Yesterday I decided to watch the acclaimed cinematic art-piece by David Lynch: Mulholland Drive. I have to say that while I was watching it, this movie made me very uneasy particularly in the last 1/3 of the film. And when I was done watching it I was like: WTF?! However I couldn't get my mind off it and after spending a lot of time mulling over the story-line (or story-lines) I finally understood (part of the whole thing) and I was completely blown away. After watching this movie I can honestly say that David Lynch has become one of my top favorites film-director/artist.
The story line of this film is very complicated to explain, so I won't even try doing that here. I suggest that you first watch the movie and then come-back and read this if you-re still interested. What I'll try to explain is the metaphors and double-meanings underlying the whole story. The following is an explanation of my personal views on things, people, objects, occurrences etc relevant to the move...so be warned that to the Director (David Lynch) these things may have had completely different meanings. But since this is a work of art, the whole movie is up to the interpretation of the viewer, so here goes:
The dream sequence
The first 2/3 of the movie is a dream sequence, all occurrences that happened here were happening in the imagination of Diane, the main protagonist. David Lynch does not make it clear in any way that what was happening was not real. Everything seems perfect in Diane's imagination: beautiful Hollywood, friendly people... Camilla as a clean slate (with her amnesia) so that she would be easy to possess and love. It's important to know that important people and objects from reality were also seen in the dream sequence although they were not given the same attributes as there real counter-parts. For example the hit-man who killed Camilla in reality also made an appearance in Diane's dream. The fact that in the dream he was portrayed as an inept contract killer might show that even if Diane was the one who told him to kill Camilla, she still hated him for the fact that he killed her lover, so portraying him as very clumsy and inept might have been a way for Diane to get back at him.
Reality
The last 1/3 of the movie. If you don't notice the transition between reality and imagination, you're going to be really confused once the story reaches this point.
The blue box
To me the blue box represents reality: ugly, harsh, depressing reality. Everything outside the box is in the imagination of Diane. When Rita opened the box she was sucked into reality and we could finally see what had really happened.
The blue key
The blue key looks very different in reality then how we first saw it in Diane's imagination. It signifies Camilla's death. I think that this also signifies reality in a way. When the key was finally associated with the box the dream sequence ended and the ugly truth became apparent (or not). It's also important to note that the key plays a major part in the reason for Diane to start her dream. When Diane saw the key, she was wrecked with guilt and this triggered her imagination.
Club Silencio
I seriously don't know but I think that this is the moment that divides reality from imagination. It's the only part in the movie where what's real and what's not is actually talked about. The man on the stage tells his audience that everything is unreal and the music and songs they were listening to were playbacks from a tape-recording. Also this is the moment when Diane and Rita found the blue box.
The monster
This part is really difficult to explain. The monster signifies the moment when Diane met with the hit-man at the Diner and made the decision to kill her lover: Camilla. In the dream sequence, the monster was associated with another person: a nameless man who always dreamed about meeting the monster. The monster was this man's worst nightmare. In the real world, this man existed and he was in the same Diner as Diane on that faithful day. Diane made eye-contact with the man at the same moment she made the terrible decision; that was the exact moment when the monster came into existence. In her dream Diane dumped that feeling on the nameless man and she transferred her fear onto him.
Betty
Betty is the name Diane gave herself in her dream. Betty was also the name of the waitress in the Diner. I think that the decision she took in the Diner made her hate herself and in a perfect world she wouldn't be herself and her name wouldn't be Diane...so she took the first name she saw: written on the waitress' badge.
The Psychic neighbor
When the neighbor saw Rita/Camilla with Diane/Betty she warned her of big trouble. I think that the neighbor signifies Diane's rational thinking in the dream telling her that everything was perfect: she was finally a great actress, had people who loved her and admired her talent...and she was really happy just like how she was the first time she came to Hollywood. The presence of Rita/Camilla was going to ruin it all...again. She wanted to stop herself from doing the same mistake all over again.
Well that's it. I admit that there are many, many more things which I haven't mentioned but the above are all points which I spent a lot of time mulling over in my mind. Anything else that I left out is either very easy to understand or impossible to rationalize.
