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Matt, Mel, Brad, Caitlin and special guests Claire Laffar and Evan Killham discuss the classic Lynch film, Mulholland Drive. Many differing opinions are offered. We find out that old people in bags foil any theory you could have about this film, discover the secret of colour coded murder keys and lament over the TV show that could have been. The colour of this podcast is blue, making it an object of change.
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I'm with Claire on this. Yes, Evan is right that many of the conspiracy theories are ridiculous - and intellectualizing the movie too much distances viewers from the mood, the humor, the sense of the uncanny, which is the essential essence of Lynch. On the other hand, dismissing ANY attempt at explanation is equally unnecessary, and equally reductive.
ReplyDeleteWhile not every detail of the movie needs to be explained away, there's plenty that "makes sense" and that doesn't take away from the movie's effectiveness - it adds to it, giving it an extra level of emotion. I like how Lynch uses the two parts of the film to inform and deepen one another: the first half (which I DON'T think was originally supposed to be a dream) has an even darker, more poignant feeling when we see the irony of Diane/Betty being so cheerful and innocent. And the second half, which could be just the conventional melodrama of a starlet spurned, is all the more effective when we've seen how much this means inside Diane's psyche, via the "dream".
As for the "dream" itself, or the stuff that doesn't seem to fit in "dream" or "reality" (like the frequently-mentioned old people) that doesn't really bother me. I don't think a movie like Mulholland Drive has to exist entirely on one or the other level - it's ALL psychodrama whether it's literally a "dream" or not. It's about how we can mythologize our personal troubles into vast mysteries in our own heads. That doesn't require an elaborate, overly logical explanation nor does it demand an arch "things-just-happen" dismissal.
Really curious to hear your guys' coverage of Inland Empire (I'm about halfway through your TP episodes, but skipped ahead to do the movies since I just did a Lynch retrospective). I was pretty baffled on first viewing and thought perhaps Lynch had finally just bit off more than he can chew. I just watched it again for the first time in almost 6 years, and liked it a lot more.
Oh also, the New Yorker article that letter mentions is really worth reading. Don't worry - it's not an analysis of the film; in fact it was written a few years before the film was even released. It's journalism, not criticism, documenting the creation of the series and following Lynch along as he gains and loses the support of TV execs. Especially as Twin Peaks fans, I think you'll find it really interesting: http://www.lynchnet.com/mdrive/newyorker.html
ReplyDelete(Just for clarification, by "creation of the series" I meant creation of the Mulholland Dr. TV pilot and where he planned for the series to go. The article is from 1999.)
DeleteThanks for the comments Joel! Interesting read.
ReplyDeleteThis was one of our more controversial episodes. We got a lot of flack for hating on this movie. (Spoilers, things don't get much better in Inland Empire for us)
We've been accused of hating David Lynch. Even though we like most of his movies and love Twin Peaks.
Unfortunately Mulholland Drive's fans are sometimes its worst ambassadors. I enjoyed listening to the episode although the only ones I really found myself agreeing with with Claire & maybe Caitlin. With Inland Empire, I figured most would be against it - just curious to see if any single person DOES like it, haha...
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