Lost Highway (5 Stars)

Finally I'm watching my favourite film again. It's a masterpiece. Maybe I shouldn't say finally, because I watched it twice last year. It's a film I could watch every day, or maybe only once a week, because it's overpowering and I need time to recover.

It's a film that I'd like to watch with friends who appreciate it as much as I do. It's a film I'd like to discuss with friends, preferably over a beer. Tonight I was sitting alone, during and after the film, so I tried something new. I started a discussion with ChatGPT. First I asked what the film meant, and I was glad that ChatGPT gave the time loop interpretation, not the fantasy interpretation that Fred Madison invented everything while he was in his prison cell. The latter interpretation was popular for years, until David Lynch came out and said it was wrong. That's probably why ChatGPT sticks to the time loop theory.

Our discussion revolved around two questions:

1. Who is the executioner?

2. Did Fred Madison really kill his wife?

A couple of times I contradicted ChatGPT, saying "That isn't true, because..." and I always got insightful replies. Either ChatGPT said "Yes it is", giving arguments to back up its position, or it agreed with me.

This was clearest in the case of Fred Madison killing his wife. ChatGPT said a few times that Fred was a murderer, but when I said "I don't think Fred really killed his wife", it backed down and said "There are a lot of arguments in favour of your position". After the alleged murder the body is never shown on screen. More to the point, at the end of the film Fred finds his wife in the hotel having sex with Dick Laurent. The only other explanation for this is that in the time loop the final scenes of the film might have happened before the murder. Maybe. That doesn't add up, because Andy is alive before the murder, but he's dead at the end of the film.

The executioner must be Fred. He kills Dick Laurent in cold blood. Dick Laurent was guilty of killing people in snuff films, so he was condemned to death. Where was he sent to wait for his execution? Into the time loop. Where was the executioner? Fred was hiding in Pete Dayton's body.

The main argument against Fred being the executioner is that he dies at the end of the film. Or does he? The final scene takes place outside of the time loop, where anything is possible. In the opening scenes, when Dick Laurent's death is announced, we hear the police cars chasing Fred; but Fred is still in his apartment.

Interestingly, ChatGPT tried to smooth over all our disagreements by saying David Lynch is painting a surreal picture which can't be fully explained; it doesn't matter if Fred killed his wife or not.

A friend of mine – if you're reading this you know who you are – said to me that David Lynch makes films which only he can understand. That's not a viewpoint I like. I prefer ChatGPT's surreal picture explanation.

I'd still prefer to discuss the film with a person. Preferably in person, but if anyone wants to leave comments on this post I'll answer him.

Success Rate:  - 3.9

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de

The Straight Story (4 Stars)

This is the second film presented by Alexander Kiensch for the monthly film evening. It's another film directed by David Lynch, also a true story.

In 1994 Alvin Straight heard the news that his brother had suffered a stroke. They hadn't spoken for 10 years, so Alvin decided to visit him. Because of his poor eyesight he didn't have a driver's license, so he made the 240 mile journey on a lawn mower, towing a trailer in which he slept at night. The lawn mower had a maximum speed of five miles per hour, so he needed about six weeks for the trip.

The film ends when Alvin arrives. The reconciliation between the two brothers isn't significant. The film is all about the journey, about the trip and the people Alvin met. We see America at its best. The sun is shining, and everyone is friendly. It's a perfect world.

Success Rate:  - 1.6

The Elephant Man (4 Stars)

I'm a strange person sometimes. I watched "The Elephant Man" for the first time in 2013. I evidently enjoyed it, based on my rating and what I wrote about it. And yet I didn't watch it again until today, 12 years later. I wouldn't even have watched it today if it hadn't been presented by my good friend Alexander Kiensch at our monthly film evening.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what if a person is so deformed that it's impossible to look at him without being repulsed? I would be polite enough to accept the person, but I wouldn't be able to overcome my inner feelings.

