David Lynch's Mulholland Drive came out 18 years ago today

[EatChildren]

One of the strongest contenders for my favourite film ever, if I were to have one. It's just magic.

Absolutely everything about the entire ending sequence is a marvellous culmination of everything that comes before. It's horrifying and sombre all at once. The gnawing paranoia and escalation to utter terror, the tragedy and cut to Betty and Rita's brightly lit smiling faces superimposed on a city backdrop as the strings kick in, all ending on a cold empty theatre and silencio. It's so sad.

 

[MRYEAH]

This was an instant classic for me when I left the theater I couldn't stop talking to other Lynch fans about it.
I bragged about it so much a female co-worker came over to watch it she got up after the changeover and said I don't know what the hell I'm watching and l had to pause it and calm her down.
In Happier news, my filmmaker girlfriend had never seen it watched it with me this year and was convinced she just saw something special and we talked about it for 2 hours after.
Just another reason why she is awesome

 

[Poimandres]

Last year I saw Rebecca Del Rio perform silencio and no stars (Twin Peaks 3) at a Twin Peaks themed bar. I was right at the front, and it was amazing!

 

[Mona]

it was a deff. something and i can respect it, but me and lynch dont get along to well

there are absolutely scenes i liked, plenty even, but i think overall it kind of lost me

 

[uncelestial]

Not among Lynch's most successful efforts. While individual scenes are marvelous and unforgettable, the sum does not equal its parts--likely due to it originally being conceived for one medium (TV), then being restructured for another (feature film) when sponsorship collapsed. Too bad, as it might have been one of the greatest series ever to appear on the small screen.

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It's widely regarded as one of his finest works. You can drop your professorial tone and have a seat, actually.

 

[Deleted member 30395]

Really amazing film. Definitely one of Lynch's best works, if not his best.

 

[RestEerie]

18 years later and i'm still none the wiser. Still don't understand what i am watching.

 

[meowdi gras]

It's widely regarded as one of his finest works. You can drop your professorial tone and have a seat, actually.

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I'm well aware of the film's high critical reputation. However, no law says I must conform to the majority. Per my own critical standards, Mulholland Drive doesn't stand up well to scrutiny as a feature film. Again, though, its episodic structure, and the strength of many of these "episodes", to me reveals the form of a perfectly-realized TV program, dismembered and rejuvenated Frankenstein-style into a medium for which it is less suited.

For me, Lynch's previous effort, Lost Highway, is a considerably more successful attempt at pulling off many of the same effects he would later employ in MD.

 

[shotopunx]

18 years later and i'm still none the wiser. Still don't understand what i am watching.

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I fall into the camp that sees this and Lost Highway as companion pieces that are about the pressures of life as an artist (MD = Actors/LH = Musicians) and the need to create a new persona to escape that life.

 

[apocat]

One of the best and most terrifying films ever made.

I fall into the camp that sees this and Lost Highway as companion pieces that are about the pressures of life as an artist (MD = Actors/LH = Musicians) and the need to create a new persona to escape that life.

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They share a lot of the same dna, but MD delivers on the premise far beyond what LH does. Lost Highway has some terrific scenes, but doesn't work as well as a cohesive whole.

Also, some of the music choices in Highway takes me right out of the experience. Marilyn Manson and Rammstein is absolutely not a fitting choice for what their respective scenes seems to be aiming for. Bonus points for using a track from Barry Adamsons fantastic Oedipus Schmoedipus, though.