Lost Highway Review

        There’s really no other way to describe David Lynch’s seventh film. Not that it was way too abstract with what was being presented. Or with it being a mish mash of some freaky imagery or the sort. I think this is the one where I was completely lost with what it was trying to get at. Mind you, I typed in notes as I was watching the movie. Although I feel it was a futile since the characters switched and I have no idea as to why. Perhaps supernatural or something that Lynch wasn’t too keen to explain. 

1. Fred and Pete

        Plot wise the first minutes are easy to grasp since we see what’s going on. A saxophonist named Fred gets a mysterious video tape in the front of his door. Both he and his girlfriend Renee watch it and deduce that someone is stalking them, as the footage shows the front of the house. Subsequent tapes reveal more as the interior is shown and their own bedroom. At a party, Fred is confronted by a man who’s face is entirely clean shaven and tells him that he’s at his house. The musician snaps as he kills his girlfriend and is then sentenced to death.

        This is where we switch from perspectives. Instead of following Fred, we now follow a new character named Pete who’s an auto mechanic. And for awhile, I feel sort of lost as to why we switch to a completely different character. Compounding it is that this other woman that he sees looks exactly like Fred’s. Like, his story is getting involved with a shady man and his girlfriend. Pete does some favors for him and he’s rewarded. 

        Now, this isn’t to say that the film falls apart from the story with what’s going on. And I get the feeling that this is supposed to be a about the sexual frustration of the man who feels alienated about not being good enough. Like, we see that both of the men are attracted by the girl’s in their lives, but feel that they are inadequate. Like, Fred is confronted that Renee has been sleeping with other men. And with Pete feeling dejected about his girl but going after another one who’s way more attractive. 

        I think where the lines blur between the characters is that in some interpretation both Fred and Pete are the same person. I can acknowledge that understanding since it’s partially backed up in the beginning of the film. As Fred talks to the local detectives and he explains the situation and why he hates the video recorders. Stating that he likes to remember things his way and wanting to think that it did happen how he initially saw it. More so that in some moments with Pete, we see flashes like lightning strikes that obscure some shots when Pete is in his home or elsewhere. 

        The Mystery Man whose been appearing whenever Fred/Pete are in somewhere specifically is a genuinely freaky person. Just his whole face is uncanny since he doesn’t have any eyebrows and when he meets Fred, he has a smile like a mocking one to him. I feel that he’s supposed to be the personification of death, since he carries a camera on him when we’re in Pete’s point of view. Like, he’s there to be mocking the men that we follow and punctuating it further as he records just how vulnerable they really are. 

        One last thing is the soundtrack that I want to talk about. Lynch must’ve liked the industrial sounding rock music that was pervasive in the 90s. Little did I realize that Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails would help with the soundtrack. It would be years later that he and Atticus Ross would compose and produce other soundtracks for films like The Social Network. Anyways, I like the music that was presented. It felt it was communicating the darkness and anger that we see that Fred/Pete are dealing with. Just refreshing that it wasn’t going for the top songs of the time, but some that fit with the tone and making the most musically inclined Lynch film that I’ve seen. 

2. Vibes and Story

        When discussing David Lynch, it’s really one thing where I don’t want to be too hard on him with how he made his films. Of course, he made a career with going against the mainstream mold of making commercially accepting films for the masses. His whole filmography practically has a cult following with dedicated fans that like the avant-garde nature to them. Like, his films sync up with the people that don’t want to go with what everyone else is doing. And I like some of his films where there’s at least an understanding of what’s going on. 

        With this film, I feel that it’s one of the problems that I have with it. How I would try to explain what didn’t work with me is that I feel that it’s leaning more towards the vibe of the film instead of telling a compelling story. I would want to at least understand the characters that we’re following instead of following a what’s going on that is seemingly trippy or just off putting. Perhaps it’s a problem with me and I should at least appreciate what’s going on and not think too hard of it. 

        I feel that it shouldn’t be the way to approach a movie. Having to rely on just what the tone and what the overall feeling is shouldn’t be an outlier to cover up a potentially messy film. I would have liked the film had it been more engaging and be more impactful with what it was doing with the two protagonists. Just the vagueness of how it’s presented and without any potential need to look it up to understand it, I feel that it’s the rare weaker films of David Lynch. Now, there can be subtlety with the execution, but I believe that it’s amplified where it can be a turn off to some. 

3. Overall

        Lost Highway is one of the weaker films of the director, only essential if you want to marathon the whole filmography.