have been for her making it in Hollywood. As the reading states “Betty is dreaming a bright Hollywood wish-fulfillment fantasy that is dispersed by a terrible Hollywood reality of failure.” We are constantly being sucked into Betty’s dream world were she is trying to fit the pieces together on why she didn’t get the part in a movie.
I loved how in class discussion someone mentioned that the roles the characters played switched in real life. We watched sweet bubbly blonde Betty turn into a seductive train wreck as she pleaded for Camilla aka Rita to stay (as she is straddling her on the couch). This personality switch was a complete opposite to who Betty is in her dream world and we only catch a glimpse of her (in this way) while she is auditioning her a role. Another character that does a complete 180 is the director Adam. In Betty’s dream world, we see Adam’s choice and creativity as a director in wanting to choose the leading lady in his film be stripped away from him from a higher, mysterious power in Hollywood. In reality Adam is just our typical director with really no sense of creativity and he had the chance in choosing the leading lady, Camilla Rhodes. In the dream world he hated the thought of Camilla Rhodes but in reality he was sexually wrapped up in her femme fatale image.
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When I sat down to write my blog, I had a similar question to yours; "how did the director David Lynch formulate this style of film with so much happening that its hard to even comprehend; how does his mind fathom all of these elements?" Thinking about it, I imagined him translating this film in a 2 dimensional medium, creating a collage about Hollywood. Ripping pictures of cowboys, femme fatals, mobsters and hitmen, I pictured Lynch assembling these photos on paper in a thoughtful way to make some connection to each other. I thought of the film this way, a big collage. For me it was definitely more helpful to focus the film as whole instead of individual scenes. And also, I was reminded of Last Year in Marienbad while watching this film.
ReplyDeleteI think my obsession with this film isn't so much how it was made as why it was made. Why create something that audiences would be unable to understand? Even though I'm nowhere near close to an answer to that, I feel there is so much happening on like you said because it increases the disorientation; there are elements that we recognize, like the Hollywood almost archetypal themes and styles, but even though they're familiar they don't help us understand.
ReplyDeleteI had the same feelings with this film that I did with Last Year at Marienbad too. It was like, during the film I couldn't really decide for myself what was real or not. It made it so much more difficult to understand because I was never sure if anything was important or just extra effect. It turned me back to the idea of, is anything real at all, or is the entire film a dream?
ReplyDeleteLet me just say how much I like the phrase 'seductive train wreck.' It brought to mind the discussion we had about Laura--that the femme fatale is a role that specific film convention cause us to expect. In Laura, there was no one really in it, just an image. In this film, it's a role that either Betty or Rita can step into sometimes. I really like what sms says about collage, given that Lynch started his career as an art student.
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