Perspectives: Post-modernism in Non-Linear Film - Mulholland Drive (2001)

Figure 1 - Mulholland Drive - Film Poster

Mulholland Drive directed by David Lynch is an incredibly cerebral film, it is criticised for needing a lot of concentration in order to just watch it, Non-linear story telling is a key feature of the production and contributes to an element of post-modernism in the film. Mulholland drive doesn't have a generic story time scale where it goes start, middle then end, instead its seemingly erratic as it jumps through time in order to give a perspective to the audience, this technique works well here on the audience to give us a shared feeling of isolation, confusion and great foreboding with which we can empathise with the characters "it explores an internal reality through the eyes of an individual whose point of view is altered by mental illness or substances" (Lee, 2018). This is often referred to as an 'altered state'. 

Figure 2 - Mulholland Drive - Diner 

Due to an altered state it becomes very apparent some way into the film that the concept of 'the unreliable narrator' is happening. Due to the story being told in an altered state, we find out it is shot from the perspective of one individual, this means we see exactly what they perceive, usually in film we are likely to see noninflected shots juxtaposed in order to give us a sense of meaning, we cannot trust what the shot tells us because it isn't accurate to what is actually happening. 

Figure 3 - Mulholland Drive - Reflections

The film takes place over a period of weeks, the non-linear story telling provides the opportunity for  flash backs to fill us in on important information in a way which isn't damaging to the flow of the film. Scenes which are a week apart are put back to back in order to give the audience an altered meaning of the event or character. It is arguable the film is heavily surrealist because it plays as a psychologically lucid dream until the end, each shot is put together with something seemingly unrelated much like unintelligible dreamscapes much like 'Un Chien Andalou' by Luis Benuel and Salvador Dali where not all aspects of the film which you see emphasised aren't significant to the plot, arguably leaving the audience with questions and confusion.    

Illustrations:

Figure 1: Mulholland Drive [film poster] - David Lynch:  Les Films Alain Sarde, Asymmetrical Productions, Babbo Inc.

Figure 2: Mulholland Drive [film] - David Lynch:  Les Films Alain Sarde, Asymmetrical Productions, Babbo Inc.

Figure 3: Mulholland Drive [film] - David Lynch:  Les Films Alain Sarde, Asymmetrical Productions, Babbo Inc.

Bibliography:

Lee, J. (2018). Post Modern Film explained by David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. [online] Journal Absurdo. Available at: https://journalabsurdo.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/post-modern-film-explained-by-david-lynchs-mulholland-drive/ [Accessed 23 Oct. 2018].