The film is a true story. At the beginning of the film John Merrick is 21. He was 27 when he died. When he was discovered in a freak show it was assumed that he was mentally retarded and mute. The doctor treating him soon discovered and he was of normal intelligence, and he was able to speak but preferred not to.

The film is moving as the portrayal of a man treated as an outsider for no fault of his own.

Success Rate:  + 3.2

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de

Lost Highway (5 Stars)

Finally! This has been my favourite film for years, but today is the first time I've seen it in the cinema. The film stunned me as if I were watching it for the very first time.

I'm unable to write any more today. I'll try to explain my problems later this week.

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de

Wild At Heart (4 Stars)

Last week "Lost Highway" was shown in the cinema, but I couldn't go because it was sold out. I had mixed feelings. On the one hand I was sad, because I've never seen "Lost Highway" on the big screen. On the other hand, I was glad that so many people wanted to see such a wonderful film.

Tonight "Wild at Heart" was shown, also a film I've never previously seen in the cinema. It was a tribute evening to David Lynch. Two short films were shown before it started. The first was a tribute to David Lynch, a montage of short clips from his films and television series. The second was a collection of clips of things he said over the years, mostly taken from interviews. 

Nicolas Cage plays Sailor, a naive young man. He's dating Lula, played by Laura Dern. Lula's mother doesn't approve of him and hires a man to kill him. There's a fight, in which Sailor viciously kills the man with his bare hands. As a result he's sent to prison for two years, but Lula faithfully waits for him. Her mother is furious. She thought Lula would change her mind after having time to cool down.

Lula picks Sailor up from prison, but instead of going home they decide to drive all the way from North Carolina to California. That would be 2600 miles if they drove directly, but Sailor makes a detour through Texas to visit an old friend in Big Tuna, population 603. Meanwhile, Lula's mother has hired an assassin to find and kill Sailor. Since she doesn't trust him, she hires a second assassin, her former lover. (Or maybe he's still her lover, it's not clear).

Sailor drives through the barren landscape, not fully aware of what's happening around him. He's in love, which is all that matters. Nicolas Cage's acting is the opposite of his later performances. In this 1990 film he isn't at all over-the-top, he's supremely laid back.

It's an incredible film. The only thing that disturbs me is the amount of smoking. It's not just an occasional cigarette, Sailor and Lula are smoking in almost every scene. On occasions Sailor even has two cigarettes in his mouth. Maybe David Lynch meant this to be significant, but it's not attractive. In fact, it's repulsive.

Success Rate:  - 0.5

	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de

Inland Empire (4 Stars)

"Inland Empire" is the final film made by David Lynch in 2006. Today is the fourth time I've watched it.

I wanted to watch it in the cinema in 2006, but it wasn't shown in any cinemas in Birmingham. That made me sad. I bought it from Amazon immediately after its release on DVD in October 2007. That was a rarity for me. I usually wait a few months until the price has dropped. It cost me £20.66, which was a horrendous sum for me at the time. Usually I paid no more than £5.

I watched the film as soon as the packet dropped through my letterbox. I enjoyed it, but I didn't understand it, so I watched it a second time, taking a break only to make a cup of coffee. That was a mammoth sitting, watching a three-hour film twice. The second time round I understood it even less, so I watched one of the German "Schoolgirl Report" films to get over it. I've forgotten which one it was, probably a later film in the series, but it was easy to understand: it was about schoolgirls having sex.

I didn't watch "Inland Empire" again until 2014, when it was released on Blu-ray. I've forgotten what my impression was, but based on my brief review I still didn't understand much.

And today I finally watched it again, almost eleven years later. I've reduced my initial rating to four stars. After watching it back to back with "Lost Highway" and "Mulholland Drive" I can see that it's not on the same level.

Maybe the problem is that I'm looking for an explanation that isn't there. When David Lynch was asked to explain the film he only said that it was about a woman in trouble. Nothing else. The actress Nikki Grace plays the lead role in a remake of an unfinished Polish film called "47". The film was abandoned because the two leading actors, male and female, were murdered. Now there are rumours that the film's script is cursed.

