Summary:
A saxophonist is sent to prison for the murder of his wife, where he suddenly morphs into a mechanic.
My Thoughts:
I love David Lynch (director of “Mulholland Drive” and “Eraserhead”). I think he’s a brilliant, though sometimes dense, director that asks the questions many people are unwilling or unable to ask- the kinds of questions that make us ask why we’re here, what existence is all about, that sort of thing.
When Lynch is at his peak (“Eraserhead”, “Mulholland”) I think you could pit him against any director that ever lived, and he’d still hold his ground; I don’t think this is peak Lynch, however. I liked this movie, more and more the longer I think about it, but I did not love it like I did some of his other films (though it is a heck of a lot better than “Dune”).
I suppose it should go without saying that this film is freaking weird, most Lynch films are; while this film isn’t as weird as “Eraserhead” I’d say it’s weirdness is about on par with “Mulholland Drive”. The problem is that, with this film, I’m not entirely sure what Lynch is getting at. “Eraserhead” has moments of total surreal bizarreness, but I could always tell that the overall film was more or less about anxiety surrounding parenthood, and how that anxiety is universal; everyone from Henry as the parent of his deformed child, to God and his children here on earth feels some kind of nervousness when bringing forth new life. “Eraserhead” takes it a step further- is it proper to even bring life into a world so cold and strange? Even though there were certain scenes that I couldn’t tell you exactly what the meaning was, the overall result still left me feeling satisfied, as if Lynch had shed light on some questions I had never asked myself.
In “Lost Highway” I felt as if I got the general gist- many of the scenes were saying certain things, many scenes were incredibly memorable and meaningful (some, downright terrifying)- but overall I was still left feeling as if I’d missed some of the depth I usually feel with Lynch’s other films. I also think that Lynch is an incredibly smart filmmaker, and there are Eastern philosophy influences that I probably am not as familiar with as he, so I’ll be the first to admit some of the more nuanced moments might’ve gone over my head. To me, the biggest clue about this film’s meaning came from the Mystery Man (Robert Blake, “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”) when he was talking to Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty, “Feast”) over the phone; in that scene the Mystery Man says: “In the East, the Far East, when a person is sentenced to death, they’re sent to a place where they can’t escape, never knowing when an executioner may step up behind them, and fire a bullet into the back of their head.”
(SPOILERS FOLLOW)
“I like to remember things my own way.”
Fred Madison (Bill Pullman, “Brain Dead”) is a jazz saxophonist married to Renee Madison (Patricia Arquette, “A Nightmare on Elm Street III: Dream Warriors”). One night, Fred and Renee receive a videotape that show the front of their home, and soon, they receive another videotape that shows the inside of their home, and the two of them sleeping. Disturbed, they call the police, but the police are unable to find any evidence of forced entry. The couple goes to a party where Fred meets the Mystery Man, who tells him that they have met before, and that he is at his home right now. Fred calls his house and finds that the Mystery Man is indeed simultaneously at his home and at that party. The next day, Renee is found dead, and Fred is unsure if he killed her. He is sent to prison where he is sentenced to death, but then, inexplicably, he transforms into Pete Dayton. Pete is released from prison and begins his own life, only to have unusual encounters with both the Mystery Man and Alice Wakefield (Arquette), a woman whom looks exactly like Renee Madison.
So, the quote from the Mystery Man (whom I took to be a personification of death) about the executions in the Far East is, in my opinion, sort of the key to the whole film. This movie is about a man being sentenced to death, and somehow that man morphs into someone else. I took Fred morphing into Pete as a kind of break in reality- Frank has gone mad, and created for himself a kind of escape before he can be executed (think of the short story “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”). In this way, he’s created a world where he can sort of escape the idea of death- he literally becomes Pete Dayton and is able to walk out of prison. However, even though he has created a world for himself where he can escape, in reality he is still Frank (hence why Pete morphs back into Frank at the end), and is still being chased by death; it is, after all, inescapable. The second half of the film, where Pete slowly is dragged back towards the events of the first half of the film, work to sort of unveil what Renee was involved in, and how it was she ended up dead. The way this information is delved out feels a bit like “Blue Velvet”- it’s very noir-ish; shadowy, sexualized, and grim. Towards the end of the film, the story sort of becomes imperfectly cyclical.
Verdict:
I honestly think I’ll like this movie more the second time I watch it. Though the story and symbolism are pretty weird and dense, I do think that there is a lot of meaning behind it all; at the same time, I don’t think this film is nearly as meaningful or thought provoking as “Mulholland Drive”, which I consider a straight up masterpiece. “Lost Highway” is absolutely worth watching (all Lynch films are, even that abortion “Dune” has it’s moments), but if you’re looking to start your journey with Lynch, I would not start here.
End Note: I wondered if Michael Haneke took some inspiration from this film when he wrote “Cache”- the openings with the tapes from mysterious senders felt very similar.
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