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| Mulholland Drive
DVD Review |
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Order this DVD from
Amazon.com
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Mulholland
Drive
(Universal Studios
Home Entertainment)
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| DVD
Release Date:
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April
9, 2002
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Length:
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147 mins.
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| Rated:
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R
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| Format:
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Widescreen (1.78:1)
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Languages:
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English
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| Subtitles:
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English, French, Spanish
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| Extras:
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"David Lynch's 10 Clues to Unlocking This Thriller"
Notes, Filmographies, Theatrical Trailer
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David Lynch's most recent excursion into
alternate-realities, Mulholland Drive, opens with a dazed woman
wandering away from a car accident. By the end of the film, you're
pretty much in the same head-space: confused, emotionally battered and
lost. The car accident at the beginning shouldn't be viewed as part of
the plot, but more as a warning to the viewer. I've grown up with the
films of David Lynch; Eraserhead and Blue Velvet in the '80's, Twin
Peaks and Lost Highway in the '90's. Lynch snakes through the minds of
Generation X like a dark little secret buried deep in our collective
unconscious.
Mullholland Drive was originally developed as a two-hour pilot for a
television series in 1999, but rejected by ABC and reconceived by
Lynch as a feature film with $7 million in French funding from
CanalPlus. Given the success of Twin Peaks, and Lynch's illustrious
career, one can't help but wonder what was running through the
greed-stunted minds of the network execs and ABC. I guess it doesn't
matter. Their loss in our gain.
The dialogue in any Lynch film, and Mullholland Drive is no exception,
is written as if the Hardy Boys had met James Joyce; it's stilted and
awkward, like talking to a stranger on a bus destined for Hell. The
DVD comes with a list, apparently penned by Lynch himself, of ten
clues to help you figure out the film.
Good luck.
The question here isn't so much, "Have you figured out that
latest Lynch film?" but, "Should we try to figure out that
latest Lynch film?"
I say no. I say turn off the phone, send the kids into another
dimension and let it wash over you like a warm, surreal dream. Don't
twist your brain into a pretzel trying to solve the puzzle. Just
appreciate it for what it is. . .a glimpse into a waking-nightmare on
multiple planes of existence.
On another level (and this film, like the characters in it, operates
on several at once) Mulholland Drive seems to be an indictment of the
Hollywood power structure; from the lone, naive girl bouncing off the
bus from Deep River, Ontario with visions of stardom, to the director
who has his movie torn asunder by megalomaniacal studio executives.
Lynch has once again taken us to the darkness hiding just below the
surface--except this time it's Hollywood.
Personally I love Lynch. In my opinion he's one of the top five
directors on the planet. Lynch was nominated for an Academy Award for
Mulholland Drive. He didn't win it, but it almost restores your faith
to see a director like Lynch receiving the respect he so richly
deserves.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give Mulholland Drive a Pi.
Oh, and how's Annie?
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