Mulholland Drive Analysis

Creating a whirlwind of confusion and an intriguing storyline, David Lynch’s 2001 Mulholland Drive brings the whole audience to question the true meaning behind the movie. Many view this film as a psychological thriller, causing individuals to wonder what had just happened in multiple scenes involving the two main female characters, Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) and Rita Hayworth (Laura Harring). Throughout the film, it is clear that Betty/Diane attempts to assist Rita/Camilla in regaining her memory to figure out her true identity, which results in numerous obstacles and mysteries that both women need to endure to reach their goal. As their journey unfolds, their relationship begins to develop into something more and mysterious secrets

that lead to more secrets are revealed. The last half of the film suddenly discloses a significant plot twist, which causes the audience’s minds wanting to know the reason behind the sudden change. Lynch uses many subtle yet meaningful angles and movements that bring out real emotions of the conflict that has arisen as the two protagonists venture on their journey, especially in the scenes of Betty and the elderly woman, Louise and the ending scene as Lynch attempts to portray the underlying message of the movie by using sounds and music, lighting, and angles.

Mulholland Drive has various scenes that depict its emotional rollercoaster ride and the dream state the characters appear to be in, generating a sense of realization into the audience’s mind that many individuals in today’s society are in the exact same dream state as well. Aside from having false realities, this film primarily focuses on the false reality of the overrated vision of success in Hollywood. Near the beginning of the film, the director uses certain lighting and sounds as the scene of Betty opening the door to an elderly woman named Louise. At this point in the film, Betty has already decided to look after Rita and assist her in figuring out her true identity. As the scene starts with the camera facing Betty’s aunt’s apartment door opening, Betty is suddenly under a brighter light compared to before when she was obscured by the confines of her aunt’s apartment. Although the lighting varies throughout the scene, the type of lighting used is low key light because

the whole scene is filmed looking dark and hazy with intense shadows over all characters. Betty opens the door to reveal Louise, an old neighbor. During most of the scene, the composition of the actors are the only parts the audience sees as well because the actors’ faces take up most of the screen except for the small part near the end of the scene where Louise attempts to make eye contact with Rita who is sitting down on a couch inside the apartment. As Louise is still shadowed by nighttime and her cape, she mumbles frightening words as she tells Betty, “Someone is in trouble. Something bad is happening.” The camera then cuts back to Betty’s expression as Betty seems to hesitate to speak but eventually tells Louise that she doesn’t know who she is. After Louise leaves, Betty closes the door and faces Louise as there is an obvious key light that allows the audience to clearly see Betty’s reaction to the weird encounter. The camera suddenly zooms in to Rita’s terrified face to enhance the ominous vibe Louise had on her and to add effect to the audience as the lighting around Rita is known as three-point lighting. Throughout the whole scene, the slow and extremely understated sound that was playing in the background had a foreboding and haunting sound along with the diegetic sound of the characters. Because the audience gets to see only the central interaction between the two actors speaking, the hazy and shadowy light effect along with the deep, slow music influence the mood and vibe the scene portrays and how ominous it feels.
Through the film’s cinematography, the effects of the techniques used to produce the film pushes the story on in the scene of Betty and Louise. Since this scene is still near the beginning of the film, Louise’s character in the scene is seen as even more sinister and grim, causing the audience to start questioning whether there is a disastrous message underneath the ordinary story that was first introduced. As Louise interacts with Betty through a series of confusing words, the lighting and sound effects add onto the foreboding aura that Louise seems to emanate. Louise is dressed in a black cape that creates a shadow over most of her face along with the lights’ shadows and her unruly hair, which makes her represent the image of a witch or a psychic figure. As Betty attempts to stay cheery and good-natured towards Louise, also portrayed by her light-colored, pink outfit, she seems terribly shaken up as the landlady interrupts their conversation. When Betty tells Louise she doesn’t know who she is, at this point, it seems that Louise has made a small crack in the dream barrier that Diane is trying to uphold; however, the landlady breaks through Betty’s daze as she tries to pull Louise out of the way. When the audience finds out that Betty is actually Diane, who is dreaming how she would have wanted her life to really be, the audience can infer that the landlady is a character that Diane made up to stop Louise from interfering with Diane’s dream. Back to the scene where the audience knows the main character as only Betty, the landlady dressed in a bright red, Asian-like outfit pulls Louise, the interrupter of the dream, aside and hands Betty some faxed documents and clearly explains to Louise that Betty is a young actress for a big audition the next day. Because the landlady appeared to stop Louise from interfering with the dream, the dream continues on as Diane’s fantasized character Betty is living the life she wanted before she became a washed-out actress.
In another outstanding scene, the ending illustrates Diane’s downfall as her dream has come to a dead halt.

