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Reader comments on
Subject: Above and Below
Date: Nov 11, 2002
I've read a lot of the postings and I'm surprised no one has commented on the imagery of the title road of the movie. Mulholland Drive is a real road through the Hollywood Hills of LA. In the movie it serves to divide the lower world of apartments and diners from the multi-million-dollar mansions of stars and directors.
The first limo ride on MD ends in a very unhappy surprise. Rita leaves the scene of the accident and descends from Mulholland Drive into the world below. In this world, Betty is in charge, resourceful, while Rita is helpless.
When the limo again cruises MD later in the movie, the ride ends in a pleasant surprise: Camilla is there to greet Diane. This time, the limo rider ascends the hill, and this time it is the blond Betty/Diane who is helpless at the dinner party while Rita/Camilla is in charge.
So there is a symmetry around Mulholland Drive. Could this road be purgatory, with heaven above and hell below? Except, for Diane, heaven is actually below and hell is above.
In both cases, the person who leaves the limo is helpless, out of their world. Almost like they are dead. This imagery of passing above and below Mulholland Drive may be part of the answer to what Lynch meant by his clue: "4) An accident is a terrible event . . . notice the location of the accident."
And on another note: "Sylvia North Story" is the name of the film project. Well, the name Sylvia comes from "sylvan" meaning woods, so the name means North Woods, i.e. Canada. So there is this link with Canada, where Betty comes from.
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David Lynch's 10 Clues redux [3-5]
3) Can you hear the title of the film that Adam Kesher is auditioning actresses for? Is it mentioned again?
Yes÷if youâre patient, persistent, have your ear pressed against the speaker, and replay the scene 50 to 1000 times. As the blonde in the pink dress walks out to sing ãEvery Little Star,ä you hear a stagehand say, ãSylvia North Story auditions, take one.ä Itâs mumbled background noise and very easy to miss, but he most certainly says ãSylvia North Story.ä That is the name of the movie Adamâs auditioning actresses for. And is it mentioned again? You bet it is÷at the dinner party near the end when Diane explains to Coco that she met Camilla on the set of The Sylvia North Story. Diane wanted the lead so badly, she says, but Camilla won it instead.
Diane: ãThe director . . ã
Guy next to her: ãBob Brooker?ä
Diane: ã. . yes . . . he didnât think so much of me.ä
Bob Brooker is the name of the director Diane is introduced to along with the casting agents, etc, in the producerâs office where she does her great audition winning everyoneâs raves. His name is mentioned when theyâre introduced. Immediately following that scene, she is taken across the street where Adam is auditioning for The Sylvia North Story. Iâll again refrain from imposing any of my own conclusions with regard to this (same reason as above).
While Iâm at it though, let me talk for a moment about the blonde who sings ãEvery Little Star.ä This is ãCamilla Rhodesä as presented to Adam in a headshot photo at the beginning of the movie (later, when Diane presents it to the hit man at Winkieâs, the headshot is of brunette Camilla). This is also the girl who kisses Camilla in that oh-so-significant dinner party scene near the end. My wild, reckless interpretation: Diane has it in the back of her mind that maybe Camilla didnât get the role completely on the up and up (Lynch himself implies this; see below). Evil, manipulative forces were at work. Also, sheâs forced to witness this unknown blonde kiss the object of her unrequited love and then cast a knowing, humiliating glance at her. In dreams, we often juxtapose roles, inexplicably inserting characters we saw briefly that morning on the bus and so on. Thereâs far more significance than that to this blonde in Dianeâs mind, and so she includes her in her imaginings of menacing men in black suits forcing casting decisions. (Also, sheâs ridiculously, intensely, disturbingly hot÷as is brunette Camilla, as is Diane herself. This movie is a visual feast in every imaginable sense.)
4) An accident is a terrible event . . . notice the location of the accident.
Yeah, whatever.
5) Who gives a key, and why?
A blue key appears in two distinct incarnations (incidentally, a number of people, both here and in various reviews, have devoted some measure of analysis to Lynchâs use of color, particularly red and blue. Mulholland is not the first film in which Lynch has made such apparently deliberate use of color, and I think those people are definitely on to something, though my meager little brain is far too small to wrap around whatever it is.) Anyway, a blue key is given to Diane by the hit man at Winkieâs. Well, he actually doesnât give it to her just then; he tells her ãwhen itâs done, youâll find this where I told you.ä The key, then, will be a symbol indicating Camilla is dead. We next see the key (chronologically÷sequentially, we actually first see it before the hit man/Winkieâs scene) on Dianeâs coffee table. Itâs there when sheâs awakened by her neighbor knocking on the door looking to pick up her stuff after their apartment switch. (Iâve seen it suggested, by the way, that this neighbor was Dianeâs REAL lover, and Camilla is merely a more attractive dream version of her. I believe thereâs absolutely nothing to this theory.)
The other blue key is the one Rita finds in her purse along with packets of money shortly after Betty discovers her in her auntâs shower. Rita has amnesia and doesnât know what the key and money are about. Neither does Betty and nor does the audience÷however, DIANE knows. Thatâs because this version of the key along with the money, Rita, the apartment and the entire scene are in her head. Things are often symbolic and exaggerated in dreams. The dream key is strangely shaped and larger than the actual one given to Diane by the hit man. The money is exaggerated too; there are stacks of it in Ritaâs purse, at least 4 packets, but when Diane is in Winkieâs with the hit man, there isnât nearly so much as that. Dianeâs mind incorporates all these items into her Rita-fantasy in the surreal manner characteristic of dreams.
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Comment index:
wow from Rosanna, Jun 10, 2002
Re: wow from Joshua (editor of Offoffoff), Jun 12, 2002
Re: wow from Tashtigo707, Jun 17, 2002
» Above and Below « from Jay, Nov 11, 2002
PCP from Kilgore Trout, Sep 1, 2002
Aunt??? from HugeElvis, Oct 14, 2002
wow from Rosanna, Jun 10, 2002
Re: wow from Joshua (editor of Offoffoff), Jun 12, 2002
Re: wow from Tashtigo707, Jun 17, 2002
» Above and Below « from Jay, Nov 11, 2002
PCP from Kilgore Trout, Sep 1, 2002
Aunt??? from HugeElvis, Oct 14, 2002
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