Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Mulholland Drive Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 29, 2015

David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" (2001) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; exclusive new video interviews with director David Lynch, actors Justin Theroux, Laura Harring and Naomi Watts, director of photography Peter Deming, composer Angelo Badalamenti, production designer Jack Fisk, and casting director Johanna Ray; deleted scene; and archival on-set footage. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring an interview with director David Lynch from filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley's 2005 edition of the book "Lynch on Lynch". In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The whisper

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 Criterion. (Please note that this release does not have scene selection and chapter stops).

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"Supervised by director David Lynch and director of photography Peter Deming, this new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Scanity film scanner from the original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, and noise management.

Transfer supervisor: David Lynch, Peter Deming, Lee Kline.
Colorist: Stephen Bearman/Deluxe Digital London.
Additional color correction: George Koran/FotoKem, Los Angeles; Sheri Eisenberg/Colorworks, Culver City, CA.
4K scanning: Colorworks."

The release is sourced from a new 4K restoration of the film which was supervised by director David Lynch and director of photography Peter Deming. The technical presentation is fantastic and the film looks quite incredible now. Detail and especially depth are dramatically improved and as a result even the dark nighttime footage looks far superior. The biggest improvements, however, are in the area of color reproduction. There are completely new color tonalities and saturation is far better. As a result, the entire film looks richer and lusher, and the unique lighting is even more effective now. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Image stability is excellent. Finally, the film looks spotless -- there are no debris, scratches, cuts, stains, or damage marks to report in our review. All in all, this is an outstanding presentation of Mulholland Drive that allows one to experience the film in an entirely new way. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Mulholland Drive Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is excellent. Depth is outstanding and there is an excellent range of nuanced dynamics. The various sound effects are also well defined. The dialog is stable, exceptionally clean, and very easy to follow. There are no audio dropouts, pops, or digital distortions.

Mulholland Drive Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Mulholland Drive. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• On-set Footage - in this archival featurette, director David Lynch, composer Angelo Badalamenti, and cast members comment on the ambiance of Mulholland Drive. The featurette also contains plenty of raw footage from the shooting of difrerent sequences from the film (with various instructions from David Lynch). In English, not subtitled. (25 min, 1080i).

• Deleted Scene: Int. Hollywood Police Station - Day - in English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Interviews -
  
  1. 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. In English, not subtitled. (27 min, 1080p).
  
  2. Laura Harring, Johanna Ray, Justin Theroux, and Naomi Watts - in this video program, casting director Johanna Ray discusses her professional relationship with David Lynch (which started with Blue Velvet), the casting choices that were made during the pre-production of Mulholland Drive (and how important head shots are for David Lynch), her interactions with Naomi Watts, etc. Justin Theroux and Naomi Watts also explain how they were cast for their respective roles and discuss David Lynch's directing methods. Laura Harring explains how various sequences from Mulholland Drive were shot (including the notorious lovemaking sequence), the film's screening at the Cannes Film Festival, etc. The interviews were conducted exclusively for Criterion. In English, not subtitled. (36 min, 1080p).
  
  3. Angelo Badalamenti - in this new video interview, Angelo Badalamenti discusses his long and illustrious career, his professional relationship with David Lynch (with excellent comments about the scoring of Blue Velvet), and the iconic soundtrack for Mulholland Drive. The composer also discusses the various ideas David Lynch had for the film's final sound design (sound effects/tempo management/dynamics). The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion. In English, not subtitled. (20 min, 1080p).
  
  4. Peter Deming and Jack Fisk - in this new program, production designer Jack Fisk talks about his friendship with David Lynch and the work they did together during the years, the different locations from Los Angeles that were used in Mulholland Drive, and the ambiance of the film (which comes from David Lynch's love for Los Angeles). Cinematographer Peter Deming explains in great detail how various sequences were shot (with some great comments about the one featuring Monty Montgomery's mysterious cowboy), the management of light and some of David Lynch stranger decisions, and the dual nature, moods and colors of Mulholland Drive. The interviews were conducted exclusively for Criterion. In English, not subtitled. (23 min, 1080p).

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring an interview with director David Lynch from filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley's 2005 edition of the book Lynch on Lynch.

Mulholland Drive Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release of Mulholland Drive is a thing of beauty. The film has been recently remastered in 4K with the involvement of director David Lynch and director of photography Peter Deming and looks simply incredible in high-definition. In fact, the upgrade in quality is so dramatic that I am convinced that once fans of Mulholland Drive get their copy, they will experience an entirely new film. The release also comes with a terrific selection of new supplemental features that focus on the film's long and difficult production history and its well-deserved success. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.