Today, I finally understood this movie… and I was amazed by it.
I think what happened to me was exactly the same as what happened to most people: when I saw this movie for the first time, years ago, I didn't understand a thing. That went on for a long time: whenever I saw this film, I ended up not understanding it. That ended today, when I saw it with a friend of mine, who also likes cinema and who told me “you have to keep two things in mind: the first is the non-linear narrative, sometimes with very subtle changes; the second is that most of the film is not real life, it is a dream of the protagonist”.
If there are films that are almost perfect, this one is close to it, although it is not easy to understand, and it is necessary to watch it five or six times to understand it well. I had already the experience that David Lynch's films are not easy... I had my first contact with the director a few years ago, with Blue Velvet, and I realized that he makes hermetic films, with implicit ideas and dreamlike suggestions, which often (almost always) escape our eyes. I like that: it's a challenging kind of cinema, which makes you think and moves you. It doesn't mean that I understand everything! And today, talking with my friend, I finally managed to understand this film better. Initially made in 1999 as a pilot episode for a TV series, it was made into a feature film after TV producers rejected the product. The very way Lynch took his failure and turned it into one of his biggest hits is remarkable, revealing his style and persistence.
The film is really good, and I believe that, by commenting on what I learned today, I am already helping those who want to see it and understand it. If we pay attention, it indicates the moments when the main character falls asleep (right at the beginning) and wakes up again. And I think I can still say, without revealing too much, that the party at the film director's house, very close to the end, is the key scene to understand more than half of the plot, which basically focuses on a young woman, who goes to Los Angeles with the dream of becoming rich and famous and fails in that desire, combining this frustration with a huge love heartbreak, and the loss of her own moral values and innocence.
The cast is perfectly up to the challenges they're getting from the director, and it's amazing to see Naomi Watts here. This film truly symbolizes the start of her career, as she only did a few minor jobs, in Europe and the USA, until making this film. She is truly excellent, managing to capture all our sympathy and make us like her character. To a certain extent, I think the actress saw a lot of herself in the character she played: she also had a dream of succeeding in her career, and she also suffered to achieve it. Also, Laura Harring did very well and deserves praise for her work. Justin Theroux, who played director Adam Kesher, makes a welcome and solid contribution to the work of the actresses, even though this film is clearly dominated by them.
Technically, this is a film class at all levels. In addition to the brilliant direction, Lynch bets a lot on cinematography. Here, it is worth seeing how he uses the locations he chooses, the cityscapes, and some techniques such as zoom, close-up or blur, to convey messages to the audience about the characters' state of mind. He also makes good use of color, vibrant and beautiful, with the colors red and blue having a particularly important meaning for understanding the film. The film has some intense nude and sex scenes, and a very slow pace that is intentional. The settings are also very important: sometimes, the arrangement of props and the way the actors relate to them helps us to understand what we see, but this is really subtle, and you have to be attentive. Finally, a very special word for the hypnotic and almost unforgettable soundtrack, signed by Angelo Badalamenti, which is worth listening to, from the main leitmotif to the songs, happy and carefree, in the style of the 50s.