The WHF Film Club

[BenLaw]

Well I've pretty much cheated so I'm intrigued to see what people say who've only watched it once or twice without cheating. It's a great film but in retrospect maybe there's too much in it requiring too many viewings for an informal 'club' like this.

 

[strapped for cash]

Well I've pretty much cheated

Though you're not required to agree with everything written in that essay. I'd certainly depart from some of the author's claims.

Can anyone have bash at answering some of the questions?

As I say, it's a tough film to decipher on a single viewing; and other members may disagree with my interpretation. Nobody should worry about stating an opinion. Perhaps you didn't like the film. (I noted above that Mulholland Drive really pissed me off the first time I watched it.)

 

[strapped for cash]

maybe there's too much in it requiring too many viewings for an informal 'club' like this.

Possibly. I'm convinced that we can work toward a straightforward interpretation that doesn't require a thesis length response.

 

[John Duncan]

I have a straightforward interpretation:

"WTAF?"

 

[strapped for cash]

I'm absolutely certain we can figure out what the **** happens in Mulholland Drive. (I'm guessing the "A" is there to prevent technical interference?)

Moreover, it's not that complicated.

 

[strapped for cash]

To add to the above, it was my hope that members might revisit the film, maybe some time later, with a broad interpretive framework in place.

My opinion of the film changed a great deal over time; and as I'll freely admit, what the **** was my initial response.

 

[John Duncan]

The 'A' is for 'Actual'. See also: 'V' for 'Very'. 🙂

I have read an interpretation of it after watching it, and I'm still not clear what went on. I may need to watch it again...

 

[strapped for cash]

Can we at least try to answer question one?

Rephrasing this question perhaps helps, so: What in the film is dream (or idealised fantasy) and what is "reality?"

As a subset of this question: What's the relationship between Betty and Diane?

As a further subset: What's the relationship between Diane and Camilla?

It's difficult to be more explicit without offering a full interpretation.

If we can answer this question, we should be able to address questions two to four...

Moving on from this, we could then discuss what I regard as the film's two greatest scenes, namely Betty's audition and the Club Silencio scene.

 

[John Duncan]

Right.

The first...three quarters or so (?) is 'fantasy', whether it be dream or drug-induced.

Then Betty 'wakes up'.

Betty is Diane.

Blue might have something to do with being dead.

Which one was Camilla?

 

[strapped for cash]

The first...three quarters or so (?) is 'fantasy', whether it be dream or drug-induced.

Yes

Then Betty 'wakes up'.

Yes

Betty is Diane.

Yes

Blue might have something to do with being dead.

No

Which one was Camilla?

The brunette (played by Laura Harring). Camilla also goes by the name Rita. To complicate things further, Melissa George also plays a version of Camilla.

To be fair, Ben may be right. I decided to sit down and write as concise an interpretation of the film as possible, without skimping on important details.

Two-and-a-bit hours later, I realised I'd written 1,400 words and wouldn't want to delete any of it.

Hopefully I can copy and paste this interpretation into a forum post later without formatting issues.

 

[BenLaw]

I'll have my own brief go at this later, but not while I'm busy at work.

 

[John Duncan]

Hopefully I can copy and paste this interpretation into a forum post later without formatting issues.

I would copy from Word to a plain text editor (like notepad) first and then copy from there to here. Strips out word formatting (the 'paste from Word' option on the toolbar isn't that good, IME, though YMMV).

 

[strapped for cash]

Cheers JD. I'll see what happens.

Ben, I look forward to reading your interpretation. (I'll hold off on posting mine.)

 

[John Duncan]

Alternatively, put it on google drive and post a link.

 

[strapped for cash]

If all else fails.

I'll try the copy and paste method first, since other members will be able to quote sections if replying. This may result in the longest WHF forum post in history, however.

 

[John Duncan]

There might actually be a character limit for posts...

 

[strapped for cash]

There's always a way.

If there's a limit, I can spread blocks of text over two or more posts. That doesn't mean anyone will want to read it all!

 

[hg_mike]

A few thoughts from me:

I took clues from the start of the film, ie the colour purple represented a drug induced state (think of Purple Haze by Hendrix), and the sound/sight of someone soundly asleep on a bed, to represent a hint that parts of the film represented a drug fuelled dream. I have to admit that I missed the clue about the jitterbug.

This section is more speculative. The Silencia Club section made me think of the BBC series Ashes to Ashes, with the Club also representing a form of purgatory for the dead souls who were not yet ready for heaven or hell. I thought that the two performers represented souls who had realised they were ready to leave, which they then did. In that sense, blue would represent not death, but the phase of becoming ready to accept death.

