Mulholland Dr. Discussion - Sedai Help Me Out!

I don't get it!

I watched it and I don't understand it. I wish I could get inside David Lynch's twisted mind and figure out what he was trying to do with this movie.

Sedai, you like it, maybe you (Or someone else who understands it) can explain this movie to me.

I will point you at the Lynch quote in my sig....

Really though, Gimme your AIM, so some evening, when i am not pulling my hair out with graphic design clients, we can chat about it. I would love to!

Also, I have my screenplay ready to send to you, if your interested in my utter crap work...

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I'd LOVE to read your screenplay.

Don't have AIM

I just don't understand how we went from two people trying to figure out where one of them came from, to lesbian sex and little people crawling out of boxes and screaming with laughter.

bobby...two key words...dream sequence...a large portion of the movie is a dream...now the best thing to do is watch it again knowing this, then try to figure out what's real and what's not...then once you have a good idea of that, you can spend time identifying the countless symbolism!

and if you really don't want to do it on your own...type in "Mulholland Dr. ending explained"! in google...Im sure there will be numerous discussions on interpretation

hope that helped at least a little

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Well, I pretty much understood the first 1h50m is a dream, but even still, the rest doesn't make sense. Any of it.

What's with the dude who was scared of the stuff behind the dumpster? What's with the dead girl in Diane's house? What's with tKesher running from people? What's with Kesher and apparently Camilla?

ARGH! It just doesn't make any sense to me!!!!!!

ok...so you're on the interpretation stage...and that stage is the stage that there are no right answers! unless you can make your way through the dark labyrynth of Lynch's mind and be lucky enough to find your way out, there's no way to fully understand all of the symbols!

so there's two things you can do, either interpret them yourself or agree with someone elses, and for the latter, you'll need to search the net

I know I should interpret it on my own, but I don't know how I'm supposed to interpret something that doesn't seem to have a plot. I don't even think Lynch understands the movie.

Not only do I like the film Bobby, it is one of my favorite pieces of cinema, ever. I have seen it almost 100 times at this point, and it just keeps getting better.

SPOILERS

The film deals with a psychotic break by a struggling actress, a break we get to experience with her. That is basically what the film is ABOUT, but, Mulholland Drive, for me, contains so much more. First and Foremost, the film affects you, on a deep level, beyond waking comprehension. The film moves me, haunts me, tortures and elates me. I am Mulholland Drive's bitch, big time.

The film is also about Hollywood, duality, percieved/actual reality, dreams, broken dreams, stardom, studios and what goes on beyond closed doors in said studios.

I am at work, and just don;t hhave the time to get into this now, as I tewnd to spend hours researching and chatting about this film once I get going.

Check this out:

The Modern Word

This site is a book site, strictly, but they took it upon themselves to review and study Mulholland Drive, as they feel it is such a masterful work, that they consider it high literature, along the lines of Finnegan's Wake. If you are looking for interpretations, this place has a ton. I agree with some, disagree with others, but it's a fun way to spend a little time delving into the film...

I found these interpretations somewhere. You guys tell me if this is what you got fromt he movie...


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Mulholland Drive - Plot Explanation
SPOILER ALERT! Do not read the following if you haven't seen the movie. It will ruin the experience. Keep in mind, this is just one person's opinion as to what happens in the movie.

These are not my own words. This explanation was derived from reader contributions and lengthy discussions, and in many cases, the grammar and syntax appears here as it was originally written.

First of all- BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Betty, one of the blonde actresses is not Betty- Her real name is Diane Sellwyn. She lives in Canada, won a dance contest and is now in California trying to become an actress. Her aunt died and left her $50,000. She meets Camilla Rhodes, a well known actress on the set of the SYLVIA NORTH STORY directed by Adam Kescher (sp?) Here, the two girls start having a steamy affair, except Diane's love for Camilla is not reciprocal. Camilla tries to break up with her, but it does not work. At the same time, she is playing a malicious mind game with Diane-inviting her to parties, etc., just for her to witness Camilla and Adam's new found love relationship.