As the filming progresses, Nikki finds it increasingly difficult to distinguish between her character in the film and her real life. She staggers around, meeting the cast of the original Polish film. Is she having a mental breakdown, or is she caught up in a supernatural curse? I don't think it really matters. There are multiple layers of the story: her real life in Hollywood, her role in the film and her life in Poland. When we think we're seeing one layer, we suddenly become aware that it's another.

I found the picture quality poor today, not up to Blu-ray standards. Parts of the film, especially in the early scenes, looked unpleasantly fuzzy. While reading about the film afterwards, I found out that David Lynch filmed parts of the film in SD. That's not good, but I assume it was a deliberate decision. Supposedly the film was upscaled to HD using an AI algorithm in 2022, supervised by Lynch himself. That's the version I want to see.

I'd be glad to discuss "Inland Empire" with any of my readers. Let's start in the comments box below.

Success Rate:  - 0.5

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de

Mulholland Drive (5 Stars)

To remember David Lynch after his recent death, I've decided to watch his last three films. I might even rewatch "Twin Peaks", but it won't be now. Maybe later this year.

Today was the first time that I watched the bonus features on the Blu-ray. There's an interview with Richard Kelly, the director of "Donnie Darko". He said that he first saw the film in the cinema with Jake Gyllenhaal. Two films were being shown that evening. On one screen it was "Donnie Darko", probably the reason they were at the cinema, and on the other screen it was "Mulholland Drive". Richard felt honoured to see the name of his film written next to a film by David Lynch, and they decided to watch "Mulholland Drive". He says that he and Jake were blown away. Understandable. After this they went to visit Jake's parents, who lived on Mulholland Drive. It was a surreal experience.

Richard Kelly also said that he immediately understood the film. He must be smarter than me. I understand the film's main outline, but I still don't understand all the details. For me it's a more complex film than "Lost Highway". But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it.

As I've said in an earlier post, the BBC has voted "Mulholland Drive" the best film of the 21st Century so far (2000-2016). I can't disagree with that, although I find some of the other inclusions on the BBC's top 100 list remarkable.

Success Rate:  - 0.7

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de

Lost Highway (5 Stars)

David Lynch is dead.

I read the news late last night, and it hit me like a bombshell.

He's best known for the TV series "Twin Peaks", which he made in 1990. I didn't watch it until 20 years later, but I was already aware of it. I had friends who talked about it. Based on their descriptions, I thought it was nothing for me. I couldn't have been more wrong.

The first film I watched made by David Lynch was "Mulholland Drive". I forget when. Probably round about 2004. After that I bought all his films in quick succession. "Lost Highway" immediately became my favourite film, knocking "Donnie Darko" off the top spot. I've often changed my mind about my favourite film, but it doesn't look like "Lost Highway" will be removed from the top spot any time soon. It's a masterpiece.

"Lost Highway" isn't an easy film to understand. There are different theories about its meaning. The most commonly held opinion is that it's a story about a man who's killed his wife and spends his final days lying in his cell making up a fictional story about her while he waits to be executed. The other theories are variations on a supernatural time loop. Interestingly, in an interview David Lynch said that he'd read the explanations of "Lost Highway" in forums and nobody had got it right. I'm glad that he rejected the fictional story theory, because it always seemed absurd to me. That leaves the many variations of the explanations based on a time loop. I have my own explanation, which I've never read in any online forum, so maybe I'm right.

On the other hand, a friend of mine who also loves "Lost Highway" says that there's no explanation. He says that David Lynch makes films for himself and doesn't intend them to be understood.

Lynch has hardly made any films in the last 25 years. His only major work was a third season of "Twin Peaks". Maybe he was put off by the poor reception of his last film, "Inland Empire". 

But now he's gone.

