David Lynch directs a mind-bending, surrealistic, often-psychotic-and-sometimes-sexy thriller about two girls in search of an identity and relationship. A word of caution is required since this movie is not for everyone. If you like movies that end , movies that make sense , movies that follow the traditional linear pattern of story telling or simply movies that you think you have figured them out then you should stay away from the movie.
The movie starts with a brunette(Laura Elena Harring) about to be murdered on Mullholland Drive when a fortunate car-accident kills her would-have-been killers.She escapes shaken but unhurt or so we think initially. She stumbles into an apartment and is busy taking a shower when in comes Betty(Naomi Watts), a sexy blonde, who has just arrived in her absent Aunt Ruth’s apartment in search of stardom. When the brunette faces Betty she realises that she has lost her memory and so she lifts a name from a poster and calls herself Rita. Betty decides to help Rita and both set on a journey to help Rita figure out her identity. If this wasn’t enough to get you hooked on , the director introduces other characters. A director (Justin Theroux) who is asked to either cast an actress in his movie or die by a mob boss(or someone equivalent in stature) who happens to be a guy in a wheelchair.
To add to the director’s agony, he catches his wife making out with a cleaner! Couple of cops investigating the accident, Aunt Ruth’s landlady, a mysterious woman, a mysterious old couple, a cow boy who seems to appear out of nowhere, a contract killer are some of the other characters which are introduced just in case we take the liberty of figuring out the plot. You think it’s more than you can handle? Wait. There are more characters I haven’t mentioned and to add to the chaos the girls stumble on some dead body. Is Rita Diane Selwyn, a waitress, or somebody else? Whose body did they find in the apartment? What’s the significance of the director? What are the other characters doing in the movie? Half way into the movie you will have so many questions, you will forget which questions should be answered first. To add to the mysterious dimension , there is a lesbian relationship developing between Betty and Rita and Lynch directs a love scene so erotic you haven’t seen anything like this in last ten years. If you think I have told you half the plot, you got it wrong. I see you saying ’’ You mean there’s more !!!’’ . There’s more to it than you can ever imagine. Bizarre plots, mysterious twists.
The movie is just hypnotic. It leads from one scene to another with menacing suspense and just when you think you have figured it all out, it takes a U-turn and you will be left wondering what did you miss in the beginning. If you think the end of the movie will help you explain the mystery, you are sadly mistaken(again!). The movie opens so many doors of explanation you will have a tough time figuring out which door to enter. Infact, there might not be a mystery after all. It’s all in the mind. The movie is like a dream, nothing seems real, nothing seems connected. All said and done, there is one explanation which helps you figuring out the plot but revealing it would kill all the fun and excitement. Do I have to say anything about David Lynch’s direction? There are some people who think he is insane and his movies don’t make any sense. They have even tried to dismiss ’’MulHolland’’ as crappy, shoddy work without any script. Well , I leave it to the audience to decide. Naomi Watts and Laura Herring bring life to the central characters, Betty and Rita. I can’t imagine anyone else doing these roles. They have played their parts brilliantly. So if you are looking for a hypnotic drive which stimulates your senses take a ride along this drive but if you are looking for logic and sense take a U-turn.