Mulholland Drive

Mulholland Drive

In the film "Mulholland Drive" directed by David Lynch in 2001 is reflected on by Hollywood and the city of dreams Los Angeles. In this movie David Lynch creates a "frightening and wonderful place, full of mystery and discovery, of hopes and fears, and dreaming"(Pg 11) for his audience. David lynch's films contain a great deal of mystery, and through surreal dream sequences, stylized vignettes, and oddball occurrences, David Lynch makes a profound statement about Hollywood, the city of lost dream, in his dark thriller, and formalistic film Mulholland Drive. In this movie David Lynch creates the three main themes with his main characters Betty Elms, Diane Selwyn, and Rita. David Lynch uses the themes of reality vs. dream world, the irresponsible dream making of Hollywood, and acceptance to show the audience exactly how the characters will come to discover their mysterious fate.

The first time we see lynch's theme of reality vs. dream world come into play is when we are at Winkie's. This is important because it is in the beginning of the movie and thus establishes right off the bat that lynch's movie will be leading down a confusing and mysterious path. Inside Winkie's diner, Dan explains to Herb that he has had two dreams about Winkie's that were the exact same both involving Herb. As soon as Herb leaves to pay the bill Dan realizes that he is no longer safe just like his dream, and becomes scared. We notice that once Dan leaves we see a shot of the mise en scene of his food. His food had not had been touched which is significant because it shows that he is actually scared and that his two dreams that he has had are turning into reality. The first time we meet Betty is when we see her leaving the airport. We find that Betty is wearing pink, the pink is significant because she is completely innocent at this point and has no clue what is going to happen to her. She arrives at the airport with two older folks; the older lady tells Betty to be careful and starts laughing. This shows us that she already knows what is going to happen to Betty, thus this tells us that these old people are related to the dream world. Another example of this is throughout the movie we do not know whether Betty Elms is real or if Diane Selwyn is real. We first see Diane's name at Winkie's diner on the waitresses' nametag. Once Rita hears the name Diane she realizes that she remembers something, this is significant because we learn that Rita already knows a Diane Selwyn so this tells us that it is not possible for Rita to be in a dream. In the other hand Betty doesn't realize that she is stuck in between a dream and reality. So this leaves Betty clueless and wanting more information. Another example is when Adam Kesher has a meeting with the "cowboy". He is confused and wearing black with pink stains on his shirt. The color pink added to his shirt shows that he thought he had everything all figured out but in reality he really hasno clue and is feeling innocent and upset. Another shot we see is when Adam is casting all the women for the role we find that as soon as he sees Camilla Rhodes she is also wearing pink. This shows us that she is also innocent as Adam and Betty are and has no clue that she is guaranteed the part. As Adam Kesher calls out action for Camilla he lights up a cigarette, this is significant because it shows that he is corrupted, and acting mysterious. When the Castigliane brothers Luigi and Vincenzo sit down and discuss to Adam that Camilla Rhodes is the main girl for the movie. We learn that the brothers are also like the cowboy, they are part of the dream world that knows that Camilla Rhodes needs to play the part, only tricky part is for some reason they cannot do it without Adam.

Irresponsible dream making in