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May 08, 2019Jer40 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Ahh... "Mulholland Drive". The rejected TV pilot that became one of the most important films of the 2000s. MD is possibly best classified as a neo-noir & "Pandora's Box" style film about two (or one?) women who go on a mysterious adventure to discover the key to a mystery. In a way it's the most strange coming-of-age film, a character study in anxious psychosis, an atmospheric & surreal poem, and many other things -- It retains a multifaceted aspect that allows viewers to come to their own conclusions. My brother and I saw the final grueling ten minutes of "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" on cable when we were about 10 and 12 years old, and we hadn't seen anything as bizarre before. That would be the precursor to how David Lynch opened my eyes to how art can flourish within a medium usually reserved for easy pop culture entertainment consumption. After seeing those last ten minutes I wrote down a list of movies I wanted to see and managed to get Lynch's name next to the FWWM title. In 2001 I was checking the listings for the local $1 theater that showed late-run movies after they had made the initial rounds, and something made me stop at one called "Mulholland Drive". The name Lynch rung a bell. I pulled that six or seven year old movie list out and there it was: Lynch. Saw it with two friends who liked the bedroom scene and nothing else; For me, however, that was my first full experience with the art of David Lynch, and it forever changed my perspective on the possibilities of art and the limitless nature of surrealism and mystery. The music in MD is by Angelo Badalamenti and is one of my favorite film scores. The sound is beautifully ominous and foreboding at times, while delicately melancholy in other scenes. In Lynch's films, the music and sound design are as important as the images and dialogue. Finally, after reading all these polarizing reviews here, I'll say that, in my opinion, there are two main types of film viewers that I most frequently come across: Those who prefer to have the power of control via familiarity and the satisfaction of expected outcomes, and those who give in to the story and prefer to go along for the ride with the artist at the wheel. Neither are inherently "correct", and that is where SO many people do others a disservice by hoisting up personal opinions as concrete facts.