Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive are two of the finest films I have ever had the pleasure of watching, and both exemplify my personal theory of why all great (thought provoking) films are R-rated. What really marvels me are the similarities between the two films are so many to count that I think it goes beyond auteurship to the point where Mulholland Drive is a sequel to Lost Highway in an anthology series. Anthologies are, by definition, a collective series of different stories exploring a unifying theme. What really really marvels me is how I cannot find, at the bare minimum, any speculation of an anthology series. Granted, this anthology theory is comprised of only two films but it only takes two to tango.
Before indulging in my analysis, there are a few things to bear in mind:
1) David Lynch is notorious for leaving interpretations to the audience.
2) Art is a game. Filmmakers have the creative license to give interpretations and audiences have the creative license to reject and substitute their own. (Of course, though, not all ideas are equally valid.)
Both films are located in Hollywood and center around the lives of actors. Both feature Mulholland Drive, driving up the hilly road, a car accident on the road, a luxurious home on the hill (with a very nice blue pool), a party at the home, and entering from the backyard at night. Both films feature reversals of identity. Both center around a femme fatale and both feature two women: a blonde and a brunette; one film features the traditional man vs femme fatale and the other film features a lesbian tryst dynamic. Delightfully speaking of which, both films are laced with dashes of lesbianism. Both films feature a pair of police detectives comprised of a skinny cop and fat cop. Both films feature a disturbing phone call to a ringing phone. Both feature lurking cars with mysterious men. Both feature mafioso. Both feature a mysterious man with divine powers. Both feature haunting moments of divine intervention characterized by blue light and thunder. Both feature critical moments of someone speaking in a foreign language.
One significant difference is Mulholland Drive has obsessive cinematography between blue and red colors, and I haven't noticed any recurring color theme in Lost Highway.
Thematically speaking, both films are set in an alter-universe where the characters don't really have control over their lives and we the audience come to find this alter-universe is itself not reality. Or is. It's hard to know. Both films are wild rides through debauchery which begin and endure as fun, but unravel into an unflinching horrifying nightmare. In a classic example of showing a positive by demonstrating the negative, we root for the characters and bask in their universe but in the end Lynch damns them. Many analyses I have read have focused on themes of self-delusion, denial, running away from reality and responsibility--thus, setting the films in Hollywood about the lives of actors was a cinematic device separate and apart from merely satire. I also find the overarching theme of paired dueling opposites, although I am uncertain of its significance. But at the very core of both films is the darkness of feminism played by the femme fatale.
In conclusion, either I am flat-out wrong about an anthology series or am onto something new.
Before indulging in my analysis, there are a few things to bear in mind:
1) David Lynch is notorious for leaving interpretations to the audience.
2) Art is a game. Filmmakers have the creative license to give interpretations and audiences have the creative license to reject and substitute their own. (Of course, though, not all ideas are equally valid.)
Both films are located in Hollywood and center around the lives of actors. Both feature Mulholland Drive, driving up the hilly road, a car accident on the road, a luxurious home on the hill (with a very nice blue pool), a party at the home, and entering from the backyard at night. Both films feature reversals of identity. Both center around a femme fatale and both feature two women: a blonde and a brunette; one film features the traditional man vs femme fatale and the other film features a lesbian tryst dynamic. Delightfully speaking of which, both films are laced with dashes of lesbianism. Both films feature a pair of police detectives comprised of a skinny cop and fat cop. Both films feature a disturbing phone call to a ringing phone. Both feature lurking cars with mysterious men. Both feature mafioso. Both feature a mysterious man with divine powers. Both feature haunting moments of divine intervention characterized by blue light and thunder. Both feature critical moments of someone speaking in a foreign language.
One significant difference is Mulholland Drive has obsessive cinematography between blue and red colors, and I haven't noticed any recurring color theme in Lost Highway.
Thematically speaking, both films are set in an alter-universe where the characters don't really have control over their lives and we the audience come to find this alter-universe is itself not reality. Or is. It's hard to know. Both films are wild rides through debauchery which begin and endure as fun, but unravel into an unflinching horrifying nightmare. In a classic example of showing a positive by demonstrating the negative, we root for the characters and bask in their universe but in the end Lynch damns them. Many analyses I have read have focused on themes of self-delusion, denial, running away from reality and responsibility--thus, setting the films in Hollywood about the lives of actors was a cinematic device separate and apart from merely satire. I also find the overarching theme of paired dueling opposites, although I am uncertain of its significance. But at the very core of both films is the darkness of feminism played by the femme fatale.
In conclusion, either I am flat-out wrong about an anthology series or am onto something new.
