Staff Review - Mulholland Drive

[Watcher]

ROADSHOW ENTERTAINMENT

MULHOLLAND DRIVE

Release Date: July 3, 2002
Roadshow Entertainment
Rating: MA15+
RRP: $39.95

SPECIAL FEATURES AND SPECS:

David Lynch Interview

Cannes Film Festival - Press conference

Theatrical Trailer

Subtitles: English for the Hearing Impaired.

Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1

Aspect: 1.85:1 Widescreen 16:9 enhanced

Running Time: 141 minutes.

CAST:
Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring, Ann Miller and Robert Forster
DIRECTED BY: David Lynch

FROM THE BACK COVER:
4 GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS. WINNER - CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, BOSTON FILM CRITICS, LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS, NEW YORK CRITICS, TORONTO CRITICS.
"9 out of 10. If 'Chinatown was the ultimate movie about American business corruption, then 'Mulholland Drive' is the ultimate movie about the movie business itself" - Rob Lowing, Sun Herald
"Nobody Creates cinematic nightmares like David Lynch, and 'Mulholland Drive'...is one of his most intense and scary" - Chicago Tribune
Lynch fans should rejoice as 'Mulholland Drive' is his best film since 'Blue Velvet'" - Reeling Reviews

SYNOPSIS BY DAVID LYNCH:
Part One: She found herself the perfect mystery.
Part Two: A sad illusion.
Part Three: Love.

Sounds simple and straightforward....but nothing is straightforward in a David Lynch film. Part erotic thriller, part fantasy, part nightmare, part enigma wrapped in a riddle - this is Lynch at his most daring, provocative and complex.
Mulholland Drive is a mind-altering journey to the dark heart of the American Dream, where sinister forces lurk beneath every surface. Naive ingénue Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) has come to Hollywood to seek fame and fortune - but she finds something much more disturbing waiting in her apartment - a mysterious woman whose only memory is that someone is trying to kill her.
What begins as a simple premise unfolds into a shattering hallucinogenic vision of what it takes to make it in Hollywood. No-one comes out with their soul intact.


AUDIO/VISUAL:
Audio:
The main feature has just the single audio track, which is Dolby Digital 5.1
There's no doubt that the audio is just as important to this David Lynch film as any other factor such as the cast. Angelo Badalamenti provides a spine tingling and sometimes unnerving score that should have Twin Peaks fans feeling a sense of hearing something similar before. The score ranges from one extreme to the other with quite, soft and somewhat relaxing tones and then very strong and sudden bursts of energy that can be startling at times.
Dialogue is very audible, easy to follow and was never really interfered with by the sometimes strong and threatening score. There were no issues with sync being a problem.
The overall audio was a little front heavy with much of the audio coming from the mains and centre speaker. The rear speakers were functioning by providing the usual ambience and support for some of the score, but not enough to prevent the audio from being slightly dominated by the front sound stage.
The sub is used throughout the movie and makes its presence know with some nice low level hums and rumbles along the way.

Video:
Mulholland Drive has an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 widescreen and is 16:9 enhanced with viewers being offered a pleasant enough looking transfer.
The image is very clear, sharp and offers a lot of detail. There are no really noticeable marks and blemishes showing themselves, but there were some moments where fine grain is apparent in some of the darker scenes in the earlier parts of the movie.
The use of colour was very interesting, with darker, yet somewhat muted shades of brown, greys and maroon keeping in with the sometimes, dark and sombre mood of the movie. There are occasions though where colours such as reds, blues and yellow and very striking and bold in appearance.
Flesh tones had an accurate pigmentation and were mostly natural and realistic in appearance.
Blacks were of an acceptable level and shadow detail is quite good with all the darker scenes that take place in this movie.
I didn't notice the layer change when viewing the movie.

EXTRA FEATURES:
David Lynch Interview -
This is just a quick 3.52 minute interview with David Lynch during the Cannes Film Festival where he answers questions such as: Where did he draw his inspiration for Mulholland Drive? - Why did he decide to turn it into a movie? - Was his approach different when making this a love story between two women? and more. While not a long interview it does provide a little more insight into David Lynch's reasoning when making the movie.
Cannes Festival - Press Conference -
This feature runs for 10.52 minutes and is basically a question and answer segment where David Lynch, Angelo Badalamenti, Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring, Justin Theroux and a few other crew members are sitting at a long table answering questions about the movie posed to them by a room full of International reporters. I wouldn't class this as the most enlightening segment as most of the questions were pretty disappointing. Considering this could have been an amazing feature having the main cast and crew in the one room I can't help feeling let down with what was provided.
Theatrical Trailer -
The Theatrical Trailer provided on this DVD makes Mulholland Drive look like a mainstream Hollywood thriller when in reality it couldn't be farther from the truth.
This Trailer runs for 1.38 minutes and is presented in widescreen with Dolby 2.0 audio.
Easter Egg/Hidden Feature -
The Easter Egg provided can be accessed by pressing the left direction key on your remote when you are on the Special Features page highlighting a blue key at the top left of the screen.
By selecting this key you are taken to a segment which lists David Lynch's 10 clues to unlocking the thrills of MULHOLLAND DRIVE
Each 'clue' is listed on a separate page which you can scroll through by using the next/back buttons.
For those of you who don't want to take the time to do this you will find the 'clues' listed on the inside of the DVD cover.
OVERALL:
Mulholland Drive is definitely a David Lynch movie. The music, the story, the characters and in fact the whole movie is unmistakably 'David Lynch' from start to finish.
Viewers of Mulholland Drive are either going to applaud this movie at the end or in their best "Rove" voice, say "What the..." Maybe some will do a bit of both. I certainly did.
The cast are outstanding in their individual roles with Australian Naomi Watts giving a stellar performance that I'm sure she and many others are proud of.
The quality of the audio and video on the DVD should please most but the extra features are little light on and the press conference especially was disappointing.
One other thing I really should mention about the DVD is that the main feature is just one chapter only.
If people aren't familiar with David Lynch's work I strongly suggest that this be a rental but for the many fans out there that enjoy everything David Lynch get hold of this movie and make it a permanent part of your collection.
Mulholland Drive has a release date of July 3, 2002 and a RRP of $39.95

Rating out of 5
VIDEO QUALITY	4
AUDIO QUALITY	4
EXTRAS	3
THE MOVIE	4
OVERALL	4