Mulholland Drive

Original title: Mulholland Dr.

2001
R
2h 27m

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

392K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

590

Play trailer1:26

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Psychological Drama Psychological Thriller Showbiz Drama Suspense Mystery Drama Mystery Thriller

After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

392K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

590

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 50 wins & 61 nominations total

Rita
(as Laura Elena Harring)
…

Justin Theroux

Adam

Jeanne Bates

Irene

Dan Birnbaum

Irene's Companion

Randall Wulff

Limo Driver
(as Scott Wulff)

Robert Forster

Detective McKnight

Brent Briscoe

Detective Domgaard

Maya Bond

Aunt Ruth

Patrick Fischler

Michael Cooke

Herb

Bonnie Aarons

Michael J. Anderson

Mr. Roque

Joseph Kearney

Roque's Manservant

Enrique Buelna

Back of Head Man

Richard Mead

Hairy-Armed Man

Sean Everett

Cab Driver at LAX
(as Sean E. Markland)

Ann Miller

Coco

Director
- David Lynch
Writer
- David Lynch
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The set of reels that was distributed to the movie theaters included a computer-written, photocopied note from director David Lynch himself giving special instructions to the projectionists worldwide. Specifically, he did not want the film to be centered vertically on the screen, but rather to "allow more overhead" as the term in projectionist's slang, that is, to let the top part of the frame be more visible than the bottom part. This was because the film was originally made for TV, with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (or 16:9) in mind -- without the projectionists' manual correction, the aspect ratio of the theatrical release (1.85:1) would have resulted in heads being cut off at the top of the silver screen. Lynch also asked to raise the volume of the theater's sound system by three decibels when the film was playing. The note ended with the words, "Your friend, David Lynch."

Goofs
When Betty and Rita are rehearsing for Betty's audition, Rita can be seen reading from a script with lines for "Betty" and "Rita." However, due to the dream logic of the film, this may be interpreted as a clue to what is really going on.

Quotes
Cowboy: When you see the girl in the picture that was shown to you earlier today, you will say, "this is the girl". The rest of the cast can stay, that's up to you. But the choice for that lead girl is NOT up to you. Now... you will see me one more time, if you do good. You will see me... two more times, if you do bad. Good night.

Crazy credits
Credits have the movie director's name as 'Bob Booker' (not 'Brooker' as we hear). Furthermore, many of the characters' names are simply not mentioned at all during the course of the film (Billy Deznutz, Joe Messing, Bondar, etc.) but their character's names are all listed in the closing credits.

Alternate versions
Some scenes were deleted to shorten the running time of the movie. Some of the missing scenes are:
An additional scene of the detectives McKnight and Domgaard in the police station talking about the car crash the previous night on Mulholland Drive.
A full scene of dialog with the hit man Joe and the pimp Billy in Pinky's Hot Dog stand with Joe asking about information on the missing woman and about the hot dogs served while the drugged out streetwalker Laney looks on.
A scene of the Castigliane limo arriving outside Adam Kesher's house where the goon, Kenny, gets out and talks briefly with Taka, the Japanese gardener in the driveway asking if he has seen Adam recently.
A scene of Betty arriving on the studio lot and meeting Martha Johnson outside the producer's office and Wally coming out the front door to meet her and take her inside.
An extended scene showing the introduction of Mr. Roque of Vincent Darby entering a large office building and taking an elevator to one of the top floors and asking the receptionist if he could enter Mr. Roque's office.
During the scene where Mr. Roque relays the message 'the girl is still missing' to various unseen associates, when the unseen man with the hairy arm on the yellow telephone rings his contact, the original scene was not of a telephone under a lamp with a red shade, but a white speaker phone on a bright blue table and a woman's hand (Camila Rhodes?) answering it, but cutting away before she says anything.
The scene of Adam meeting with the executives is longer with him first arriving holding a iron golf club demanding why he has been called away from the golf course to this meeting and Ray giving him a vague explanation to the movie he's filming. The scene ends with the Castigliane brothers leaving first and Adam yelling at the executives over them rigging the casting of the lead actress and about the film being kept locked up in the studio safe.
A bit scene where after the bruiser Kenny knocks unconscious Adam's wife and the pool man, he walks around Adam's house and sees Adam's wife's jewelry in the kitchen sink which is overflowing with water. Kenny then is shown breaking all of Adam's golf clubs as payback for trashing the limo and then leaves telling the gangsters in the back of the limo that Adam's not home.
There is another scene introducing Wilkins (Scott Coffee) who lives in a studio loft above Betty Elms's apartment where Adam phones him just before his meeting with the Cowboy and telling Wilkins about finding his wife in bed with the pool man, and asks Wilkins if he could come over to stay for a while since he has no money. Wilkins agrees, and after hanging up, he yells at his dog crouched in a corner about relieving himself all over the place.

Connections
Edited into Zaum - Andare a parare: Apparire/sparire, essere/riessere: il trucco dell'anima e i fuochi d'artificio dell'immortalità (2011)

Soundtracks
Sixteen Reasons
Written by Doree Post and Bill Post
Performed by Connie Stevens
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User reviews2.2K

Review

Featured review

10/10

Where does it begin and end??

Hitchcock would be proud of this movie. Even when nothing happens, it is suspenseful. Director David Lynch overuses a few cheap thrill tricks here and there, but he intersperses them with other cinematographic techniques to keep it from becoming obtuse.

Altogether surreal, this movie is like waking up and remembering most of a dream but not enough to make it sensible. I am still trying to figure it all out and will probably have to see it again to catch things I missed and which may help me understand it better. It is a very detailed plot that very slowly comes together, so you must be patient and pay attention. Get your bathroom trip out of the way before it starts. And yet, the plot is overshadowed by the theme, the mood, the character development, and the filming techniques.

The dual roles of the main actress, Naomi Watts, showcase her enormous talent. That is, when I could get my eyes off of her co-star. What an acting pair.

Lynch surprises throughout the movie with unusual camera angles, the length/timing of editing cuts, jumping back and forth between scenes. Combined with smart use of music and sounds, it all helps to build suspense in our minds, doubtless a major objective of the director. Well, he kept me on the edge of my seat, even had me talking to the actors to be careful here, and not be so naive there. You know, the kind of stuff you want to smack your kids for doing at the movies.