Lost Highway

I’ve had my fair share of David Lynch marathons, but this one in particular has sadly come to a close. I started this massive Lynchian deep dive nearly a month ago in honor of Twin Peaks Day and now I find myself coming back to Lost Highway as a “see you later” type bookend to a month chock full of all things Lynch. It still pains me knowing that he is gone. As soon as I heard the news nearly two months ago, I knew I would dedicate a lot of time this year to rewatching and watching not only his work, but anything and everything about his work too. An artist as influential and creative as Lynch deserves to be properly honored and I am doing my best to grapple with the reality of the situation, which is something Fred Madison does not do. Instead of accepting that he killed his wife and is going to face the death penalty as a result, he creates this insane narrative within his mind about a younger and better version of himself that is more successful and who is able to do things that he can’t actually do. I love the scene in the prison cell in which Fred undergoes a surreal and visually stunning “transformation” from being himself to embodying the character he creates, Pete, in order to somehow manage to forget about the fact that he killed his wife. The ending of this is also pretty fucking awesome. I honestly don’t even know what the fuck happens and what it all means, but I was having a damn good time and the vibes were coursing through my veins so who cares? Mystery Man comes back, Pete turns back into Fred, there’s a chase in which Fred speedily drives down a lost highway, and all the while David Bowie is singing I’m Deranged oh so faintly. I think I’m putting the pieces together. Are you? Anyway, this film is awesome, the opening title sequence is an all timer, and I love the music so fucking much. For now, this is my farewell to Lynch, but don’t you worry, I’ll be back very soon.