Review of Mulholland Drive (2001) by Dawdlingpoet — 23 Nov 2021

This is, like others I've reviewed, quite a stylised movie that hints at some of the 'underbelly' present in Hollywood, the seedier side of things, with pressure and threats looming over people.

The way this movie is shown, the different plots and sub-plots, the viewer is left very much in the dark and whats going on and whats to come but its left with enough intrigue to watch, to find out, if you know what I mean.

Incase your not aware, as mentioned above, there are some scenes of lesbian sex present, so if you would be offended by this then you have been warned, not that im into that of course.

Some of the camera work is pretty good, it does well at, on ocassions, portraying LA as being really rather dark, eery and lonely.

There are some dream, or dream-like, scenes, that are atmospheric and, well, confusing too but somewhat intriguing. Its all rather strange really yet somehow it is quite compelling, im not entirely sure why, I think part of it is because you can tell alot of work has gone into it, with alot of what I felt was symbolism present in the items and the places and colours and things used and shown, things like that.

The characters all seem to have some sort of a past, which is somewhat hinted at but not really fully revealed, I think.

It feels as if the viewer is constantly given only the smallest of insights, if at all, into whats going on, you will most definitely leave from seeing this for the first time, feeling confused. Its definitely more of an arthouse movie than a mainstream blockbuster and it does have a cult following. Like I mentioned in passing already, I think there is alot of symbols and symbolism dotted throughout, there are probably many things to spot in the small details that may hold clues to help the avid viewer decypher, well, what to make of it after a certain point!

I will admit that I was expecting this to be more of a general thriller I suppose but im not sure thats what it is at all. Its a puzzle alright and thought I had seen it listed under special or gay interest on Ebay I think, I still felt a bit uneasy at a couple of the more graphic scenes. I believe the director, David Lynch, was also involved in Twin Peaks, which is also known for being pretty confusing, so that maybe gives you some kind of idea what its like, though I haven't seen that myself, ive only really read references to it in the past.

In the end, I think it is pretty compelling and intriguing, its certainly different, put it that way. However, the way it seems to kind of dissolve through the last half hour or so, it seemed to get so sort of lost in itself, it lost me a while back!

The way I was left feeling was that this was very much an intriguing movie, that being the key word, one you may well want to re-watch to look for clues to better make sense of the story but ultimately it was just a bit too thrown together and almost too 'out there' at the end, that I felt it somehow detratced from it, so im giving it 4 and not 5 stars.

I'm sure some guys will be interested in this given some of the noted content, just don't expect it to make a great deal of sense and the relationship doesn't become apparent until quite far into the movie.

This is worth seeing as something rather different , its strange and somehow intriguing, compelling viewing, though entirely why im not sure.

Don't expect lots of answers or an obvious ending and expect multiple viewings if you aim to make full sense of it (if this is possible), im sure.

I'm not quite sure what I expected and though I was a bit taken aback but in a way, I feel that if this is your sort of thing, then its worth checking out, so I recommend it in that way.