'Mulholland Drive' review

If you don’t know who David Lynch is, stop reading now and google him.

David Lynch directed and wrote the 2001 film Mulholland Drive (or Mulholland Dr.) after already having success with his previous films, Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, and the Twin Peaks television series. For the film Mulholland Drive, it was originally set to be a spin-off based on one of his characters from Twin Peaks. However, executives decided against it. Lynch’s style is very artistically different from most creators. The film’s meaning has been left up for various interpretations, even the cast has no clue what the film truly meant.

Mulholland Drive is about a woman, who after being in a car accident, is left with no memory. In order to figure out what happened to her, she joins forces with an inspiring actress. It’s really difficult to explain the plot of the film because there is so much going on all at once. There is a subplot, a cowboy, a mysterious blue box and doppelgangers? What? In order to explain the film, I have to discuss the dream aspect of the film. The film, in my opinion, is a dream. The aspiring actress, Betty, falls into a deep sleep (not completely sure if it is drug-induced or not) and she embarks on a journey in her dream, in which everything is sort of perfect for her. She has an amazing audition and begins a relationship with the amnesiac, Rita. However, when “Betty” wakes up from her slumber, reality is kicked in and she is actually “Diane” and her lover in her dream is actually her ex-girlfriend, Camilla. Diane is an actress, but not as successful as her ex, Camilla, who has a relationship with her but then later dumps her for her bigshot director, Adam. Diane, who put out a hit on Camilla, because she is angry with her, has to deal with the consequences of her action. Camilla, who is now dead, makes Diane feel completely distraught and because she cannot deal with her actions and the guilt overwhelms her, it leads to her suicide.

The film does an excellent job at exploring identity through the form of doubles. Betty is the ideal version that Diane wants to be and everyone else in her dream state is who she prefers them to be. She manipulates this in her dream and becomes so involved in it, that she nearly loses herself. This is very similar to Lynch’s other film, Inland Empire. The overall message that I believe that Lynch is trying to offer is that as much as you try to change the past or make yourself the perfect version that you want, perfection is not real. He exposes the sad part of relationships and Hollywood. Hollywood can change someone and make them better or worse. It requires good morals and strength in order to stay true to yourself. Diane was unable to face her fears and guilt, which led to her breakdown.

'Rear Window' review

Is it ethical for a man to watch people outside his apartment window with binoculars?

This is a question that is asked in the 1954 film Rear Window, as director, Alfred Hitchcock peeps into the lives of the people living in neighboring apartments through the eyes of a photographer, Jeff, who is restricted in a wheelchair after an accident that leaves him with a broken leg. Jeff spends his time watching his neighbors through his rear window with his large camera lens as he is confined to a wheelchair. He surveys his neighbors as they go on with their daily routines. He witnesses one of his neighbors commit some suspicious behavior regarding his wife and it leads him to believe that his neighbor might have something to do with the disappearance of his wife.

Voyeurism is a major theme in the film, however, I like to believe that it is somewhat close to “rubbernecking” as to what Jeff is doing in the film. With “voyeurism,” Jeff is enjoying the act of watching others, even if they are experiencing pain or happy, sometimes sexual feelings or activities. When Jeff watches “Miss Lonelyhearts“ she is alone, sad and later tries to commit suicide, though Jeff makes the call to the police to send help to her, he is distracted and sends the police to save his girlfriend, Lisa, instead. When watching “Miss Torso” it is constantly when she is undressing or with other men. The film makes the statement with voyeurism that, like rubbernecking, it is hard to look away from something very intriguing, whether it be dangerous, erotic, or miserable.

Rear Window is film majorly through the lens of the binoculars or Jeff’s camera to add to the voyeuristic, “Peeping Tom” vibe to the film. Everything is seen through another lense, not just Jeff’s eyes. The audience is invading someone else’s life and the film suggests that there are good and bad outcomes from this. When “people watching” one can either help or hurt someone. In this case, it worked in the favor of Jeff, who not only put a murderer away in jail, but came to his senses that he belongs with Lisa and can find true love. Although all of this ended in not one, but two broken legs, the film makes note that voyeurism might appear innocent, but there are always consequences to the actions one makes.