Finally I did wonder if the man behind Pinkies, represented the gatekeeper to Hades. If you saw him, your soul knew there was no way back. Alternatively he could releast the small figurines, to go and collect the souls. This also raises the question of whether Pinkies itself represented purgartory, and once you had eaten there, you knew that you were existing on borrowed time.

🙂

 

[BenLaw]

Cheers JD. I'll see what happens.

Ben, I look forward to reading your interpretation. (I'll hold off on posting mine.)

'Interpretation' may indicate excessively high expectations, and anticipates rather more cohesion than is likely. Here are some thoughts though.

Picking up on what I said earlier about this film maybe being a bit much for this sort of 'club', I'm very glad that a film like this exists and a director like Lynch exists. Someone who actually thinks about every component of a film and has some sort of purpose to it (even if it may be an ambiguous one). I wish there were more directors (film makers) like this. However, I'm glad they aren't all like this! I think I'd end up only watching about four films a year if I got the feeling, as with this, I probably require ten viewings to start the scratch the surface. It is nice to be able to watch a film once, understand most of it, form some opinions and move on. The great thing about a 'club' like this, though, is getting a range of different films and thinking about them in a way one might not otherwise.

So, my thoughts are based one one recent viewing (I was sure I'd watched the film before, but if I did my recollection was almost non-existent) and a bit of reading around. Without the reading, I would not have been in a position after a single viewing to agree with JD that from the drive along MD to the waking up in the apartment is fantasy / dream. There's a clear division at that point, and what comes before is clearly not reality. So one is left between a choice of before being fantasy and after being reality or both being some sort of fantasy or delusion. I'm intrigued by the second option, particularly because (IIRC) Betty and Camilla see the dead body (of Diane) in the apartment, and therefore if fantasy is following the reality, she must already be dead before fantasy takes place. That's probably thinking about it too chronologically, although given all the blue / key / transition stuff maybe the whole film could be a fantstic delusional recreation of events in the last split second of life prior to her suicide.

More simplistically, we have Diane as we get to her know in the last half hour of the film: someone destroyed by Hollywood and jilted by the object of her infatuation (Rita in reality IIRC?), driven to employ a hitman for Rita and then consumed by guilt upon learning of her death, and committing suicide. The fantasy is either her psyche's way of working through some of the issues, or a last attempt (psychologically if not in reality) to return to innocence and happiness, or a depiction of her mental struggles. I like the last idea, the possbility that Lynch is showing many different characters contributing to the thoughts and choices that an individual makes. I think it more likely it's the manifestation of some sort of breakdown, with each character a construct from a character in reality, with intial attempts for them to be pure and simple but with these attempts ultimately doomed to failure, as shown in the Club Silencio film.

There's definitly some characters I couldn't get a handle on in my single viewing (the old couple at the airport, the hooker, the whole black book / hitman scene). But the parallels between the two main women, the landlady, the crazy guy in the diner and the hitman seem fairly clear.

I stumbled on the website I viewed by googling Tout Paris, the blue book we see in the apartment. Partly because of that, my view is that blue is to do with transition, be it from life to death or reality to fantasy. This makes sense with a key, as it's all about moving from one place to another. The 'real' yale blue key obviously symbolises change from life to death. The fantasy blue key is used to open the box that appears after Club Silencio, and moves us from fantasy to reality. The blue smoke in the Club moves the magician from existence to non-existence, as the fantasy breaks down.

The box itself could simplistically refer to Pandora's box. However, we seem to move inside rather than have its contents released. It seems to me the box can be seen to contain reality and grief / pain. This symbolism is echoed by the creature behind the diner it seems to me. That creature exists (according to the craxy guy) at a time between day and night, a half night, obviously with the colour blue. In reality, he overheard the hiring of the hitman and the significance of the blue key. The creature represent pain and death and grief and guilty, all the things that drive the protagonist to suicide and the crazy guy to madness.

I'm struggling with the audition comparisons. Perhaps the first audition is the last manifestation of Betty's fantasy hope and naivete, as it combines with her fantasy love of Camilla. By the time of her proper audition, her projected self is separated from Camilla and thrust into the Hollywood which destroyed her. She begins to lose her innocence and naivete and effectively prositutes herself (voyeuristically of course). Thus, the breakdown of the fantasy begins and continues apace.

The Club also confuses me a bit. It seems obvious it's the culmination of the breakdown of the fantasy and a clear sign to both Betty and Camilla that everything is false, but I'm a bit fuzzy on all the details.

