David Lynch's second best film to date is perfect evidence of what makes him fascinating as a filmmaker; he has always since day one made the types of films you normally have to earn the right to make. Filmmakers in the Americain system, capable of comandeering substantial resources(financial, human, technical etc..) in support of their projects have usually had to go through some sort of rite of passage after which the reigns on creativity are considerably loosened. John Woo had to wait two films (ignoring the more sinister implications...). There is no louder testimonial to this fact, regarding Lynch's cinema, than his first (and best) film, Eraserhead. Lost Highway is just as brilliant although we are clearly in different territory at this point.
Generally speaking, Lost Highway is either about a couple's experiences with a bizarre mental illness or an interconnected telling of two distinct tales within which certain characters intertwine. It could also be both. This is not to suggest that a single reading exists and that it is difficult to decipher; the whole point is that the film is any and all of these. In effect Lynch has negotiated an unprecedented relartionship with the spectator of total and complete complicity as far as reception and meaning-generation are concerned.
A variety of sources (Cahiers, Film Comment, Cineaste etc..) have commented on the various structures that establish this relationship. All in some way or another are linked to Lost Highway's narrative technique. Structurally, Lynch's conception transcends more conventional circular narratives in that it is ultimately a loop that invites the viewer to join in at a given point and follow through until he has reached this origin. It has been suggested that the film's indeal exhibition of the film would be a continuous loop of the film. The fact of the matter is that just as form came front iand center in Greenaway's The Pillow Book, Lynch here buries his story, as intriguing as it may be, under the two real creative thrusts of the film: narrative technique itself and the production design. Both are decidedly eerie...
The collapsing of space between filmmaker and spectator brings with it such a degree of subjectivity in the viewer that many have ended up terrified. This terror usually ends up being expressed as anger, frustration or accusations of self-indulgence on Lynch's part. Paradoxically. nothing could be further from the truth, in that, it as an act of heroic bravery, given today's viewing climate in Ameica to put forward a film that puts so much faith in them.
-Omar Odeh http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/3920
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