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Mulholland Drive: "He's The One Who's Doing It"by Scott Gleine
I tried. I really did try to write an in depth, profound analysis of one of David Lynch’s most challenging works, and though there may be some shining moments, I can’t really promise to have the answers. With a film like this, answers might not even exist. Therein lies the brilliance of Mulholland Drive. It sticks with you long after it’s finished. You don’t need to fully comprehend what you just watched, but more than half the fun comes from trying to piece things together anyway. Anyone not familiar with the film might as well stop reading here, since massive confusion is more than likely in your future. If you’re really interested, view the film, then read this article, then scour the internet to find other theories and explanations that are probably much more well thought out and fully realized than mine. A few weeks ago, David Lynch was honored at the Venice International Film Festival with a lifetime achievement award. His latest opus Inland Empire (which hopefully comes out by the end of 2006) was also screened at the festival. Upon revisiting Mulholland Drive, I was delightfully unsurprised by how well it holds up these days as one of this decade’s most complex and unlikely masterpieces. After watching the film again, my roommate (who first got me interested in Lynch) and I spent many minutes trading theories of what it is really supposed to mean, or if we are meant to really discover any one true meaning at all.
The best I can offer at this moment is that Mulholland Drive is a scathing satire of Hollywood and the false dreams that it promises. It is also an exploration of identity, both sexually and physically, and the different personas that one can portray. These personas further alienate people from reality, as evidenced in the heartbreaking, essential scene at the Club Silencio in which performers are just lip synching or playing along to a pre-recorded track while we are told that it is all “an illusion.” Is Lynch referring to film as a form of illusion, or just life in general? Lynch was kind enough to include ten clues to understanding the film in the DVD liner notes. Just for fun, here they are: 1. Pay attention in the beginning: 2 clues are revealed before the credits. I’ll try and refrain from picking each clue apart one by one, since numerous examples of this can be found via Google. Also, one cannot be completely sure whether or not David Lynch tossed out a few clues here and there that are only designed to make the viewer over think something or to contradict any theory just as soon as you thought it made sense (what fun!). Let’s tackle the obvious first. Everything up until the Club Silencio sequence and the scene following it (where the blue key is inserted into the box) is almost definitely a dream occurring in the mind of Betty Elms, who is really Diane Selwyn (Naomi Watts in her breakthrough performance). The rest of the film shows things how they supposedly are, with Diane being nothing more than an aspiring actress turned jilted lover of Camilla Rhodes (known as Rita in the dream). Diane has Camilla killed by a hitman, then feels guilty and takes her own life. However, that is far from explaining everything that could possibly be going on. Perhaps the most important clue to me is #9, concerning the man behind Winkie’s. We are told in one of the film’s early scenes by a man who will be referred to as “Bushy Eyebrows Guy” that “he is the one who’s doing it.” Bushy Eyebrows begins the scene by recounting a dream involving the man, telling his friend that “I hope I never see that face outside of a dream.” They go outside to see if he’s there and “to get rid of this god awful feeling.” Unwilling to disappoint, Lynch does show us the man behind Winkie’s, whose appearance causes ol’ Bushy Eyebrows to collapse in shock. It is one of the most compelling scenes in the film, due in part to the fact that it’s relevance is almost entirely unclear until one of the final scenes in the film, where Diane is meeting at Winkie’s with a hitman to arrange the killing of Camilla. This scene happens after the whole dream world illusion has been shattered, so when Eyebrows appears in Winkie’s at this moment with a horrified look on his face, everything starts to come together, at least for a few seconds. “The Man” then plays a major part in the inevitable demise of Diane by…..well, explaining it just wouldn’t quite do it justice. So if The Man is the one who is doing it, then logic (which is more or less irrelevant at this point, but humor me) would dictate that he is in control, responsible for shattering the hopes and dreams of those who dare venture towards the dark side of Hollywood. That’s all fine and good, but here is the part where I attempt to make my own outlandish (yet completely reasonable) proclamation: The Man Behind Winkie’s is David Lynch. Lynch is the one who is doing it, leading us along on a harrowing, mind-bending journey in which conventional narrative rules are no match for wherever Lynch decides to take us. I know, that’s pretty underwhelming, isn’t it? Well, what do you want, I never said I had all the answers, did I? It really does make sense though. For example, why would the scenes involving the trials and tribulations of eccentric director Adam Kesher (obviously a Lynch alter ego) play such a huge role in Diane’s dream? Sure, it can be argued that it is all part of some elaborate imaginary shady dealings that Diane dreamt up in order to serve as a reason for why she didn’t become famous. That’s probably true, but maybe there is more to it under the surface. Perhaps it is because those scenes are attempting to comment on the bullshit Hollywood system that screws directors over constantly, telling them who to cast and taking away their power, amongst other things. As evidenced by the last third of the film, Lynch makes it perfectly clear that he is, and always will be, the one in control. Of course, it will never be certain as to what is or isn’t supposed to be taken from Mulholland Drive. If |
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