Diane is first seen sitting silently on a worn-out couch in her house. The lighting all around is dim and gray, with no bright lights or colorful lights to liven up the mood as well as the background behind Diane that depicts a dead and dull house. Already, the audience is able to sense the foreshadowing outbreak that will possibly tie the entire story together. As the camera shoots Diane in a run-down, faded pink robe, sitting off to one side of the worn-out couch with her dull house as the background is behind her, this provides the mise-en-scene for this shot. There is still extremely subtle, haunting nondiegetic sound playing in the scene as it suddenly cuts straight to a close-up of Diane’s face, which is filled with dread and looks like she has not slept at all with ruined makeup under her eyes as well as her dirty hair. Suddenly, the scene cuts back and forth, a brief shot/reverse-shot, of Diane and the blue key on her coffee table as she looks at it in horror. In addition to the horror theme going on, someone knocks loudly on her door and she turns around as the camera shoots an old couple shown in the very beginning of the movie crawling under the front door as miniature people. Possibly the old couple’s, little laughing voices are heard in a diegetic sound as the scene cuts back to an extreme close-up of Diane’s eyes, emphasizing her horror. The loud knocks

continue as the camera continues to focus on the extreme close-up of Diane’s distressed eyes and later on as she closes her eyes, signifying her demise. The laughing voices turn into petrifying shrieks as thunder and lightning flashes, waking Diane up from her daze and causing her to run away as the old grandparents become their full size and intimidatingly chase after her. The lightning in this scene that flashes across the old couple’s faces increases the horror elements as the old couple laugh like maniacs and attack Diane. As this part of the scene was shot, the director uses shot/reverse-shots between Diane and the couple because of the constant back and forth this scene shows as the couple corners Diane into her room. This part of the scene also provides various eye-level shots with its parallel movement between the couple and Diane, making it feels as if the audience was moving with the couple and Diane. Although the nondiegetic screaming of the couple and Diane greatly overpower the sounds of the scene, the haunting and eerie organ-like diegetic music is still present in the scene. In most of the chase, the faces of the couple become more and more shadowed as the director uses artificial lighting to illustrate the lightning as a way of augmenting this dramatic part. Once in Diane’s room, the camera shows Diane falling onto her bed and then cutting back to the screaming couple. After cutting back to the screaming couple, the cinematographer suddenly uses a flash pan to direct the attention from the couple to the bedside drawer that Diane is reaching in. The camera continues to shoot as Diane reaches in and takes out a pistol, ultimately shooting herself from under her jaw as a loud bang rings. All is quiet as large clouds of smoke are released into the room and the scene fades out.
The film finishes with the dramatic scene of the suicide of Diane, also known as her fantasized character Betty, and partially binds the story’s confusing, psychological message together to provoke the audience into wanting more. Once the audience figures out that Betty is just a made-up puppet from Diane to cover her own guilt from killing her lover
Camilla, also known as Rita in her imaginary world, it is more well-known that the first major half of the film is Diane’s dream of the way she wanted circumstances to change and the guilt that is deep within her. Most of the events that occurred through Diane’s vision are because of the corruption that the perception of achieving Hollywood fame and fortune brings. Although a majority of the film is about Diane and her lover, the Hollywood dream also obstructs Diane’s view of reality.
Lynch’s film, Mulholland Drive, truly provides a psychological ride for the audience to experience along with the idea behind corruption of the human mind. The cinematography of this film also captures the exclusive horror elements laced within the film and alters the definition of psychology.