Out of all of David Lynch’s films this is the one I had the most reservations about seeing. It has the cult film tag but I’ve heard plenty of dissenting opinions that put some fear in me. Having just watched it without time to stew or dig into the film, I wanted to put in words my initial feelings of both what-the-fuck madness and undeniable intrigue. I’m not claiming any sort of deep analysis or thoughtful conclusions (you can go to plenty of other sites for that). These are just 10 moments that had me confused, shocked, or in wonder. There will be spoilers.
To give a very rudimentary synopsis of this movie, Laura Dern plays an actress, Nikki Grace, who scores a role in a new film. Her co-star Devon Berk, played by Justin Theroux, and Nikki begin to become more and more like the characters they are playing. Eventually the line begins to blur as far as if they are their real life persona or the character. Then everything sort of goes crazy and it feels like you are witnessing pure madness unfold in front of your eyes. Now let’s get into those head scratchers. Some are plot related, some are stylistic, and some I have no idea what to call them.
1. The Rabbit Sitcom – Well I guess it’s a sitcom. It has a laugh track. It’s three humanoid rabbits (voiced by Mulholland Drive castmates Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, and Scott Coffey) in a living room. This scene is returned to throughout the movie however I can’t say I ever felt clarity about what it all meant.
2. Nikki not understanding Polish – A big part of this film involves some sort of Polish parallel. The random moment in question comes towards the beginning of the film when a couple is speaking Polish to Nikki who stares blankly at them. They are told by a translator that she does not speak it but understands more than they’d think. There’s other parts of the film that relate – the film they are producing is a remake of a supposedly cursed Polish production – but why this scene about the language was included, I’m still not sure.
3. “Damn! This sounds like a dialogue from our script!” – This is one of my favorite scenes in the film. As things start to get trippy there’s an intimate scene between Dern and Theroux where you believe their “real” characters Nikki and Devon have begun an affair. Nikki is talking about how her husband can’t find out about them and loudly jokes “Damn! This sounds like a dialogue from our script!”. It is then that you realize the film crew is surrounding them and they were shooting a scene as Sue and Billy but Nikki thought it was actually happening. This is the sort of scene that makes me certain this could be a more straightforward compelling psychological thriller, even though I know that’s not Lynch’s intention here at all. I love it because it genuinely shocked me.
4. Justin Theroux disappears from the movie – This movie goes off the rails from the (almost but not really) linear idea of a story you’re presented with about an hour in. Nikki sort of goes on a mind-bending journey for the next hour plus. It was about a half hour into this that I realized the second billed lead of the movie had not shown up in awhile. I’m pretty sure that Theroux doesn’t make another appearance throughout the last 2/3rds.
5. Locomotion dance number – Dern comes across a group of prostitutes after she has sort of crossed over to the Sue side of her character. They seem to be her past acquaintances and are sort of just sitting and shooting the shit like normal girlfriends. They offer her some completely sound advice about burning a hole in silk in order to see the truth. They also break out into a choreographed dance number to “The Locomotion”. Another moment I loved despite not knowing what the fuck was happening.
6. “Black Tambourine” – In one of the creepiest scenes, Dern at perhaps the rock bottom of hercharacter, announces “I’m a whore” to her befriended prostitutes and then wanders the street looking like a hobo. She sees herself across the street joking with the same girls. Dern looks manic and frightened and almost feral. And for some reason this is paired with Beck’s upbeat pop rock song “Black Tambourine”. It fades out to 1930’s versions of Polish prostitutes if that helps.
7. Crimp – God, I know there is so much that probably goes into whatever the hell this character means. I know he appears in different forms throughout this film but I have not been able to make sense of it yet. The moment that I found to be the most bizarre is when Mary Steenburgen shows up at Dern’s place and talks to her about their creepy neighbor, Crimp. When Dern goes to investigate she finds a man lurking behind a tree. He reveals himself with a red light bulb in his mouth. Symbolism.
8. Terry Crews – This might have been the most random thing to happen in this whole movie. He’s billed as a Street Person, but it is in a pretty pivotal scene in the film. I’d love to know how he ended up playing a part in this movie. He’s pretty much sealed my high opinion of him as a comedic actor after his stint on Arrested Development and regular role on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Showing up as a funny bit part in a shitty comedy doesn’t surprise me. Showing up in one of Lynch’s weirdest movies – now that’s noteworthy.
9. Camera Crew Reveal – In the scene Crews appears, Dern has just been stabbed in a screwdriver attack. She stumbles onto the ground near some homeless people who carry on their conversation while barely noticing what is occurring. They comment on the fact that she is going to die, but don’t try to help or even pat her back as she vomits blood. She dies right there next to them. At this point in the movie you’ve barely remembered what happened two scenes ago, let alone where all these shenanigans started. And then the shot pulls back to show that this was being filmed for the same movie Nikki started before she went off the deep end. It begs the question of how much we just saw was part of the film within the film. It also could mean nothing and that Lynch is making a broader statement about how we watch and create films.
10. Lost Girl Reunion – So from the start we’ve seen a woman (credited as Lost Girl) watching TV alone. She’s watched the rabbit show and Dern being a loon. She watches as Dern enters her room in real time. They embrace with a kiss as if it has been Dern’s mission this whole movie to set her free. Has it been? Obviously don’t ask me. The Lost Girl finally leaves her room and ends up back at the place Dern had been shacked up in to reunite with what seems to be her husband and son. This feels like it’s something you’ve been led up to and I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like I missed the “leading up” part.
So, as I’ve finished writing out all my initial thoughts on this crazy movie I still haven’t landed on exactly how I feel about it. I’m nowhere near close to calling it brilliant. I find Mulholland Drive to be a much more riveting and enriching experience (even on a single viewing). I can say that I was intrigued. I wanted to understand. I didn’t want to crack the disc in half and tell Netflix it showed up damaged. I’m going to read into it and probably revel in what a bunch of Lynch nerds have come up with to explain this perplexing film. I’m just not sure I’d feel the need to watch it again. I will say though, that the closing credits were amazing. I don’t know that they fit with the movie, but they were fun and felt fitting in the sense that they seemed like Lynch loving all these crazy worlds he’s come up with and showed to audiences, never fearing what the reaction may be.