David Lynch
January 20, 1946 – January 15, 2025

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de

Mulholland Drive (5 Stars)

When I watched the 20th anniversary 4K restoration in the cinema earlier this month, I said that I expected a new version on disc soon. I was right. The new version of "Mulholland Drive" had already been released on 31st January, so I ordered it straight away, and it arrived in the post this morning.

The picture quality is excellent. I don't have a top quality sound system, so I can't judge the fine details of the newly mixed sound, but I can recognise some big changes. The dialogue stands out better from the background music, especially in the Club Silencio.

Normally I complain about the film critics who've lost touch with cinema audiences, but today I'll praise them. In 2016 the BBC wrote to the world's top 177 film critics and asked them to name their ten top films since 2000. I don't know what criteria the BBC used to pick the critics. I just know they didn't pick me, but they didn't pick Mark Kermode either. Or maybe he didn't want to participate. The BBC says that they invited many others who didn't want to send a list.

"The critics who participated hail from 36 countries: 81 from the US, 19 from the UK, five each from Canada, Cuba, France, and Germany, and four each from Australia, Colombia, India, Israel and Italy. Lebanon, the UAE, China, Bangladesh, Chile, Namibia, Kazakhstan and many others are represented too. Of the 177 critics, 55 are women and 122 are men".

Here's the list that was created from the replies received:

1. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)

2. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)

3. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)

4. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)

5. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)

6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)

7. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)

8. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Edward Yang, 2000)

9. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)

10. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)

11. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2013)

12. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)

13. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)

14. The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012)

15. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)

16. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

17. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)

18. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)

19. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)

20. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)

21. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)

22. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)

23. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)

24. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)

25. ​Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)

26. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)

27. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010)

28. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002)

29. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)

30. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)

31. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)

32. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)

33. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)

34. Son of Saul (László Nemes, 2015)

35. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)

36. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014)

37. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010)

38. City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002)

39. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)

40. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)

41. Inside Out (Pete Docter, 2015)

42. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)

43. Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011)

44. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013)

45. Blue Is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013)

46. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010)

47. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014)

48. Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015)

49. Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)

50. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015)

51. Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)

52. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)

53. Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)

54. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)

55. Ida (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2013)

56. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, director; Ágnes Hranitzky, co-director, 2000)

57. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)

58. Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène, 2004)

59. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)

60. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006)

61. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)

62. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)

63. The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011)

64. The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013)

65. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009)

66. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (Kim Ki-duk, 2003)

67. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008)

68. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)

69. Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015)

70. Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012)

71. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)

72. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)

73. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)

74. Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012)

75. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014)

76. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003)

77. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)

78. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013)

79. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000)

80. The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2003)

81. Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)

82. A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009)

83. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001)

84. Her (Spike Jonze, 2013)

85. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009)

86. Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)

87. Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)

88. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015)

89. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)

90. The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)

91. The Secret in Their Eyes (Juan José Campanella, 2009)

92. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)

93. Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007)

94. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)

95. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)

96. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003)

97. White Material (Claire Denis, 2009)

98. Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002)

99. The Gleaners and I (Agnès Varda, 2000)

100. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)

This is probably the most representative best film list ever published. I confess that I've only seen 39 of the films in the list. For comparison, here are my top 50 films since 2000, simply put together by deleting all the older films from my all time top 100 list.

1. Donnie Darko (2001)

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

3. Tag (2015)

4. Spider-Man (2002)

5. The Wall (2012)

6. Kill Bill (2003-2004)

7. The Last Circus (2010)

8. Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)

9. The Life of Pi (2012)

10. The World's Fastest Indian (2005)

11. House of Flying Daggers (2004)

12. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

13. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

14. Downfall (2004)

15. Witching and Bitching (2013)

16. King Kong (2005)

17. Cold Fish (2010)

18. 800 Bullets (2002)

