Film Review – Mulholland Drive, By David Lynch

In this week’s blog we will be discussing the meaning of film form, as well as taking a look at David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.

What is film form?

The composition of a film (or any work of art) can be separated into two things:

• Form
• Content

The content of the work refers to what is presented, and the form is how it is presented. For a film, the content would include things like characters, dialogue, themes and symbols. The form would cover camera movement, editing, mise-en-scene and sound.

Each film tells a story and it is up to the director to decide how they want that story to be told. One director, David Lynch, is known for his experimental style of cinema. Experimental Cinema or avant-garde cinema is a form of filmmaking that re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores on non-narrative forms. Among Lynch’s work, his films are recognized for incorporating recurring themes of dreamlike imagery with a surrealist ethos, and non-linear narratives with unsettling endings.

Mulholland Drive follows the story of a woman who struggles to figure out her identity after being left amnesiac from a car accident. She finds her way into the streets of Los Angeles where she meets Betty, a young woman with blonde hair seeking fame as an actress, as the two then attempt to solve the mystery of “Rita’s” true identity.

In terms of content, it contains everything that is necessary for a film to work but the way in which it is presented is what makes it unique. One of the elements that contributes to this is the cinematography. The style in which this film was shot was done in a way that provokes the audience to feel uneasy. Many scenes were shot with a handheld camera and were positioned at angles that were at times disturbing, which was able to contribute to the overall dark atmosphere of the film. The use of the handheld camera allows viewers to be put into the character’s perspective and get a sense of the anxiety that they feel throughout.

The editing and overall pace of the film was organized in quite an odd manner. The film lacks continuity and intentionally disjoints the narrative by not arranging the sequence of scenes in a particular order. Rather than drawing attention on the storyline itself, it puts our focus on each of the character’s motives and how they will progress later on. This then becomes irrelevant as the roles of characters become twisted, leaving the audience to re-evaluate each scenario.

Mulholland Drive is one of David Lynch’s most recognized pieces of work and uses techniques of experimental cinema to construct a gripping narrative. Even though it may leave us confused and wondering what just happened, it delivers a captivating story and provides us with just enough to hold on to for the audience to get to the end.