David Lynch strikes again with this literal nightmare of a motion picture--a brilliant, scathing, hysterical, and haunting ode to Hollywood. In the film, a mysterious dark-haired woman (Laura Elena Harring) emerges from an accident with a purse full of cash and a head full of amnesia. Meanwhile, Betty Elms (Naomi Watts), a wide-eyed gal from Deep River, Ontario, has just landed in Los Angeles with dreams of movie super stardom. When Betty finds the nameless beauty in her aunt's apartment, she is deeply intrigued by the situation and offers to help her. This sends the two women on a bizarre search for the truth through the macabre, sun-soaked streets of the City of Angels, where the mob, a young film director (Justin Theroux), a studio executive with a tiny head, and an enigmatic figure named the Cowboy all float into the picture, then out again, until there is no longer any distinction between what is dream and what is reality.
Originally filmed as a pilot for ABC, Lynch's daring, open-ended vision was coldly rejected by the network. As he was about to abandon the project, French producer Pierre Edelman convinced Lynch to rethink it as a feature. The result is this stunning expression of the subconscious, a testament to the power of personal artistic vision.
Theatrical release: October 7, 2001 (NY), October 12, 2001 (Limited)
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Letterbox - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
DTS Surround 5.1 - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailers
Interactive Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Text/Photo Galleries:
Biographies
Production Notes
Additional Text: DVD Newsletter
Additional Music/Songs
Chris Isaak: American Singer/Actor
Director of Photography
Peter Deming: American Director Of Photography
Executive Producer
Pierre Edelman: Executive Producer, MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001)
Production Designer
Jack Fisk: Director/Art Director
Additional Music/Songs
Connie Stevens: American actress, singer
Review 1:
"...Lynch's head is a more than tantalizing place to be..."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.51-2 10/19/2001
Review 2:
"Watts, in two opposite roles, displays striking range."
Source: Premiere
p.110 03/01/2005
Review 3:
5 stars out of 5 -- "[A]n experience that'll baffle, exhilarate and leave you in stunned silencio."
Source: Total Film
p.126 05/01/2007
Review 4:
4 stars out of 5 -- "A tantalizing and beautifully shot film....Still as enigmatic and impenetratable six years on."
Source: Ultimate DVD
p.123 05/01/2007
Review 5:
"...Naomi Watts shows real attack....[The film] shows signs of being a lasting work, a film that shifts and changes along with the viewer..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.51 01/01/2002
Review 6:
"...Surrender to it. Lynch's wild ride through the unconscious is grounded in emotion....A dark, dazzling piece..."
Source: Rolling Stone
p.133-4 11/08/2001
Review 7:
"...Like real dreams, it does not explain....[The film] lingers over what it finds fascinating....A movie to surrender yourself to. If you require logic and closure, see something else..."
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
p.5 03/31/2002
Review 8:
"...Lynch's latest lingers in the mind and keeps you gripped in ways that have eluded some of his past cinema oddities..."
Source: USA Today
p.5D 10/08/2001