19. Django Unchained (2012)

20. Triangle (2009)

21. Deadpool 2 (2018)

22. Deadpool (2016)

23. The Door (2009)

24. Love Exposure (2008)

25. Phone Booth (2003)

26. Legend of the Fist (2010)

27. Night Train (2009)

28. Death Proof (2007)

29. Adaptation (2002)

30. The Raid 2 (2014)

31. Summer in Orange (2011)

32. Flowers of War (2011)

33. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

34. The Gift (2000)

35. Ip Man (2008)

36. Ip Man 2 (2010)

37. Snatch (2000)

38. Tragedy Girls (2017)

39. Gladiator (2000)

40. The Virgin Psychics (2015)

41. John Rabe (2009)

42. The Walk (2015)

43. Perfume (2006)

44. Little Nicky (2000)

45. Monster (2003)

46. We are the night (2010)

47. Dark Water (2002)

48. What to do in case of fire (2001)

49. Azumi (2003-2005)

50. Wie Feuer und Flamme (2001)

There are big differences between the two lists, but I have great respect for the BBC's list. It's my intention to watch all of the films in the BBC's top 20. There are 10 films in the top 20 that I've never seen, and I'll also re-watch the other films if I haven't watched them for a long time. I shan't watch them in order. I'll just slip them in with my regular viewing.

I just have a few thoughts about the BBC list for now.

I'm pleasantly surprised that "Mulholland Drive" is in first place. I already regret not including it in my own top 100 list.

It's been a long time since I watched "In the mood for love". I'll make sure that I watch it again soon.

"Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" is the highest placed film (6th place) that was also high in my list (second place).

There are three Christopher Nolan films in the BBC list, of which "Memento" is the highest. It's already on my list of films to re-watch.

I'm surprised that "Spring Breakers" made it into the list. I'll have to give it another chance.

After watching "Mulholland Drive" in the cinema this month I read film reviews by several critics, including Roger Ebert. I initially intended to quote and comment on what he wrote, but I've already written a long post today, so I'll save my thoughts till next time. If I don't forget.

Success Rate:  - 0.7

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de

Mulholland Drive (5 Stars)

I run a meetup group in Stuttgart called the Stuttgart Cinema Club. As of today, it has 2384 members. That might sound like a lot, but look what happened today. "Mulholland Drive" was shown in the cinema today, one day only, to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Apart from simply posting the film for a meetup and relying on the automated messages, I wrote to all the members telling them that this is a special event and it'll be years before they can see "Mulholland Drive" in the cinema again. So how many people came? Three! Only three people for a masterpiece of cinema like "Mulholland Drive"? I have to ask why they're even members of the group. It's true, I don't expect everybody to come. Some people don't like David Lynch, some people might not have had time today. There are lots of reasonable excuses. But I expected a 1% turnout at the very least. 23 people wouldn't have been a good turnout, in my eyes, but I would have grudgingly accepted it. But three? Sometimes I despair!

"Mulholland Drive" is a film about Los Angeles, or to be precise, a film about Hollywood. Los Angeles is the City of Dreams for some and a City of Nightmares for others. "Mulholland Drive" shows the latter. When hundreds of people are competing for a few jobs in the film industry, you don't know who you can trust.

Most fans of David Lynch's films say that "Mulholland Drive" is his best film. I personally prefer "Lost Highway", which is my favourite film. Many critics call "Mulholland Drive" one of the best films ever made. When the BBC made a poll of 177 respected film critics in 2016, "Mulholland Drive" was voted the best film of the 21st Century. Click here to read the BBC's list.

I didn't include "Mulholland Drive" in my own top 100 film list. That was a mistake that I'll rectify when I (eventually) publish my revised top 100 list.

Today's film was described as being a new 4K transfer from the original negatives, supervised by David Lynch himself. That means a new 4K disc can be expected soon.

Success Rate:  - 0.7

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de

Lost Highway (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #1

It's taken me eight months, but I've finally reached the top film in my countdown of my 100 favourite films. It's only a surprise to my casual readers. My close friends already know "Lost Highway" is my favourite film, and I've even mentioned it once or twice in this blog.

"Dick Laurent is dead". That's him in the photo above, played by Robert Loggia. His death is announced at the start of the film, but we soon see that he's alive and well. He's a gangster in Los Angeles who's involved in the production of snuff movies. By all means, he's an evil man who deserves to die. He's living on borrowed time.

