Thread Plot Structure

After veiwing Mulholland Drive for the first time I found the film to be incredibly frustrating. This film is obviously made for veiwers that understand looping plot structures, or thread plot structures. An ordinary veiwer would be lost in translation when trying to figure out what happened in the szyuhet. Only after I read the assigned chapter on Mulholland Drive, did I come close to understanding the motives behind the film. However, I find the style of this film to be too eccentric. I do not understand why it is entertaing to try and figure out where the second act of this film begins, or which reality is true and which is the dream world. For me, the opening of the blue box is not enough to transition back to either the begginging or middle act. Also, the mysterious psychic neighbor is such a weird addition to this film. I can only explain the neighbor as a represention of a possible dream state.  

To the contrary, I do agree with Lynch that putting clues in the frame for the audience is appealing as a moviegoer. I believe I would have liked this film more if it were more linear, or had better cues as to what was really happening (an ensemble plot). For instance, when the gentleman walks outside the restaurant and dies when he sees the crazy looking monster, was that just to introduce the monster because that fairly long scene has nothig to do with the rest of the film? Or was it to introduce the idea of mysticism? Who knows. One good cue in the film was the return of the cowboy. He says ( not exact ) to the director, when they are at the ranch, that his return will not be a good one. Then, when opening the door to the bedroom, the woman is dead as the cowboy tells her to get up. This connection was a good one, but did not connect the different thread structures in the film. His first appearance had to do with threatening a director, while his second appearance was over a woman’s dead body (we come to know this woman as Betty), both of which had no connection. Also, if the first two thirds of the film was a dream, how did Betty (the dead woman) know that the cowboy and director met? As someone pointed out in class, I guess one could watch this film over and over, picking up new details each time. But, I feel that this film is designed not to make sense. Each veiwer leaves with a different impression, and that is Lynch’s intent. He doesn’t want to make a story, rather, he allows the veiwer to make their own story.          

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