Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		5.0

Mulholland Drive Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 1, 2017

David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" (2001) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The supplemental features on the disc include new video interviews with director David Lynch, Laura Harring, Naomi Watts, and editor Mary Sweeney; archival cast and crew interviews; archival featurettes; deleted scene; and more. Also included with this release are six original art cards. In English, with optional English SDH and French subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The new girl

Betty (Naomi Watts, 21 Grams, King Kong), a beautiful blonde from Ontario, arrives in Hollywood to try her luck in the movies. She moves in her absent aunt’s apartment where she meets Rita (Laura Harring, Ghost Son), an elegant brunette. Betty assumes that Rita is a friend of her aunt.

But Rita does not know Betty’s aunt. In fact, she does not know who she is -- she can’t remember her name or where she lives. The only thing Rita seems to remember is that she was involved in a car accident somewhere on Mulholland Drive. Intrigued by Rita’s story, Betty decides to help her.

Rita and Betty begin reconstructing Rita’s life. There are small details about the car accident Rita begins to remember, flashbacks from her past, even feelings she can’t quite understand. But did everything she remembers happen? Or is her brain playing tricks on her?

Meanwhile, a successful director (Justin Theroux, Inland Empire) is ordered to offer the leading role in his upcoming film to a girl he does not like. He attempts to protest, but a funny looking cowboy (Monty Montgomery) appears and repeats the order. He also conveys to the director that it will be in his best interest if they did not meet again. The director gets it, and somewhere in Los Angeles a man in a wheelchair (Michael J. Anderson, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me) is immediately delivered the good news. Before the director begins shooting the film, however, he discovers that his wife (Lori Heuring) is having an affair.

While Rita is recuperating, Betty has a terrific audition. Shortly after, she has sex with Betty. Then the two attend a strange theater and discover a tiny blue box in Betty’s purse. When they open the box all hell breaks loose.

Approximately a week after Mulholland Drive was released in theaters, director David Lynch revealed ten clues that supposedly unlocked the secret of his film. I’ve seen Mulholland Drive a number of times during the years and to this day remain firmly convinced that its narrative actually allows for a number of successful interpretations.

Director Lynch has also revealed that Mulholland Drive is a film about unique feelings, and slipping into another world where specific intellectual judgments are to be avoided. This I agree with. One does not necessarily have to align properly all the scattered pieces in the giant puzzle Mulholland Drive is in order to experience its beauty.

The film is uncompromisingly hypnotic. Even if one does not understand the significance of everything that takes place on the screen, one feels an inexorable need to keep watching, and feeling, and speculating. It is a strange feeling for sure - like being awake in a bizarre dream.

As stunningly beautiful many of the visuals may be, Mulholland Drive would have been a very different film without Angelo Badalamenti’s music score -- a striking blend of ambient and electronic tunes that give the film its unique pulse.

*In 2001, Mulholland Drive won Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival. A year later, the film also won Best Film and Best Actress (Naomi Watts) awards at the National Society of Film Critics Awards.

Mulholland Drive Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, David Lynch's Mulholland Drive arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. (Please note that this release does not have scene selection and chapter stops. Also, the release has individual interfaces for the United Kingdom and France, which means that StudioCanal are distributing the exact same disc in both territories).

The release is sourced from the same master that was prepared after the film's 4K restoration in the United States. The restoration was completed by Criterion and under the supervision of director David Lynch and director of photography Peter Deming. (In the United States, Criterion released the restoration on Blu-ray in 2015. You can see our listing and review of this release here.).

People that would compare StudioCanal's first Blu-ray release and the new release will immediately notice that there are some substantial improvements in terms of density, depth and fluidity. I think that the most obvious examples can be seen during the darker footage where crush is eliminated and definition improved. However, there are numerous examples where well-lit close-ups also convey much better clarity. When making direct comparisons, however, most people will probably notice that the biggest and most obvious improvements are in the area of color reproduction, as there are entirely new color tonalities and saturation is better. All of these changes produce a much better balanced cinematic appearance, so the larger your screen is, the easier it will be for you to appreciate the many positive effects. (If you project on a very large screen, choose some of the brighter daylight footage and you will see immediately the various limitations of the old transfer, with density being a particularly obvious one). There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Mulholland Drive Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH and French subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless 5.1 track is superb, but to be honest I also thought that the lossless track from the old release was enormously impressive. When I initially upgraded my DVD release, I thought that the audio improvements were frequently more significant than the video improvements, so if you are going to upgrade a DVD release you truly looking at a substantial shift in quality. The dialog is very clear, clean, and easy to follow.