One night at a party, Diane breaks down when she realizes Adam and Diane are to be married. Diane freaks out, and hires a hit man to kill Camilla. He says to her that once the deed is done, a blue key will await her in her house.

Other characters we meet during this party/time is COCO, Adam's mom, a weird cowboy, and a mobster-looking man sitting at a table. We also overhear important comments: Such as Adam finding his wife and pool boy together. We also hear Coco say, "Call me Coco Everyone else does" These quotes will prove to be important later. We also learn that Diane has this other fallback girlfriend with whom she has recently broken up. Her other girlfriend has all of her belongings at Diane's house, and wants them back.

So Diane, miserable, hires the hit man, and goes to bed that night. Before she does, she reminisces (sp?) about her jitterbug contest, and then goes to sleep. This is the very beginning of the movie, during the credits, where we see the montage of jitterbug dancers and then we see her head going down towards red satin sheets and the screen fades to black as she falls asleep.

The following - the body of the movie- is her dreamThe dream begins with "Camilla" in the back seat of a limo, she is almost shot by hired hit men, but a freak accident allows her to escape-but also erases her memory.
This NEVER HAPPENED. This is just in Diane's dream. Her guilt and regret was manifested here, she dreamt/hoped Camilla would get away.

In Diane's dream, Diane is personified as Betty- a perfect, innocent, wonderful actress. Something she never was nor will be. This is sad, to me- that her dream is just made up of hope and wishes... BUT ANYWAY

So, we meet Betty, who is really a perfect clone of Diane, and throughout the movie "Betty" is helping this amnesiac "Camilla" (who refers to herself as Rita). This is also Dianes way of wishing/dreaming she and Camilla were together--the two women do eventually become together.

We also have the character of Adam K who is directing his movie. However, he needs to replace his lead actress in his movie? Why, is Diane dreaming this? Well probably because Camilla in real life is the lead actress, and she knows Camilla will be dead, and Adam will have to re cast the part.

Diane hates Adam and therefore gives him a terrible day in her dream. His wife is found with a pool boy- this is important because he mentioned this that night at the party and she incorporated it into her dream.

Also he is forced to cast a certain "Camilla Rhodes" for his lead actress. This is important because this is Diane rationalizing in her dream why Camilla got all the good parts in movies, and she got nothing.

She dreamt there were major Hollywood conspiracies, and that even though Betty or Diane was an AMAZING actress, Camilla Rhodes would get the part. This was evident when Betty/Diane tried out for a part and did an amazing job. Although the real Diane probably could not have accomplished this feat, in her dream she saw herself doing this, but all for nothing because Camilla Rhodes had been chosen by the mob/weird group of people forcing Adam to choose her. WINKIES is also important- This, to me, is just a manifestation of lust, evil, greed, malice... All these feelings motivate evil in our world, therefore it does it all. It would seem that if someone saw all of this pure evil, they would die- like the man did. WINKIES is also important because this is where the real Diane was talking to the hit man. She noticed a waitress, Betty- a cute, bubbly girl- and subsequently took her personality in her dream and switched the two names.

ALSO- important. All the mob people made Adam say "THIS IS THE GIRL" they repeated this over and over. Note when real Diane gives the pic of Camilla R to the hit man, she says "THIS IS THE GIRL" She also has $50,000 in her purse. In her dream, everyone is using her words "THIS IS THE GIRL" about Camilla becoming the actress. Rita also has the $50,000 in her purse. Again this is reversing/incorporating everything in her dream... It proves it's a dream.
This is the girl" is important because it's using Diane's own words to provoke guilt, etc. in her dream.

When RITA and BETTY find the dead body in the bed of Diane's apt, this, to me- is just the realization in DIANE's mind that she is in fact dead without Camilla. Like I mentioned before, the sequence of the dead body, and most of the movie, is a dream, and Diane went to bed quite guilty and remorseful and probably contemplated suicide....this is the result.

ALSO- the hit man portrayed in the dream is INCOMPETENT! He cannot carry out a task, which is Diane's subconscious hoping dreaming that he will mess up his job with Camilla.

