Mulholland Drive

Review by By Clint Morris

Magnetically freakish music, puzzle-box-like manoeuvrings, insanely nonconformist characters, striking camera tricks, unconventional editing, and a total mind-teaser for all... it could only mean one thing... David Lynch is back!

He of the Compulsively Warped Directors Troupe, he of surreal masterpiece Twin Peaks, he of smoking classic Blue Velvet, mind bogglingly wild at heart, and he of 'I've got a much cheaper alternative to that acid trip you're considering'.

The chronicle behind the film is an interesting one. This is a two-hour, 27-minute retooling of a script originally shot as a 94-minute pilot for a TV series; ABC, which had approved the script, but chose not even to air the pilot once it was done, despite Lynch's labours to cut the project to their liking. And now it's Lynch who is having the last laugh, having helmed what could be the finest film of his career.

Strangely reminiscent of some of his earlier work - notably the excellent murder mystery series "Twin Peaks" - but in no way a re-tread of it, this film revels in its cavernous creepiness and offbeat humour, somewhat a Lynch trademark.

"Mulholland Drive", in some respects, is "Twin Peaks" packed away in a suitcase and opened up in the glitz and glam of a Los Angeles backdrop with characters just as idiosyncratic and somewhat spooky as the one's who revolved around Laura Palmer and company back in Apple Pie country.

To try and dissect the story of a David Lynch movie is like trying to squeeze juice from stale Cheese - it's almost impossible, but thankfully a few days later you'll be able to comprehend this one.

Mulholand Drive centres around two women: "Betty" (Naomi Watts), an apparently inexperienced, starry-eyed movie-star wannabe, and "Rita" (Laura Elena Harring), a dark-haired vixen, who has lost her memory after a car wreck on Mulholland Drive. Betty discovers Rita squatting in her Aunt's apartment, but instantaneously takes a liking to the mysterious brunette. As the two of them endeavour to reconstruct Rita's past, their lives interweave with a horde of local kooks and spooks: some contemptible hit men, a volatile Hollywood director being pushed into one major casting decision, a secluded boss keeping behind the scenes in a booth and a scary guy in a cowboy hat.

Better experienced than explained, Mulholland Drive reels the viewer in hook, line and sinker. From its stirring opening score by acclaimed Angelo Badalamenti (who also has a role in the film) to its unnerving final moments and unrestrained wallops of sex and scares, it's like nothing you've seen before. Lynch, this time, in addition to weirder than weird moments - some very reminiscent of Peaks and Lost Highway - tackles themes he hasn't paddled in before, most notably deep emotion and a completely credible romance between two women.

Performance wise, the film is a showcase for Naomi Watts. The Australian actress nails every subversive impulse under Betty's skin, and is commanding in each and every scene. Less a revelation, but still appropriate is voluptuous actress, Laura Herring, as the mysterious Rita.

The support cast consists mainly of - no not former "Twin Peaks" favourites as one might guess - but familiar faces of the screen noir period, unruffled Chad Everett is in there, a Piper-Laurie-like Ann Miller, and versatile Dan Hedaya.

Also look, if only briefly, for Australian actors Marcus Graham and Melissa George, as well as singer Billy Ray Cyrus, Michael Anderson, Lee Grant and Justin Theroux, impressive as pressured filmmaker, Adam Kesher. What you will notice is some characters/actors disappear after one or two lines - one in particular is Robert Forster as a detective. Obviously hired for the series, Forster must have been unavailable to return for the additional shooting to make the film, and hence his role is almost inexistent.

For a former TV pilot, Mulholland Drive is sensational. For a major motion picture, Mulholland Drive is sensational. Everyone involved in this film - director Lynch, cinematographer Peter Denning, production designer Jack Fisk, and music man Angelo Badalamenti - has immersed themselves in an ultra-unrealistic world and closed the gate; thankfully, for us -the audience- we can sneak in the back way. Suffice to say, Mulholland Drive is the film of the year.

5 out of 5

Mulholland Drive
Australian release: Commences Thursday January 31st
Cast: Stars Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, Laura Elena-Harring, Ann Miller, Michael J.Anderson, Dan Hedaya, Melissa George, Angelo Badalamenti.
Director: David Lynch
Website: Click here

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