"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".

Dick Laurent's sentence has already been pronounced. His death is inevitable. He doesn't recognise his executioner, because he's hidden in the body of another man.

The identity and occupation of the mysterious Man In Black isn't completely clear, although I'm sure that he represents the Devil. He's described as an associate of Dick Laurent, but there's no hint of what he does for Dick. When Dick's throat is cut and he's struggling to keep the blood in, the Man In Black presents Dick with evidence of his past sins, the reason for his death sentence. Is he the judge, or merely a prison guard, standing at his side until the moment of execution comes?

Dick goes for a ride with the young car mechanic Pete Dayton. He thinks he has nothing to fear.

The jazz saxophonist Fred Madison is more capable of murder. This is one of the key events on which reviewers disagree. A videotape shows him cutting his wife to pieces. So he really did kill his wife, didn't he? I think not. When Fred sees the tape he's shocked and calls for his wife, thinking she's in the bedroom. He stubbornly declares his innocence to the police. Was her body ever found? The film doesn't make it clear whether a dismembered body was found in his bedroom. The only thing we know is that later in the film we see that she's still alive, in bed with Dick Laurent.

The video was made by the Man In Black, and it's obvious that he has supernatural abilities. He chose to frame Fred, to put him into a position to act as executioner. I know it's not fair, but when was the Devil ever fair?

At first Dick's girlfriend Alice Wakefield seems to be a victim, but as the film progresses we see that she's evil. She uses Pete to kill her enemies.

And then she walks away, leaving Pete lying in the dirt.

This sequence is beautifully filmed.

As I've written in my past reviews, there are different interpretations of this film. There are many differences in opinion on details, but there are two main theories: One theory is that the film shows a time loop. The other theory is that Fred Madison has a mental breakdown after murdering his wife and imagines a supernatural conspiracy while waiting to be executed. The second theory is so ridiculous that I'm surprised anybody believes it. It would mean that 90% of the film is either a dream sequence or imagined. If that were the case, it would be very poor screenwriting. The German edition of the "Lost Highway" DVD even prints this explanation on the back of the box. That's bad.

"Lost Highway" is a work of genius. I'm surprised that more people don't know it. It's a film that everyone should watch at least once; or better still, three times. After one viewing you won't understand it.

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de

Lost Highway (5 Stars)

This is the third and final film in my mini-marathon. "Lost Highway" is the best film I've ever seen. I've deliberately kept it away from my son Benjamin for years. I've been afraid that he wouldn't understand it. Judging by his reaction after it ended he was impressed by the imagery, but he didn't understand what he'd seen. I'm not saying that to criticise him. I didn't start to understand what it was about until I'd watched it three times.

Does anyone really understand it? After the film was released in 1997 there was a lot of activity in online forums discussing it, with different people giving their theories what it was about. Director David Lynch stayed out of the discussions, until a few years later when he finally said that nobody had got it right. That's a sweeping statement. Nobody at all? How many theories did he read? The majority of the explanations revolve around Fred Madison having a psychotic breakdown to excuse himself for killing his wife. That's obviously incorrect. The correct interpretation of the film depends on whether he killed his wife or not. I don't believe he killed his wife. He was framed. The videotape presented as evidence was supernaturally created by a person who was able to be in two places at once.

The truly evil person in the film is Dick Laurent. He's corrupted Fred's wife by forcing her to watch women being murdered while making snuff films. He's the one who has been judged guilty and has to be executed. Even though the mystery man is the one who pulls the trigger, Fred is the executioner. He's the one who bundles Dick Laurent into a car and drives him into the desert. Maybe the mystery man is the judge, but it's more possible that he's the Devil. After Fred does his work he's abandoned, fleeing from the police, unable to escape.

Even though I feel that I understand the main themes of the film there are still small details that are unclear to me. I'd like to discuss the film with someone who knows and loves it as much as I do.