Mulholland Drive Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Back to Mulholland Drive - this archival featurette also appeared on StudioCanal's first Blu-ray release of Mulholland Drive. It focuses on the film's complex narrative and contains a number of key spoilers. In French and English, with English subtitles where necessary. (24 min).

• On the Road to Mulholland Drive - this archival featurette also appeared on StudioCanal's first Blu-ray release of Mulholland Drive. In it director David Lynch and various cast and crew members discuss the film, its complex story, characters, message, and production history. In English, not subtitles. (24 min).

• David Lynch and Naomi Watts - in this new video interview, David Lynch discusses the long and very difficult production history of Mulholland Drive, the beauty of Los Angeles and the mystique of Mulholland Dr., the success of his film, etc. Naomi Watts recalls how she was on the verge of giving up and going back to Australia when she auditioned for the film, her initial encounter with David Lynch, the shooting of various sequences, how her career changed dramatically after the screening of Mulholland Drive at the Cannes Film Festival, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion and initially appeared on the U.S. Blu-ray release of Mulholland Drive. In English, with optional French subtitles. (27 min).

• Interview with Laura Harring - in this new video interview, actress Laura Harring explains how she was cast to play Rita/Camilla Rhodes, how various sequences from Mulholland Drive were shot (including the notorious lovemaking sequence), David Lynch's working methods, the film's screening at the Cannes Film Festival, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion and initially appeared on the U.S. Blu-ray release of Mulholland Drive. In English, with optional French subtitles. (14 min).

• Interview with Mary Sweeney - in this new video interview, editor Mary Sweeney discusses the production history of Mulholland Drive from script to screen, StudioCanal's involvement with the project, some of the specific editing choices that were made during the cutting of the film, etc. In English, with optional French subtitles. (18 min).

• Interview with Angelo Badalamenti - in this archival video interview, composer Angelo Badalamenti recalls his initial encounter with David Lynch and discusses their work together. The interview also appeared on StudioCanal's first Blu-ray release of Mulholland Drive. In English, with optional French subtitles. (17 min).

• Introduction by Thierry Jousse - a short introduction to the film by Thierry Jousse, a former editor in chief of the prestigious French magazine Cahiers du Cinema. The introduction also appeared on StudioCanal's first Blu-ray release of Mulholland Drive. In French, with optional English subtitles. (11 min).

• In the Blue Box - director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko), director Jaco Van Dormael (Mr. Nobody), director Guillaume Nicloux (A Private Affair), director Michael Souhaite (Le son de Lynch), actress Sylvie Landra (Secret Défense), director Emmanuel Plasseraud (La femme de Roger Gabesque), and actor Fabrice du Welz, deconstruct Mulholland Drive. In French and English, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (29 min).

• EPK Interviews - presented here are four short archival interviews that focus on the atmosphere and characters of Mulholland Drive as well as David Lynch's working methods. In English, with optional French subtitles.
  
  1. David Lynch. (3 min).
  2. Naomi Watts. (5 min).
  3. Justin Theroux (2 min).
  4. Laura Harring (3 min).

• Deleted Scene - in English, with optional French subtitles. (3 min).

• Art Cards - six original art cards. (Please see the screencaptures provided with out review).

Mulholland Drive Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

StudioCanal's new Blu-ray release of Mulholland Drive is sourced from the recent 4K restoration of the film that Criterion completed in the United States under the supervision of director David Lynch and director of photography Peter Deming. It is unquestionably superior to the first Blu-ray release from the StudioCanal Collection, but my advice is to keep the previous release in your library because there are a few archival bonus features that are not included on the new release. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.