SO in the dream, the two women become very very close, something Diane always wanted, and in a way was getting... they have a wonderful relationship where Betty/Diane is helping Rita/Camilla, and Camilla/RITA respects and loves Diane/Betty as well.

UNTIL....CLUB SILENCIO!!! This is my all time favorite scene. No hay banda--- everything is an illusion-- this is SUCH a symbolic scene- here we realize everything so far is an illusion- that nothing is what it seems. Ever have a dream when you know you're dreaming? Well that's what Betty/Diane did, she started to realize this beautiful thing with herself and Camilla/Rita was about to end, and therefore she started convulsing.

Rebekah Del Rio serenaded us beautifully about Diane's feelings for Camilla, and the two women begin to cry - they know what's about to happen subconsciously... they know it's about to end.... That would explain that. And the fact that REBEKAH dies while singing, this shows again that its over.

Diane awakens from her dream...So then Betty disappears, Rita opens the box... and we have Diane waking up from her dream. The weird cowboy says, wake up. She had seen the Cowboy at the party and incorporated him into her dream.

Diane is now Diane....no more Betty. The colors are less vivid, sound track is dull, dream's over. The rest of the movie is a series of flashbacks/present, but is all reality.

Diane's GF comes to get the ashtray, the blue key is there.. but wallah the key is gone! A flashback to Camilla and Diane-- Camilla trying to break up with Diane... then the set of the movie- Adam and Camilla- all I explained before.

Then we have the night of the party, where Diane gets her ideas for her dream. The limo, the cowboy, the pool story, "call me Coco", the jitterbug contest, Adam and Camilla, the espresso ... Such a sad movie

So in the end, the first two shots of the movie are set in present time, everything else is a dream, go back and watch it- It all makes sense. Then Diane wakes up and you find out why she dreamt what she dreamt...
Sequence of Events in Mulholland Dr. (according to [email protected])

1. Diane wins the Jitterbug contest. Her family (the old man and old woman) is there and cheers for her. (this is much earlier than any of the rest of the movie. years possibly)

2. Camilla and Diane fool around on the couch (notice the ashtray). Camilla says that they shouldn't do that anymore.

3. Camilla and the director talk and kiss in the car for the movie.

4. Diane gets a phone call and is told to get in the limo. She is dropped of at the bottom of the directors house. The dinner scene occurs in which she finds out that her lover Camilla and the director are getting married.

5. Diane sits in a restaurant with the hit-man and tells him to kill Camilla.

6. Diane returns home and feels guilty.

7. She falls asleep on the pillow.

8. Diane has a long dream. What happens in this dream is coming from guilt and the people surrounding her life. The director who is getting married to her x-lover has a terrible life. Her x-lover loves her again. Diane is an amazing actress and does a great job. The part with the men in the restaurant and the monster is all just a part of the dream. The cowboy has nothing to do with the movie for the most part. He was just seen by Diane at one point and he stuck with her so heÕs in her dream. Her dead aunt shows up. She mixes up names just like everybody often does in dreams. None of this is real. There are many things her dream feeds off of... to many things to try to explain. The dream begins with Camilla (Rita) in the car and ends with the cowboy waking her up. That is all within her dream.

9. A knocking wakes Diane up. It is her neighbor looking for the rest of her belongings. She picks up her ashtray (notice the blue key) and says that there are detectives looking for Diane.

10. While making coffee, Diane thinks she sees Camilla (who she just had killed). Its just a daydream.

11. Diane goes and sits on the couch and stares at the blue key. Someone is knocking (I think that this could be the detectives looking for Diane). The little people are her family representing her conscience. She gets scarred of the knocking and the haunting visions of her loved ones and she runs into her room and shoots herself.

THE END

This is the order in which the movie plays out.

1, 7, credits, 8, 9, 10, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11 end credits

I don't like calling it a dream, It's more of a psychogenic fugue, or identity supression. Lynch is fascinated by this phenomenon, and dedicated another film to it, as well, in Lost Highway.

