Rating- * * * * * (5/5)
This film is very hard to give a rating to. In fact, it transcends ratings or classification or even structure of any kind. If Memento was different, Mulholland Drive is a whole new ball game. It is a film that you will either treasure dearly for the rest of your life, or hate completely and wonder why you wasted so much of your time on a movie that didn’t really make any sense at all. And that is where you will separate the film lovers from the average movie goers. Mulholland Drive represents the next phase in a style of filmmaking begat by the great Stanly Kubrick called non-narrative filmmaking. Non-narrative filmmaking is essential what it sounds like; making movies that don’t follow a storyline or a plot, but rather imagery, sound and music. If you are not in tune with the art of motion picture, non-narrative film is not for you. It is not for the lightweight moviegoer; only the art-centered, die-hard, intellectually curious student of film. It is very hard to hold your attention in a non-narrative film, especially if you don’t know it’s a non-narrative and are furiously searching for a storyline. Mulholland Drive does confuse the audience a bit by suggesting for the first half of the film that it might be a coherent, linear plot about an attempted murder and a woman with amnesia trying to find out who is trying to kill her. Just as we are beginning to understand what is going on, the film shifts into a new mode. The characters change names, attitudes, and even their appearances. Of course, there is no mystery and there is no murder. The entire film is meant to be a dream, working its way through the mind of someone who may actually know the people in the dream in their waking life, or better yet might be one of them. We have no way of knowing this, however, and trying to keep up with details like this will leave you heaving for oxygen by the end of the film. This movie is not about the plot. It is about the images and the sights and the sounds of a dream in progress; that alternate world which we visit only at night and are never quite sure what is going on or who is who. I won’t go through any of the scenes because they must be seen to be experienced and no words could do them justice. This film is timeless in its originality and in its use of imagery, photography, and sound. It also contains some great performances by Naomi Watts among others who would never have otherwise been known to anyone in Hollywood. If you are a casual moviegoer, save yourself the headache and leave this one on the shelves. For lovers of great film, this is one to cherish and will be talked about for decades to come as one of the greats of our generation. It is not to be missed.