Of course we scratch our heads in bafflement at what exactly Mulholland Drive all means, is it parodying the life of Marilyn Monroe or some other tragic actress? Is this a Mobius strip phantasm reflecting parallel dimensions, a rumination on fantasy and broken dreams? And what of the highly unpredictable ending and how much does it represent the protagonist's upbringing or her taking part in a jitterbug contest (???!!). And yes, all these points are all very well, but ultimately despite my admiration that the film has motivated viewers imaginations I am still left with how it has made an impression on me. It's not like I'm a film goer who equates the necessity to 'enjoy' a film in the sense that it should be a fun ride like in a fairground, but I do have a fairly important stipulation that a piece of art should have power. And Ultimately I wasn't completely won over by Mulholland Drive, I felt emotionally disconnected from its fetishism of Hollywood and quite bored with the purposefully ambiguous dialogue/plot. That it should transcend such barriers of quality control just because it's considered great art seems a ludicrous approach to film criticism, and thus I can only conclude that I didn't get Mulholland drive, not for the purposes of it being a surreal, satirical or even its confusing narrative but simply because I thought while it was at times interesting film it was defiantly not the masterpiece I had been lead to believe.
Review of Mulholland Drive
