Lost Highway (5 Stars)

This is my favourite film. If ever a film deserved more than five stars this is it. Is there any way I can heap more praise on this film? Let me try to restrain myself and write a factual review, as difficult as it is.

Fred Madison is a sucessful jazz musician in Los Angeles. Very successful, judging by the size and quality of his home. The story starts when someone rings his doorbell and announces "Dick Laurent is dead". He looks through the window and the person has alrady left. Over the next few days a videotape is left on his doorstep each morning. The first day it's a video of the exterior of his house. The second day it's a video of Fred and his wife Renee asleep in bed. They call the police, but there's no evidence of a break in. The third day it's a video of Fred killing his wife in the bedroom, hacking his wife to pieces. Fred swears he is innocent, but the videotape is conclusive evidence and he's sentenced to death.

From this point on the story becomes weird. He's in death row awaiting execution. One morning the guards check his cell, and Fred is no longer there. In his place is a young car mechanic called Pete Dayton. Pete is released, since he hasn't committed any crime, but the police tail him looking for clues of his connection to Fred. Unfortunately, Pete is suffering from amnesia. He can't remember what happened the night before he appeared in the cell. His parents remember him being taken away by a mysterious man, but they refuse to tell him any more.

If you've never seen the film, stop reading now. After the pictures below I'm going to write some thoughts about the film's meaning, and spoilers are involved. Only read on if you already know the film.

Two random pictures from the film. The mystery man on the phone, and Pete in confusion after killing Andy.

Anyone who has watched "Lost Highway" already knows that it isn't an easy film to understand. Strange things happen. When the film was first released there were heated discussions in forums about the meaning of the film. Director David Lynch stayed out of the discussion, until a few years ago when he finally said that nobody had got it right. He might not agree with my explanation of the film, but I think that it will make more sense than what others have written.

Judging by what I've read, there are two main interpretations of the film, with several sub-variations. The one line says that Fred kills his wife because he can't satisfy her sexually, after which he has a mental breakdown and tries to invent a better new life for himself in which he is a virile young man. Those who believe this explanation point to the scene in the car at the end in which he is seemingly electrocuted, the electric chair being the act of reality that ends his fantasy. The other line says that Fred is caught in a time loop, as shown by the repeating of the words "Dick Laurent is dead" at the beginning and end of the film. So which is right?

The problem with the first theory is that it means almost everything in the film is a dream, something that didn't really happen. True, Fred says that he doesn't like video cameras because he likes to remember things his own way, not necessarily the way they happened. But if we accept this theory, the only thing that really happened in the film was that he killed his wife. There were no videotapes, no voice at the door, no mystery man at Andy's party. But the main evidence that Fred killed his wife was the videotape. I find the idea very dissatisfying that I am watching a film in which almost nothing that is shown really happens. I strongly doubt that a director of David Lynch's stature would make such a film.

The problem with the time loop theory is simply, how does it happen? I see the answer in the words that the mystery man speaks to Pete on the phone: "In the East, the Far East, when a person is sentenced to death, they're sent to a place where they can't escape, never knowing when an executioner may step up behind them, and fire a bullet into the back of their head". The place where the condemned man is sent to is the time loop, an impossible place to escape.

Who would have the power to do this? The mystery man, of course. He is the Devil, the one who only enters a person's house if he is invited in. Fred invited him in, and so did Pete. We aren't told why, but people have many reasons for making a deal with the Devil. Fred wanted wealth, Pete wanted success with girls? But an important question is, who is the condemned man waiting for the executioner? Is it Fred? Maybe it is; at the end of the film we see him in his car fleeing from the police, so his recapture is inevitable. But was Fred even guilty of the crime? I don't believe that he really killed his wife. He is sentenced to death on the basis of the videotape of the murder, but we never actually see his wife's body. On the contrary, we see her alive and well with Dick Laurent in the hotel. The one who is the condemned man is Dick Laurent. The time loop is wrapped around him. He has to be executed for the crime of making snuff movies. Fred is used to deliver Dick to the mystery man to be shot. Andy, who shares the guilt, is killed by Pete.

The question still remains what role Renee and Alice play in the plans. Fred and Pete are innocents who have allowed themselves to be caught up in something evil. Renee and Alice both seem to be evil. I don't have a conclusive answer. They are obviously the same person, or rather two sides of the same person, being used by the mystery man in his plans.

This is a complex film, but highly enjoyable. It shows a never ending nightmare, which at the same time terrifies and fascinates the viewer.