CSflim

Man, i love Mulholland Drive. It is one of my favourite movies ever. It is incredibly dense with sybolism.
It is indeed a very difficult movie. After watching it the first time, I felt that I understood the basic story line, but that about two thirds of the secenes were completely unrelated to anything, and just random additions. Watching it the second time however made the meanings of these scenes apparent to me.
Contrary to what many people say, THE FILM MAKES PERFECT SENSE! That being said, it must be seen as abstract, sybolism triumphs over logic and coherence. I will expalin briefly what I believe the plot to be about below:


**MAJOR Spoliers Below**









The first part of the film (up to the point where the camera gets sucked into the green box), involving Betty and Diane is a dream. The dreamer is Diane, who is "Betty". In her dream she fantasised about living a new life, as this character called Betty. Many elements from her real life end up in her dream, but are vastly distored, following "dream logic". As you may have noticed in your own dreams, things don't always make complete sense when you wake up, but at the time, they were fully logical. Similarly, in the dream, many ilogical things happen, but they still happen for a reason, from Betty/Diane's point of view at least.
In this dream, she fantasises about being reunited with her ex-lover: Camilla, who in her dream loses her memory, and takes on the name Rita. In this dream, Diane puts Camilla into a situation where she is vunerable, and completely dependant on her... just the way she likes it.
After Diane wakes up, we are left with a montage of flash back, mixed with "real time" scenes. I plan to watch the film a third time to ascertain the exact chronological order of these flash backs. But it is not really vital to understanding the story. It shows that Diane was completely infatuated with Camilla, but Camilla after a brief relationship, rejected her, and in fact, got married. Camilla, in a jealous rage orders a hit on Camilla. She then has the strange dream that we see. She wakes up, and remembers the real tragedy of events...everything is NOT ok as it was portrayed in her fantasy. She is NOT the bright eyed innocent young Betty. She is overcome with guilt, and kills herself. (She was obviously feeling suicidal before she started dreaming).

Now with what I have said in mind, I advise you to watch again, and you may get more out of the film. I have left many details out, but that can all be figured out quite easily. I will explain in more detail my idea of the meaning behind some of the dream scenes below. My advice: Don't read them until you have tried for yourself to figure them out. Watch the film again, and then come back.



***Even More Spoliers Below!*****











Just a brief word on what I believe some of the more specific scenes in Mulholland Drive "mean". And I use the word losely...this is a dream after all.

The director. The mafia-like influence on the film. the shadyness. the phone calls. The "Godfather" like figure. These are all, images suggesting that the movies are run by higher powers. People who are inacessible. Puppet masters who pull the strings. "This is the girl!". It was not Diane's fault that she didn't get the leading role! Diane is a victim! Its "not" that she is an inferior actress Larger forces are at work.

The Assassin. The black book. Shooting the hover and setting off the sprinklers. Diane paid an Assassin to kill Camilla. But as it turns out, this Assassin is a bumbling idiot!. He ends up killing two innocent people. Its obvious he's going to get caught. Maybe Camilla isn't doomed, seeing as how this assassin is so incompetent!. Whats the balck book? Who knows! Its just a misplaced detail by Diane. The assassin presuambly needs this book in order to carry out his mission. Why? No reason...dream logic. When Diane was paying the assassin in real life, we see that he is carrying a book. Its the same book. Diane adopted this detail, and incorporated it into her dream.


The guy talking about his nightmare in the cafe. The monster/homeless guy. The cafe is the place where Diane paid the assassin. Another real life detail incorporated into her dream. He place is an EVIL place. Diane is innocent! It was the evil place/monster that "willed" her into taking out the hit! Notice that when in the diner, Diane meets a waitress called Betty. When in the diner, betty meets a waitress named Diane.

The key/the box. The key is another "borrowed" item from Dianes life. She will recieve the key when the job is done. When she asks "What does it open?", the assassin just laughs. In her dream, she answers this question: It opens a box. When the box is opened, the deed is done. The evil monster is the keeper of the box. He is evil. It is all his fault, not Dianes!.

Rita's money. Where did all that money come from? It is yet another, "borrowed" item. It is the money that Diane paid the Assassin. The money becomes associated with Cammilla/Rita so it is "logical" that she would have the money. Dream logic again. The key is also associated with Camilla, so she has that also.

Silencio: What was that whole club about? The dream is coming to an end. This world is not real, ne pas es bande! Diane has to wake up, and face the real world. The apperance of the box represents this. Once the box is open, the deed is done, the fantasy is shattered, and she must wake up.

So thats my take on the film. As you may have guessed, the aboce italics are sort of ,sarcastic! They aren't the truth, they are what Diane believes, or tries to make herself believe, with her dream.
So any thoughts? Any queries?

__________________