Cinematography –

Lighting and composition with shots of Mullholland Drive take influence from the artist, Edward Hopper, with low dark tones contrasted with bright light sources this is often used within his paintings. Within Mullholland Drive, this is also a common technique picked up by Lynch, with camera angles too, its obvious to see how he takes his influence as being positioned in corners, like in Hoppers painting the spectator gets a full coverage of the scene.

Mise En Scene –

Although set within the present (at the time of filming), Lynch often uses a 1950’s aesthetic in terms of the way characters dress and look with hair and make-up. This pays homage to the ‘Classic Hollywood’ aesthetic of the 1950’s.

Lynch also uses repeated motifs within his film, the meanings of these motif’s can change differently throughout the films narrative, leaving it to the spectator to decipher what they mean. Examples of such include the cowboy, the key and the bum.

Sound –

Through the use of Sound, an ominous music score of synths is used to create tension and a build up of anxiety, used throughout the film during dramatic or cryptic events its use as a motif always for-warns something occurring.

Editing –

With the use of a reverse shot, this creates the effect of the confrontational conversation going on between the characters Adam and the cowboy. This editing Technique is used frequently between characters within the film, creating a locked off border into the expanses of some of the environments scenes are shot in. As a result, Lynch creates a nightmarish effect from this, using the idea of that their is fear in the unknown, in this case, the things that aren’t shown on camera.

Lynchian Elements:

• Uncanniness – The feeling of confused uncertainty. strange or mysterious, especially in an unsettling way.

E.g.

Through the use of uncanniness, the shot positioning of the normal alley way is given an unsettling atmosphere due to mystery as to what is behind it, which is broken with the reveal of the bum. This is purposefully used by Lynch to confuse and keep the spectator unknowing of what is to come.

• Use of Doppelgangers – From the German Myth, 2 of you exist which at some stage you’ll meet. Another version of you.

E.g.

With the reveal of the real Betty at the end, the use of Doppelgangers is used to show Diane’s transformation of her identity into this new persona. This is a common trope within Lynch’s films and makes it reveal a shock value to the viewer.

• Ominous sound design – Unsettling music or noises to create fear or anxiety.

E.g.

The use of ominous sound design is used with the creepy distorted laughter of the old couple. Through this, lynch creates anxiety from the spectators as to what it may connote and what it used for.

• Heightened performances – Melodramatic acting used with significance to create an enigmatic meaning.

E.g.

With the dramatic singing in Club Silencio, this is a good example of a heightened performance as its prominent usage is done only once in the film. With alterations made to the original song such as the lyrics being in Spanish, their translated meaning relates and influences the plot heavily.

• Theme of tarnished idealism – Portrays the character in a poorer state or fall from grace.

E.g.

With the switch up of character personalities, Betty’s conversion into Diane shows her development from the dream-like world she has created into a more unforgiving reality. This is used by Lynch to possibly target Hollywood as showing a false-front has been common in the industry to cover-up .

How does Lynch make use of or subvert traditional narrative techniques to tell the story?

Lynch makes use of a non-linear narrative to construct a more though compelling story, an often theme with in his work. With his use of a non-linear narrative he chooses to create many questions about what goes on within the film with the inclusion of other elements such as Sub-plots (e.g. Adam the director or the mysterious film executive) and Narrative hooks (e.g. the enigma behind the characters identities). These are all combined to create an effect of mystery to the story.

Industrial Contexts –

Due to what can be perceived as Lynch’s’ satirical approach on Hollywood within the Film, he often struggled for financing and support from Hollywood studios. Originally intended as TV show, it was axed early on within the weeks of its production. As a result Lynch decided to use the existing film as well as some additional scenes to create his feature film.

How this is depicted in Mullholland Drive can be seen through character Adam, a director within the film, who experiences the hardships and shadowy running’s within the Hollywood system.

Socio-political & Cultural Contexts –

Socio-political –

Emerging during the start to a new millennium (2001), Mullholland Drive brought about a gritty depiction of reality that women face within the Hollywood system. Covering topics such as sexism and misogyny, this early representation would go on to be used within support of the #metoo movement in 2006 where women’s treatment in the industry would come more to light.

Cultural –

Inspired by the European surrealist movement of the 1920s-1950s, the main aim was to unite the conscious and unconscious mind. Categorised as apart of the American postmodern film movement of the 1990’s/early 2000’s the film depicts the character’s world as a hyper-reality. Following a non-linear structure the film within its self contains many intertextual references. The film makes use of its influences such as Gilda (Vidor, 1946) and paintings of Edward Hopper. The Film in itself can said to be influenced by Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, 1950), which also follows a plot of an actress looking for work within Hollywood, on Mullholland Drive.

Score – 9/10

Memorable scene –

My memorable scene was this scene, just after the 2 men exit the diner, for me this is where the films surrealism really takes its affect as by having this creepy person in contrast to the rest of the films events, for me it creates that uncanny valley feeling of having a sense of discomfort in the known. As the film progress it seems to be following a normal narrative of a women who loses her memory but as it come close to the end it subverts expectations with a complete narrative change on the characters we have become accustomed too.

Surrealist convention example = Unexplained Jumps in time/ and or in space. –

Film Example: Dunkirk.

Within the non-linear construction of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dunkrik’, 2017, we can see that through jumps in and back through time and different courses of events, how characters change in personality and manner. An example of such can be seen with Cillian Murphy’s character of playing an Officer in the evacuation at Dunkirk. First seeing him as a frightened, shell-shocked soldier found on the bow of a sinking ship we perceive him as this frail figure, it isn’t until a later scene following a separate narrative, it shows him, prior to the ship sinking, being in more of a self-contained manner, commanding a group of men. From this we are able to understand how he came to be like this.

‘Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind’ – 2004, Michel Gondfry.

2001: A Space Odyssey – 1968, Stanley Kubrick.

Spawned from the brutality of the first world war, Surrealism as an artform displayed the hysteria of imagery young men had to endure in the horrific conditions of trench warfare. Shattering conventional ideas about the world, Artists such as Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel challenged the traditional norms of art, which up until the first world war was mainly based on making art pieces reflective of the worlds reality’s. Instead these artists strived to show the realm of the unconscious, the dreamlike state off mind and fantasy’s that wasn’t represented in art.

By the Second World War, many surrealist artists, threatened by the highly conservative third Reich, fled Europe for survival. Through this, the movement began to spread to places such as the United States, were western artists such as Jackson pollock were made and created new ideas of surrealism as a global art movement.

8/10 –

For me my memorable scene is this horrific image of an eyeball slit in the very beginning of the film. With this gory image at the very beginning it creates a fear as to what comes next throughout the film and puts the viewer on edge, and state of confusion to creepily allusive imagery, made in a surrealist structure.

Claude Cahun, 1927

Frida Kahlo, 1946

‘The wounded dear’