Rubbernecking allows the driver to see what might have caused the accident, but it only creates traffic.

'Taxi Driver' Review

“You’re only… as healthy… as you… feel.”

This is what Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) says to himself as he poorly handles being ignored and despised by Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), with whom his date with did not go as well as he thought it would. Though, this to me, is when Travis’ mental state decreases.

In the 1976 film Taxi Driver, directed by Martin Scorsese, it highlights loneliness and alienation, which happens to be the theme for this year’s Film Society. A young, war veteran, Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), takes up the job as a taxi driver and travels around New York picking up and dropping off different types of people. As Travis does his job, he becomes attracted to a woman, Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), who works as a volunteer for Senator Charles Palantine (Leonard Harris), who is running for President. After a date went wrong with Betsy, Travis finds himself involved with an underage prostitute, Iris (Jodie Foster), who Travis believes he can rescue her from her pimps. Although Travis starts as a taxi driver in the beginning of the film and survives death and endures obstacles along the way; at the end, he is still a taxi driver, but not the same person he was before.

Within the course of a few months, Travis changes drastically and it started after his terrible date with Betsy. He becomes fixated on getting stronger and getting muscles. He buys guns and spends time on gearing himself up for his end-goal, which remains unclear to me still. The film offers many elements to consider paying more attention to and draw out conclusions about. Though the question of whether Taxi Driver is a film noir or not, is a popular question. This question can be answered when looking at the character types and dissecting specific qualities the film may have that would be considered as film noir aspects.

Martin Scorsese is a name in the film industry that many people know. It is not only his directing that made Taxi Driver an iconic film, but I believe the score really stands out. Bernard Herrmann, who composed the music for the film also did the score for other film noirs, such as Citizen Kane and Psycho. The score consisted of mainly instruments, like the trumpet, saxophone, and drums. When Travis would see Betsy or experience a calm, content moment with someone, the music would be intimate and smooth like jazz. However, the instruments would play intensely when a person or situation appeared bad or suspicious came across Travis. The score helped move the film along and progress, as it was easy-going and not too distracting.

To avoid spoiling too much of the film to those who have not seen it yet, I would encourage those to skip over this paragraph and read the next. In the last leg of Taxi Driver, Travis goes on a mission which, as the audience might assume is to assassinate Senator Charles Palantine, goes wrong. When Travis’ initial plan does not go as planned, he rushes over to the apartment where Iris lives and does her work. At Iris’ apartment is where the bloodbath occurs. As Travis is killing pimps left and right, there is no sound except for Iris’ money collector yelling out “I’ll kill you” repeatedly and the splashing noise that comes from the bodies after the bullet goes through them. This long sequence features Travis attempting to kill or have himself killed twice, which made me think was this shoot-out planned or random? The scene that follows the bloody massacre, is of newspaper clippings of Travis recovering from a coma and being considered a hero for saving Iris’ life. This scene is almost oneiric, as it does not feel real. This ending felt unrealistic because throughout the film, Travis was mentally unstable. From the bad date he had with Betsy, the people he drove around, working out excessively, buying weapons, taking pills… all to the point of him killing men. People tend to always remember the quote "You talkin to me?" but what they don't pay much attention to is the line that follows, which is "Cuz, I'm the only one here." This adds to Travis' unhealthy mental state because not only is he alone in his room, but he is talking to himself in the mirror. He knows no one can hear him, yet he is talking as if someone else is in the room with him. When he is with other people, he is not really there, or at least not mentally. The only time when he is comfortable speaking aloud to others or speaking at all is through his journal, because it is for him only.

In all, it comes down to Travis being alienated in a world that he feels is unclean and filled with people who are scum. He wants to take out the garbage and start anew, but this is difficult for him when everyone around him is corrupted with something awful. He also wants to help others. He is socially awkward or not socially aware of what is acceptable and what is not. He believed the pornographic movie he brought Betsy to was a great idea, though it was not. When he killed the men that were with Iris, at the end, he was considered a hero for saving her. However this is unsure because there was a moment when Iris looked content with her pimp, Sport (Harvey Keitel) as they danced together. It is as if Travis were the dead flowers in his apartment: quickly dying because they weren't given proper attention or care.