Lost Highway (1997)

Too much of everything

Just perfect...

Good start, but then it gets ruined

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

"We've met before, haven't we..."Chilling words from a stranger...made even more chilling thanks to the smiling, devilish performance from Robert Blake who plays the horrifying Mystery Man, a major piece to the brilliant puzzle that is "Lost Higway"."Highway" is one of Lynch's most accessible surrealist works, but that does not mean it is not at all challenging or mindbending or experimental, it has all of those elements firmly in place and more. It is a wild, entertaining, and enigmatic ride powered by a storm of engaging twists, dark plots, and unique visuals. The lighting gives it a glossy, exaggerated look, almost as if it were some kind of cross between a whimsical fantasy and stylized hard boil detective flick, but it is neither of these things. What is it, you may ask? It is a David Lynch film, I will respond. And that is all you need to know.It is scary and brilliant and dark, it embraces speculation and analysis while also remaining coherent, its story and characters are enough to keep the viewer engaged; the more difficult riddles and metaphors are interwoven with action and music and horror and drama, it's a non stop rocket ride through Hell, it's a plunge into the darkness of death, that everlasting, unwinding road with the power to mesmerize, confuse, and frighten. The way I see it, the film can be split into three lose parts. Part one is pure Lynchian surrealism, it is deliberately slow and yet it still keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat, always anticipating the next move a character may take, the next dramatic shift in the story. Its atmosphere is one of absolute dread and unbearable if often unexplained tension, it is Lynch doing what he does best. The second part speeds things up a bit. Sexy, funny, fast paced, and bizarre, it's easily the most digestible and coherent part of the movie, encapsulating the mood of a film noir and a 90's crime thriller peppered with heavy doses of the surreal...and it steadily inclines into the third half, where things get really weird. It's a cross between the surrealistic, blood curdling, mind blowing horror of the first half and the fun, exciting weirdness of the second, culminating in one huge avant garde masterpiece work watching over and over and over again, allowing that vision of the infinite highway to swallow whatever is left of your soul and haunt your nights for all the years to come...

There really is little point to add another review here, except well, I should for my own collection of reviews obviously have something on what I feel is STILL - probably - the best film ever made: although, oddly (like the film - odd!) initially having caught it on very first release, in a small (almost fleapit) theatre in D.C. (Washington), I got that 'what the heck was that all about?', the master has indeed lost not only his highway, but his grip / the plot! Talk about bewildered as you leave the theatre blinking into the daylight. So I empathise with any that feel this is nonsense! Ah, but wait, give it a second chance to reassess: Rather as like myself, one year on - (and pre all too soon video (DVD) home use releases) - it came on TV and having adored his earlier efforts, had to watch again to give benefit of doubt was an aberration in his oeuvre and possibly so reassess: and by which, just coincidentally, was set up to also hear, too, on the recently invested in, (then rapidly proliferating), home theatre set up sound system: and in that (aural) sense, finally, it stood- sounded - out mightily superb: since having known what was to unfold - so, knowing likely not able to make much (mundane) narrative sense to it - and so is the reason I'm adding this here, since, otherwise, really, what could I add that might be useful (new?) that hasn't already been mulled over countless times? Since otherwise, there'd really be little reason to add my take on it other than to recommend this: if you have already seen it once, then counter-intuitively, DON'T try to work it out; rather just let the images and weirdness wash over you. That's all. Indeed, even let go of the obvious movie use sense of 'viewing', so that for a change rather than intently watch, trying to work out the unlikely unworkoutable, just listen to it: the soundtrack and design (Lynch himself with long time compatriot Badalamenti) is an experience to savour on its own: as for example, as the most disturbing, (likely snuff inference?) home porn movie scene approaches, as characters career down corridors and the ominous sorta chop chop helicopter like opening bars of Ramstein's eponymous 'tune' chimes in, surreptitiously ramp up the volume on your home sound system: as the Teutonic cacophony crashes through, it'll startle and raise the hackles on ya neck even more and add to the fearful paranoia that Lynch has masterfully inveigled you into. Other than that, I wouldn't dare to try and interpret it: (Coz it's a fugue, innit? Or what?) it's best left entirely to your own impression (e.g. disjointed claptrap - or deeply disturbing take on the mysterious power of alternative personality (DID = largely dismissed Disassociative Individual Disorder?) manifestation, that may likely affect those that have power and control over us?! … Opps! There, still sneaked in my take!), and just be grateful, Lynch did decide not only to put it together, but also originally for proper appreciation on on the big screen, too. (Oh, and if you have the spare time, then a must to try and triple bill it with similar themed, companion pieces, 'Mulholland Dr.' and 'Inland Empire'.)Truly masterful from a cinematic genius master: there, that's my take / recommendation done.

Inevitably viewers, on seeing LOST HIGHWAY for the first time, might ask what on earth is happening; or perhaps try to look for symbols in order to decode what director David Lynch has to say about contemporary American - specifically Californian - society.Perhaps it might be better to approach the film on its own terms as a meditation on the fluidity of identity, where Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) is sentenced to death in the electric chair for the murder of his wife Renee (Patricia Arquette), and subsequently morphs into Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty), who becomes involved with Alice Wakefield (also played by Arquette) and mobster Ed (Louis Eppolito). As the action unfolds, Alice morphs into Renee. Throughout the action a mysterious presence lurks, with a whitened face and forbidding air (Robert Blake); he ostensibly works for Ed, but he seems to be able to penetrate even the most private spaces.Lynch has chosen the most commonplace names for his two male characters to emphasize their ordinariness; they could be anyone we encounter in our daily lives. Nonetheless what happens within their imaginations is very different from their quotidian behaviors; they are both tortured souls either unable or unwilling to conquer the wild and often horrific promptings of their unconscious minds. Renee appears to be dead; but then she mysteriously resurfaces later on in the film. Alice at one point tells Pete "You will never have me," suggesting a male desire for possession that will never take place in a dystopian world.The "Lost Highway" of the title is frequently shown in point of view shot, as a vehicle travels up a deserted road at night, with only the road markings visible. This might be both physical as well as mental; a metaphor of the male protagonists' diseased minds as well as a representation of just how threatening a landscape can be, especially at night when there are no lights to illuminate the street.LOST HIGHWAY is the kind of movie that consciously resists interpretation, and justifiably so. It requires considerable attention on the viewers' part, not only to appreciate the subtleties of director Lynch's directorial technique, but to decode what is happening in a series of visually complicated sequences. It is the kind of film that demands repeated viewings - not necessary to "understand" it better, but to appreciate just how carefully Lynch constructs it.

Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) is told that "Dick Laurent is dead". He plays the saxophone. He and his wife Renée (Patricia Arquette) are hounded by someone unknown. A mystery man, supposed to be a friend of Dick Laurent, meets Fred at a party. Fred is jailed for brutally murdering Renée. In prison, his identity changes to Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty). Pete is released for being the wrong guy. Sheila (Natasha Gregson Wagner) is his girlfriend. He's a mechanic working at a garage owned by Arnie (Richard Pryor). Gangster Mr. Eddy (Robert Loggia) needs his car repaired and Alice Wakefield (Patricia Arquette) is his mistress.David Lynch has made something confusing. Following this logically may be a fool's errant. The problem is that it's not terribly compelling either. It grinds along like a car stuck in first gear. It is impossibly slow with an unknowable story. When the switch happens, the movie goes into a WTF restart. I'm not sure I care about the first part. At least, the second part has the great Robert Loggia.