Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive is a 2001 mystery film written and directed by David Lynch, and exhibiting elements of film noir and the surreal. It stars Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring and Justin Theroux. The film was strongly acclaimed by many critics and earned Lynch the Prix de la mise en scène (Best Director Award) at the Cannes Film Festival as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Director. Mulholland Drive is also notable for launching the careers of Watts and Harring, and being the last feature film starring veteran Hollywood actor Ann Miller.
Originally conceived as a television pilot, a large proportion of the film was shot with Lynch's plan to keep it open-ended for a potential series. However, after viewing Lynch's version, television executives decided to reject it; Lynch then provided an ending to the project, making it a feature film. The half-pilot, half-feature result, along with Lynch's characteristic style, has left the general meaning of the movie's events open to interpretation. Lynch has declined to offer an explanation of his intentions for the narrative, leaving audiences, critics, and cast members speculating on the interpretation of what transpires.
The plot tells the story of an aspiring actress named Betty Elms, who meets and befriends an amnesiac hiding in her aunt's apartment when she arrives in Los Angeles, California. The film includes several other seemingly unrelated vignettes which eventually connect in various ways, as well as some surreal scenes and images that relate to the cryptic narrative. The New York Times wrote that while some might consider the plot an "offense against narrative order ... the film is an intoxicating liberation from sense, with moments of feeling all the more powerful for seeming to emerge from the murky night world of the unconscious." The film is widely regarded as one of Lynch's finest works, alongside The Elephant Man (1980) and Blue Velvet (1986).
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