Lost Highway

David Lynch’s 1997 film “Lost Highway” shows the filmmaker creating the style of film he loves to make which is captivating surrealist art house with an emphasis on violence and sexuality. Lost Highway shows the early implementation of completely separate yet somehow interconnected stories where it is up to the viewer to make sense as best the can of what they’re seeing. Lynch would later polish this way of storytelling in 2001’s Mulholland Drive however the themes of jealousy leading to anger which manifests itself in the form of psychological violence. We start by meeting a couple Fred and Renee played by Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette respectively. Their life seems somewhat normal if not a little eerie but things feel different when a series of VHS tapes are left at their door which shoes someone has been lurking in their life and slowly working closer into their personal life and home. Things feel uncomfortable especially for Fred as his wife begins to acting increasingly more strange making the audience believe she may hold more information. Fred himself is no shining light of innocence mind you. When speaking to police he says “I like to remember things in my own way, not necessarily the way that they happen.” This is a summery of David Lynch’s filmography and tells us we can’t trust Fred. We later meet Pete , A 24 year old mechanic who woke in place of Fred and nobody knows how. Pete has a regular car client named Mr. Eddy who seems powerful and respected. Things are moving for Pete but when Mr. Eddys main squeeze and Trojan horse in the porn business Alice (Patricia Arquette) begins to seek out Pete where they began a dangerous sexual waltz behind an already proven violent man. Pete is too infatuated to be concerned about the danger. Many of the same jealous tendencies affect Pete just as they did Fred when he finds out how Alice is so entrenched into this seedy adult business. (Pun intended). I found both of these stories wholly engrossing mainly for the desire to try my attempt at solving what Lynch was going for. We are able to see how the characters shown desire something they can’t necessarily have. Although you wish things a certain way or even dream of another life or scenario to be in. Fred while a working musician who loves his wife, begins to figure her infidelity with Dick Laurent (Mr. Eddy). Being overcome with guilt and lured into violence by a mysterious man who we later learn is the man behind the camera. The mysterious man serves to represent guilt and anger that manifests into violent acts. Both Fred and Pete see this man and throughout their journeys are both shaped by his looming presence. Our character is envisioning this relationship where he’s being pursued by this attractive and unable women rather than being a musician getting routinely cheated on that can’t satisfy his wife. This film like most of David Lynch will have you all the way in or completely over it. I’m happy to always state the claim that Lynch is a surrealist mastermind able to play with the way stories are told to such an extreme way that make his stories feel like a new mind game every time. You’ll be able to spend an exorbitant amount of time trying to dissect the meaning but enjoy and interpret in your own way. Lost Highway shows some more darker themes than his work from the 70s but completely maintains his undeniable original quality.