Say what you will about David Lynch’s 2001 masterpiece Mulholland Dr., the film is a puzzle of strange, overlapping characters and storylines that at once confound and intrigue. Is it a portrayal of Hollywood as a Machiavellian embodiment of sinister control and corruption masquerading as entertainment? A knotty and deliberately confusing mishmash of pointless narratives and characters lost in some Californian noir fever dream? One of the best films of the last twenty or thirty years?
The Criterion Collection’s brand new edition of Mulholland Dr. is a godsend for fans who’ve waited a very long time for Lynch to unlock some of the film’s mysteries – which he doesn’t really do, at least not overtly. There is no commentary or even individual chapters, both of which have been standard issue DVD features for more than a decade. What makes this release essential? The second disc features interviews with key members of the cast and crew, including Lynch, who all discuss their own experiences making the film. Most revealing is Naomi Watts’s in-depth account of her struggle as an aspiring actress before joining the cast. (Mulholland Dr. quickly catapulted her to international fame.) These supplemental interviews add a great deal to the understanding of how Mulholland Dr. best epitomizes Lynch’s genius.
You may also like Sunset Boulevard, David Lynch: The Unified Field, and David Lynch: The Man From Another Place by Dennis Lim.