I was struck by a number of other images but don't know what to make of them: the Cowboy (did we see him once more or twice more?). The bald Hollywood boss sitting alone in the room. The audition scene where 'she's the girl' is chosen.

I've realised I've said Camilla repeatedly where I think I mean Rita. I've also not proof read the above and it's taken me a while to get out.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Good work Mike.

I have just one thing to add, no answers though. I think there is definitely something in the "This is all a tape recording" phrase which is said at Club Silencio, but I've still no idea what it means in terms of the narrative. :?

 

[strapped for cash]

It's pretty obvious that I'm a Lynch nut, and that this is probably my favourite of Lynch's features. I really enjoyed reading the contributions above.

I agree with a fair amount of what Ben says. I'll now try to copy and paste my interpretation. This may appear very quickly or after quite some time, depending on how easy the copy and paste job proves to be.

At this point we can perhaps expand on some of the points raised in all of the contributions so far.

My interpretation really doesn't cover everything. Rather, I was trying to gets my thoughts on paper in as concise a way as possible, a task in which I was not entirely successful!

 

[strapped for cash]

Mulholland Drive can be divided into two parts; one representing a dream (the protagonist’s unconscious), the other representing her conscious reality.

The film tells the Diane Selwyn story. Diane paid a contract killer to murder her former lover, Camilla, who cast Diane aside to marry a famous director. Consumed by guilt, Diane suffers a breakdown and commits suicide in her bedroom.

We learn all of this during the film’s final half-hour. This final half-hour is the “real” (rather than dream) section of the film, though this narrative unfolds in a non-linear fashion.

Arranging Camilla’s murder seems an extreme reaction. However, Diane’s actions are driven by a history of failure and exploitation, including sexual abuse. Camilla’s rejection of Diane continued this cycle of exploitation. There are numerous clues to Diane’s back-story in the dream section that comprises the bulk of Mulholland Drive.

Before moving on, it’s worth asking how we know which sections of the film are dream and which are “reality?” (I place “reality” in quotation marks because this is a film, after all.)

Well, we’re told explicitly. After the opening jitterbug sequence, we cut to a point of view shot. This is Diane’s perspective as she goes to bed and starts to dream. Diane’s dream ends when The Cowboy says “Hey pretty girl, time to wake up.” The “reality” section starts here. Moreover, during the dream section, Diane, as her alter-ego Betty, advises us that “it’s like a dream,” and explains that she’s “in this dream place.”

In other words, aside from the opening jitterbug sequence and concluding half hour, the entire film is Diane’s dream. This becomes more apparent on repeat viewings.

Hopefully you’re still with me… Now we need to unravel what happens in Diane’s dream and what we learn of her back-story.

Diane's dream is an idealised fantasy. However, within this dream there are slippages—moments when the fantasy cannot be sustained and we get glimpses of the real Diane. Before discussing these moments, it's worth noting how Diane's dream operates as a form of denial and self-protection.

Camilla, the woman who rejected Diane, is an amnesiac and reliant on Diane's dream doppelganger, Betty. In other words, Camilla cannot leave Diane. This is a reversal of their "real world" relationship.

Diane’s real life career failures become successes in her dream. When her alter-ego Betty auditions for a role in a Hollywood film, not only does she wow the filmmakers, she’s also whisked away by two big casting agents, with a view to starring in a much bigger production, The Sylvia North Story. (This was Camilla’s breakthrough role in the “real world” and helps to demonstrate Diane’s resentment toward her former lover.) Just as importantly, in Diane’s dream, Camilla Rhodes (here played by Melissa George) is a terrible actress, who only lands the part through corruption involving mafia bosses, one of whom is insistent on being served the right kind of espresso. This marks Betty (read Diane) out as the truly talented actress and Camilla as a fraud, at least that’s Diane’s perception.

In the dream, the killer Diane paid to murder Camilla is incompetent and messes up a hit. From Diane’s perspective, this “incompetent” hitman may have similarly bungled Camilla’s murder. This allows Diane to repress feelings of guilt by suggesting she is not responsible for Camilla’s death.

The director who stole Camilla from Diane is emasculated in Diane’s dream. Not only is he cuckolded (his wife sleeps with Billy Ray Cyrus!), he is feminised when he is covered from head to toe with pink paint. Diane’s rival (and now Camilla’s fiancé) is thereby rendered unthreatening.

