Your thoughts on Mulholland Drive

Thanks for your quick and thoughtful response, Allaby.

I sent a current reply w/o reading the thread and I apologize if I sounded harsh. It's just that Lynch has such a particular style (for the most part) I was taken aback that one might be on the fence about such an ... interesting film, directed by DL.
I hesitate to say whether it's one of his best or any sort of classic, but it's hard to imagine someone not knowing what they are getting when we are talking about Lynch.
No I never went about buying films willy-nilly "just because". (Had a friend do this, he had too much $$ and didn't know what to do with it.) So I appreciate you wanting to spend wisely.

Mulholland Drive is definitely my favourite David Lynch film, and one of my favourite films of all. It's worth watching it a few times to get your head around it. Basically my take on it is that the first two thirds are a kind of dream/wish-fulfilment fantasy, and the last third is the sad reality. But it's just so atmospheric, with a great music score as well.

Blue Velvet is well worth seeing as well, and the Criterion Blu-ray is again the best option.

Here's my thoughts about what happens in it but it also contains lots of SPOILERS so don't read it until after you've seen it if you don't want to be SPOILED:

Remember the SCENE where the DIRECTOR says:

THIS is the GIRL

And NAOMI who's there for the AUDITION runs out of the place before meeting the DIRECTOR???

My theory is SHE's the GIRL who KILLED the other GIRL they find after they take the CAB to that other apt and find the DEAD BODY.

Also NOTE the way RITA's memory also comes back to her again after that and she WAKES UP saying the same words that we hear being said on STAGE by the MAGICIAN in the THEATRE of SILENCE -- where they REPEAT again what's taken place at that AUDITION (where we also see an ALREADY DEAD GIRL singing that EVERY LITTLE STAR SONG).

Because we also hear the DIRECTOR saying "PLAYBACK" which means they're playing an AUDITION TAPE.

So what most likely happened is NAOMI goes through RITA'S PURSE while she's still in the shower, FINDS all of that CASH, along with RITA's wallet which probably also contained her dr. license with her address on it.

Then NAMOI probably also goes to RITA's place hoping to find still more MONEY, but finds the other girl there instead (RITA's lover), and they get into a fight and NAOMI KILLS HER (which explains why RITA got so upset when they find her CORPSE).

And that also explains the reason why NAOMI RUNS AWAY when she hears the DIRECTOR saying: THIS IS THE GIRL, because she probably also thought the MOB MEN were COPS and she was about to be arrested for murder.

Also NOTE the way she's NOT as INNOCENT when she does the other AUDITION SCENE as she pretends to be with that other OLD COUPLE when she first arrives in town.

And LYNCH has made her character so AMBIGUOUS that one also gets FOOLED by the DECEPTIVELY INNOCENT FACADE that he creates for her.

Also keep in mind how he also has the HIT MAN that she hires to KILL RITA killing 2 other people after he kills his other friend. So in a matter of a few min he also turns what starts out to be a FAKE SUICIDE SCENE into looking like a DOUBLE HOMICIDE/SUICIDE SCENE. And others also say how STUPID the HIT MAN was, but what he does was BRILLIANT (in a VERY DEVIANT kind of way).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7hajOYFVZQ&t=1s

Hey, Man (MULHOLLAND DR. video scene where ED is murdered)


Then we also have that other HIT JOB that turns into the LIMO getting HIT by the "JOY RIDERS" before they can KILL RITA before NAOMI hires HIT MAN JOE to kill her again.