The movie director sub-plot is dreamt up as an excuse for why she never got anywhere in Hollywood. In reality, she's a crap actress and most of her roles were stolen by her lover, who got the roles by whoring herself. In her dream/fugue, she recreates herself as an amazing actress - but they wouldn't accept her because the movie director guy was forced by the Cowboy to choose "the girl" in the photo.

Read the Alan Shaw paper last night. A TON of crazy insight and study on the film. Absolutely worth the read. I lot of what I had figured out still makes sense, but there are a few other items I totally missed, that clearly make sense... Check it out! Link above...

I watched Lost Highway the other day and think i got that. I didn't read the lengthy explanation but everyone here seems to have said all you need to know. I'll chip in that you should definitely give it a couple of watches before looking for other peoples answers. My pointer is Naomi Watts is the dumpster bum. Next to watch- INLAND EMPIRE

And Sedai, 100 times, really? That's almost crazier than the film itself. How do you rate it in Lynch's filmography, lately i've been veering towards Lost Highway as my favourite, love the whole tone and style of it.

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In order to understand Lynch's Mulholland Dr. you should watch Ingmar Bergman's Persona. It is like a simplafied verson of Mulholland but it came first. You could almost say Mulholland Drive is a re-invisioning of Persona. Just like Lynch you should watch about everything Bergman ever has done.

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"in the end it's only cornflakes."

Yeah... Another three times this past week, as I have been obsessed with it again. How would I rate Mulholland in Lynch's catalog? Well, it's my favorite film, period. MD and Blade Runner tend to float at the top of my best-of list, and MD is currently in the No. 1 spot. So, I rate it pretty highly.

Love Lost Highway, too, though...

As for the dumpster bum, it is certainly PART of Watt's character, Diane, in the film. All of the characters in her fantasy represent parts of her persona, ala The Wizard of Oz....

"Oz is roughly rectangular in shape, and divided along the diagonals into four countries: Munchkin Country in the East, Winkie Country in the West" - wiki

I can never understand why people always compare Mulholland Dr. and Persona. I'm a massive fan of boths and have seen both films plenty of times, and they're barely similar.

I see some thematic similarities, and some clear homage, but the films are vastly different from one another.

BUMP!

Ok, so this movie makes sense to me now. After these three months it's become one of my favorites of all time. I had to go out and buy the DVD.

Anyway, like I said in the Shoutbox, got one of our neighbors to watch it and his theory is that Diane is a prostitute who suffers from a severe drug problem.

Thoughts?

She became that after her dream as an actress was crushed by Camilla and Adam. She is quite the victim. Her victimization started young, as an abuse victim. This dark secret is represented in her psychotic fever-reality by the sinister old folks at the beginning, that later return (starting out as a tiny seed spawned by her darkest dream persona, the mysterious entity behind Winkies) that grows to dominate her and destroy her, metaphorically, therefore visually to us, at the end of the film. Her dream of becoming a big star, and the best actress ever was the only thing keeping her going for some time. She suppressed her past into a pandora's box like puzzle box in the back of her mind, that Camilla forces open by deconstructing her hopes and dreams in reality for her own gain. Of course this represented in the fever-dream by the blue box.

Once she degenerated to a certain point in reality, she had to turn to less noble means of getting by, as her Aunt's inheritance diminished. Carefully watch the flow of the scenes when we see the two men talking to the skank outside Winkie's near the start of the film. Right after that scene ends, after the skank climbs into the blue van (the box), we cut away to the havenhurst apartment, where Betty says to Rita "You don't know where this money came from."

Sure we do, from prostitution, as lynch just showed us with his expert scene blocking. His visual storytelling is fantastic here at conveying subtle meaning about Diane's history. When the old folks are riding in the limo at the start, they show a POV shot from where the old folks are sitting at one point. The vehicle directly in front of the limo? The blue van...

This film is so densely packed with metaphor, it's really amazing...

More to come...

Sedai, you watched the TV Pilot of it? I've got it on DVD but not watched it yet.