Perhaps most importantly, Diane’s dream alter-ego Betty is perfect[/b], arguably to the point of annoyance. Betty is Diane’s idealised self—a Nancy Drew-like character, to whom success comes naturally and for whom the future holds endless possibilities. This is not only reflected through the abovementioned themes of Diane’s dream, but also in Watts’ performance. Betty is purposefully superficial and deliberately acted this way. This aspect of Watts’ performance not only to cues us into the unreality of Betty’s existence as Diane’s dream alter-ego, but is also commentary on Hollywood—the dream factory, in which the impossible is made possible and the real world’s flaws are over-painted with a glossy veneer.

On this last point, I’ve read criticisms of Watts’ performance. I disagree. I think Watts is exceptional in this film. Watts’ transformation from the idealised Betty to the deeply flawed and damaged Diane is one of great contrast, from superficiality to challenging character depth. Indeed, this transformation occurs during one scene in particular, as one of the “slippages” mentioned above. In this scene “Betty” is overwhelmed by “Diane.” Put another way, Diane’s dream is overwhelmed by the reality of her existence. Put another way again, Diane’s traumatic memories cannot be repressed and achieve expression in her dream.

Watts performs the same audition twice in Mulholland Drive, in very different ways. The scene’s title, “Dad’s Best Friend Goes to Work,” is important, while comparing these scenes tells us of Diane’s past as a victim of abuse.

The first time Betty performs the scene she reads opposite Camilla as a rehearsal. The scene is played superficially and made light of by both. (It ends with the couple laughing together and commenting on its absurdity.)

The second time Watts plays this scene she’s auditioning for the role opposite the much older Chad Everett. Before the audition starts, Betty is advised to not “play it real until it gets real.” As the scene begins, Watts slips out of the Betty role and becomes Diane. In other words, she slips out of fantasy and the reality of Diane’s existence is brought forth. This is evidenced by Watts’ shift in performance, in contrast with her earlier rehearsal opposite Camilla. If you listen to the dialogue, Watts is not playing her character’s age. From the moment Betty starts the audition, we’re seeing Diane’s past and evidence of her sexual exploitation.

Here, we get a sense of Diane as a damaged character, driven to murder after another betrayal. The seeds of Diane’s actions were planted in her past. Camilla saw Diane as a plaything. For Diane, Camilla was a partner she finally trusted. When Camilla betrays Diane this rejection is devastating. This betrayal is compounded by Diane’s humiliation in the later “reality” scenes, on the film set, and at Camilla’s engagement party, to which Diane is lured unaware.

This brings us to the Club Silencio scene and the other major slippage in Diane’s dream. Here, Diane’s responsibility for Camilla’s murder can no longer be repressed. This realisation is so disturbing it causes Diane to wake. As she falls through the blue box, Diane moves from unconsciousness to consciousness; or from dream to reality. The colour blue signifies this transition. The blue box is the most important signifier in this regard. Once unlocked, the blue box’s secrets are set free and Diane is confronted by her fully conscious self.

Throughout this scene, the club’s compère tells Diane that she is experiencing a dream (an “illusion” or “recording”). Diane’s responsibility for Camilla’s murder is expressed through Rebekah Del Rio’s performance of “Llorando”—a Spanish interpretation of Roy Orbison’s “Crying” (Over You). The song draws tears from both Betty and Camilla, as an expression of devastating loss. This is traumatic for Diane and prefaced by flashes of blue lightning. These flashes cause Diane to shake as she is roused from her sleep and faces her reality. This reality, combined with a history of exploitation and abuse, is so unbearable it leads Diane to suicide. Just as importantly, Diane knows her arrest for Camilla’s murder is imminent; and the police come knocking at her door before she retreats to her bedroom and puts the gun to her mouth.

The above should answer three of my questions. To address question four, “the man behind Winkies” is the manifestation (or personification) the id—the repressed, unconscious part of the psyche, whose face we hope to “never see outside of a dream.” (I’ve said nothing about the earlier diner scene, which is also exceptional in my opinion.) In the film’s final moments we see the man behind Winkies handling the blue box, before Diane’s tormentors (aspects of her conscious mind she’s tried desperately to repress) escape and achieve terrifying form.

As for his equivalent in other Lynch films, that’ll require another (ideally shorter) post, if members can cope!

 

[strapped for cash]

That worked without major formatting issues, then, albeit with slightly odd spacing between paragraphs.

 

[strapped for cash]

Given the silence on this thread, I'm guessing people either disagree with the interpretation, or I explained things so badly that film club members are wondering what the hell I was talking about.

 

[BenLaw]

No, I just wanted to see some more reactions before asking a few questions.