for his complicated style of story-telling Lynch always knows how to challenge his audience. He's great in creating atmosphere and always comes up with something interesting. Therefore, I don't think you can ever say his films bore you. You might be put off by confusion, but I don't think you can ever be bored by a Lynch film. Because there's always something happening, in sight or out of sight, something's always going on. And if the story isn't interesting enough, than the sets, the movement of the camera, music or things like lighting will be. Take for instance the opening shot of the highway covered in blackness, only illuminated by the car's headlights. It immediately catches your attention and puts thoughts into your head that make you wonder. Overall the lighting in this film is exceptional, creating stark shadows, which gives an eerie feeling and enhances the feeling of mystery. The blonde hair of Patricia Arquette's character Alice turns her into a femme fatale every man wants to mess with, but of whom every man knows it can get him in big trouble. Bil Pullman knows how to make his character, Fred, appear confused without acting totally crazy, still giving the feeling he got his thoughts under control. When the scary guy tells him they've met before and is at his house right now, he stays calm without losing his sanity. One of the many reasons I like Lynch is because he really does what he wants. He doesn't try to make something conventional, but always try to be fresh and different. He stays true to himself without making movies to make lots of money at the box office. He uses cinema to create a particular atmosphere, to show things in a different way. His emphasis on the psychological level is something that always fascinates me. He really knows how to translate thoughts and show how the mind works. When you think about things, you don't necessarily think in a chronological order. You might think of something that will lead to another thought, and so you are taken away. You forget about things, or you suddenly remember. Therefore I really liked what Fred said when talking to Ed. He told him he likes to remember things his own way and when Ed asks what he means by that he says: 'How I remembered them. Not necessarily the way they happened.' I felt that sentence really sums up Lost Highway. Bceause when I heard that line it made me think that what we see maybe isn't what really happened, but it is just Fred who creates these weird thoughts and is the source for all the confusion. Lynch's films might be strange and sometimes too dificult to fully grasp and too open for own interpratations, but they are always very interesting and have the ability to keep you watching. You try to solve the mystery and answer the questions. But always, the scenes are great and the film doesn't feel forced to create the feeling of mystery.What is it about?
Fred Madison, a saxophonist, keeps having these recurring dreams of his wife, which leads him to think she cheats on him. His suspicion and confusion gets worse when one day they receive a strange envelope containing a videotape. There's no name written on it or address, but when they play the tape they see images of their own house. A second one even shows Fred and his wife Renee lying in bed. Also, at the door Fred overhears a message: 'Dirk Laurent is dead'. Not knowing who Dick Laurent is both Fred and the viewer have no clue what this means. There's also the sound of policecars, but no sight of the police. When Fred goes to a night club he meets a scary looking man at the bar who tells him the two of them have met before. When Fred aks where, the man tells him at Fred's house and as a matter of fact the scary guy tells Fred he's there right now. Fred therefore calls home and to his surprise the man sitting in front of him, picks up the phone saying: 'I told you I was here.' After Fred and Renee receive
the second tape they call the police. Two cops show up at their house to do some investigation and recommend they should turn back on their alarm system, but besides the tapes they can't find anything strange. At night Fred decides to watch the tape again and now sees more images, the most disturbing ones are of him sitting in a bed filled with blood and Renee dead next to him. Next, one of the cops is seen yelling: 'Murderer!', and Fred is taken away to jail where he spends his time waiting to be executed. However, his head starts to hurt really badly and when one day, even though he never left his jail cell, one of the captains pays visit after hearing something strange happened it turns out Fred isn't there anymore. However he doesn't seem to have left, because instead there's a different guy sitting in the cell Fred was in. In Fred's cell now sits 24 year old Pete Raymond Dayton, a guy Fred transformed in or the guy who he has always been, but of which you are never really sure.Final Verdict: ***1/2
Even though, for me Lynch always creates an interesting piece of cinema, Lost Highway did feel like it lost a bit of momentum right after Fred transforms into Pete, or at least it appears he does, because that's a thing you can only speculate about. It was still interesting, but there were some things I just didn't really like or had wished were handled differently. One thing I have to admit, though, is that I didn't completely approach this film with a blank mind. Some months ago I happened to read about the film in one of my study books and unfortunately they gave away a lot of the plot. Therefore I knew some of the twists that were coming up and I remembered how the movie was going to end. But even though I knew all this, I did feel the movie lacked something. So my first time watching this film felt like watching it a second time, because I knew about all the things that were about to happen. Therefore I didn't have the surprise factor. But when I think of a film like Mulholland Dr. I don't think this should change anything. Because, even though I've seen Mulholland Dr. multiple times, I still really like
it, nomatter the fact that I know how the movie will end. Mulholland Dr. always surprises me again. It may be because I discover something new I had not noticed before or because I'm so immersed into the movie again that part of me starts to think the ending will be totally different this time and Lynch will come up with a great new twist. So therefore I don't feel like giving Lost Highway a higher rating. It is interesting, and it keeps you watching, but I did feel the movie slowed down a bit too much. However it still really is Lynch, and if you love his work you definitely will enjoy Lost Highway, like I also did. But when you really think of the movie itself, it does has some flaws and it makes you feel it could have been better.
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