	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de

Lost Highway (5 Stars)

30 films to watch before you die, #19

Quite simply, this is the best film I've ever seen.

That's all I want to say. If you haven't seen this film yet, forget everything else you've planned for today and watch it now. After watching it, please leave comments to let me know what you think about it. I'm hoping we can get a good discussion going.

If you enjoy the film, check out the other films directed by David Lynch, in particular

• Wild at Heart (1990)
• Mulholland Drive (2001)
• Inland Empire (2006)

Mulholland Drive (5 Stars)

No hay banda!

It might interest you to know that David Lynch opposes viewers jumping to scenes in his films. Most of the DVD releases of his films, including this one, have no chapter breaks. The Blu-ray follows a different strategy. There are 56 chapters, and there's a "Scene Selection" menu. However, it isn't possible to select a precise chapter. The Blu-ray menu selects a chapter at random. As well as this, the buttons to skip a chapter forwards or backwards are disabled.

TV Series: Twin Peaks

Through the darkness of future past

The magician longs to see,

One chants out between two worlds,

"Fire, walk with me".

Agent Cooper lectures on Tibetan methods of detective work.

His colleagues are fascinated...

but only Lucy does her homework.

TV Series: Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks Train Station.

With love, Laura.

TV Series: Twin Peaks

A policeman's dream.

Julee Cruise, the sound of Twin Peaks.

Mulholland Drive (5 Stars)

Silencio!

Imagine you dream that you're dead. Then you wake up and you find out it's true. How can that be? Maybe you weren't the one who was dreaming. Maybe you were a character in someone else's dream. Maybe you still are. It could be that you only live in the dream of a dead person. If that's the case your actions are without consequences. It doesn't matter if you do good or bad. You can kill someone and never be caught. But be careful who you kill. If you kill the person in whose dream you live your existence is over.

Silencio!

Inland Empire (5 Stars)

Laura Dern stars as Nikki Grace, an aging Hollywood actress whose best days are behind her. She's offered the leading role in a film called "On High in Blue Tomorrows", a love story which promises to make her an A-list star again. At the first rehearsal she's told that the film is a remake of a Polish film called "47", which was never completed because the leading stars were murdered.

As the filming begins Nikki finds herself trapped within the film, as if it's her real life. She further regresses and finds herself in the original Polish film, sometimes on the film set, sometimes within the film. She continues making her film despite gradually losing her identity.

This is the most confusing of David Lynch's films, but its incomprehensiblity doesn't make it any less enjoyable. We feel for Nikki's plight in her never-ending nightmare.

The Elephant Man (4 Stars)

This is the only one of David Lynch's films that I had never seen before today. That's ironic, because it was his most successful film. In 1981 it was nominated for eight Oscars, more than any other film that year, but unfortunately it didn't win any awards. The two most successful films that year were "Ordinary People" and "Tess". That seems strange to me. "Tess" is okay, I guess, though I don't consider it to be one of Roman Polanski's better films. How "Ordinary People" won the Oscar for best film is a mystery to me, I find it so dull and uninspired. I feel like I'm missing something.

The film is based on the life of Joseph Merrick, who lived from1862 to 1890. Due to extreme physical deformities he was presented in carnival freak shows as the Elephant Man. After becoming acquainted with a surgeon, Dr. Frederick Treves, he became a permanent resident in London hospital, as a guest rather than as a patient. Through friendship with the actress Madge Kendal he gained popularity in London's high society.

The film was financed by Mel Brooks, which gave David Lynch his first big break. Mel was given the script by his wife, and he liked it, but he had never heard of Lynch and said that before approving him as director he had to see something he had made before. Mel watched "Eraserhead" in a private screening, and Lynch was so nervous that he waited outside. When the film finished Mel burst through the doors, hugged him and said, "You're a madman. I love you. You're in." Wow! Love at first film?

The film was a big commercial success, thanks to the participation of great actors like Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt. It's very poignant, a sad film with an uplifting message.