I had to get Lost Highway from Mexico because for whatever reason, it hasn’t yet been released in the U.S. Siskel and Ebert gave it two thumbs down. Siskel said he found it petty. Petty?? I LOVED it!! Not as much as Mulholland Dr., but close.

I didn’t think it was petty at all. Maybe Siskel didn’t “get it”? Of course if you actually “get” a David Lynch film, you probably haven’t gotten it at all.

I read that Lynch realized in 2002 that the film had been subconsciously inspired by the O.J. Simpson trials. That makes a lot of sense to me.

So this is my take upon an initial viewing….

SPOILER WARNING!!

I don’t think Fred Madison was framed. I think he killed his wife and then had to come up with ways to deny the reality of this murder to himself. Like in Mulholland Dr., all is illusion and everything goes blurry when reality makes an entrance. In Lost Highway, however, reality never quite gets to enter. It immediately gets suppressed.

Richard Blake plays the mystery man and claims he didn’t understand his role although he thought he was the devil. I don’t think he’s the devil, just Madison’s unacknowledged shadow side which could be experienced as the devil, I suppose, since our shadow sides tend to become the devil when we deny them and try to pretend they don’t exist.

There is a sort of duality thing going on. Fred Madison is not just Fred Madison, he’s also Pete (whatever his last name is.) Renee isn’t just Renee, she’s also Alice. Mr. Eddie is also Dick Laurent, although according to the policemen who recognize Mr. Eddy as Dick Laurent - he’s not viewed as two separate entities as is Fred and Pete. The duality is created by the perceptions of Fred and Pete. For Pete, he’s Mr. Eddy, for Fred, he’s Dick Laurent. Perhaps the same is true for Renee and Alice? For Pete, she’s Alice. And for Fred, she’s Renee?

The shadow side (The Mystery Man) - says she is Renee. He tells Pete that if she has been telling him she is Alice, she’s been lying to him. But who is it that has actually been doing the lying? Fred! He’s conjured up a split personality to deal with his impending execution and that alter personality has it’s own perceptions and creates it’s own identities for people.

I think what Lynch does by portraying the criminal extremes is to take what we all do on an individual basis and carry it out to an extreme so we can see it carried out to it’s logical consequence. One seemingly innocent denial of reality demands another denial of reality which demands another until reality gets warped beyond all recognition. We become unrecognizable, even to ourselves, until something (probably very uncomfortable) demands we confront reality rather than continue to avoid it.

I’ll have to watch it again. I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts later!