Susan Sontag pointed out in "On Photography": "Accepting what is photographed by the camera is a way to understand the world, but this is exactly the opposite of knowing the world, because the understanding of the world is from refusing to accept the appearance of the world. The beginning. All the possibilities of knowing are rooted in the courage and ability to say'no'." This new and formidable female scholar pointed out mercilessly, "Humans remain in Plato’s caves beyond redemption." , The old habit has not changed, still intoxicated in images that are not reality but only reality.” Plato’s "Shadow of the Cave" borrowed from Socrates’ dialogue with Grocon, metaphors the fact that people all live in one In the "cave" of conventional ideas, the unshakable beliefs and ideals originally belonged to the fantasy of "truth". Plato showed doubts about the subject's perception, believing that the starting point of all knowledge is unreliable, and must determine the unreliability of the knowledge on which to act. Therefore, each existence has different occasions and plays the role of "cave prisoners" to varying degrees. In other words, in a sense, we will all be harassed and deceived by "cave illusions" to varying degrees.
Various art forms have already begun to explore the philosophical relationship between the objective world in which we live and our cognition, and "Muholland" is such a film-questioning the reality of images and the reality of cognition, right A film that says "no" to the possibility of cognition. When Jiang Wen talked about "The Sun Also Rises", he mentioned the concept of "open film", that is, within a limited time length and the limitations of the use of techniques, the art of film and television will be transformed from a storyteller to a guide, so as to give viewers Provide an open space for your imagination and development. In this regard, "Mulholland Road" is also a very good representative.
Let us begin our analysis of "Mulholland Road". First of all, it is strongly recommended that if you have not watched this movie, it is best not to watch the following content. This is just an analysis of the role of dreams in "Mulholland" from the perspective of Freud's theory. Accepting a point of view prematurely will make you lose the other rich possibilities of the whole movie.
The narration of "Mulholland Road" is divided into two parts. The blue box is opened at about 115' in the film as the distinguishing point. The first half follows the general narrative mode, although it is a bit messy but easier to understand-the main line of the story is the young actor Betty, she came to Hollywood in pursuit of her acting dream, and met Rita, a woman who lost her memory in a car accident Rita Hayworth, the meaning of this name will be mentioned later). Betty and Rita embarked on a journey to find memories. Their only clue was the car accident the day before and a name that Rita accidentally thought of-Diane. In the end, the two found a rotten female corpse in Diane's residence and began a homosexual relationship in extreme panic. The first 115 minutes were also mixed with other stories-a man was frightened by the devil behind the wall, a clumsy killer made a clumsy business (killing the target but being seen by witnesses one after another, not to be killed), and the director Adam Kesher's unlucky experience-the heroine of the new film was finalized by the management, and because of the resistance, he was completely wiped out, and finally had to compromise.
Movies 95' to 115' are the transition between the two parts. The story began to move towards weirdness and absurdity, suggesting the untruth of information. After 115', the narrative turned to chaos (many people also gave up the film, thinking it was incomprehensible). Betty's name became Diane, and Rita became Camilla. The only clue inherited is the homosexual relationship between the two, but it is clear that Camilla abandoned Diane and got together with Adam Kesher. When Diane was on the verge of collapse, she found the killer (the stupid killer in the first paragraph) and asked him to kill Camilla. In the end, Diane ended her life in gunfire.
The brief introduction of the plot is certainly not enough to explain the splendor of the movie. This story, which contains the complex relationship between dreams and reality, can be accurately nested in Freud's theory of dreams.
Freud mentioned an important concept in the fourth chapter "Dream Makeup" in his book "Dream Interpretation", namely "identification". In the case provided by Dream Interpretation, a woman in Freud “identified” her image with a girlfriend in her dream, and the dream received a new and reasonable explanation. In this woman's dream, not only her own subjective will appeared, but also part of her girlfriend's subjective will was integrated. She dreamed of going to the store to buy some smoked salmon for a dinner, but just in time for the store to close. Calling for takeaway ran into phone trouble again. This not only reflects the dreamer's own subjective desire, that is, he does not want his girlfriend to have the opportunity to seduce his husband, and at the same time, the unsatisfied desire of his girlfriend to "want to be fuller" is internalized as the dreamer's own desire. "It just replaces the position of the girlfriend with herself, or we can say that she equates herself with her girlfriend." Freud's point of view is popular, that is, in a dream, as a dreamer consciousness The subject is not necessarily the dreamer itself, but the result of the subconscious integration of multiple intentions. The self in the dream is not the real self, but the virtual personality constructed in the subconscious to satisfy desires.
Obscure theories are always difficult to understand. Let us return to the plot of "Mulholland". We can see that the car accident at the beginning (4') of the film is exactly the same as the part of the 128' Diane's banquet. Diane and Rita's lines are both "What are you doing? We don't stop here." The same passage that happened twice on Mulholland Drive is the most obvious hint of the film. The roles of Diane (betty in front) and Camilla (Rita) have been swapped to some extent. The plot after 115' comes from reality, and everything before it is a dream made by Diane.
Of course, it would be too far-fetched to jump to conclusions on this, and it needs to be corroborated by relevant shots. There was a weird scene at 2'—the panning lens dangling back and forth, the heavy woman panting, and finally the scene fell on the pillow—this was exactly the situation when Diane fell asleep after hearing the news of Camilla's death. And all the stories before the end of 115' are the dreams of Diane that night. Another example comes from the use of props. That is, the room where Diane lives is the room where Betty and Rita found the carrion in the dream. Diane knew that Camilla's death was caused by herself, so she made up the plot in her dream. Examining the details is not the purpose of this article, so other evidence will not be detailed, you can look for it slowly while watching.
"Imitation" or identification is the blue key to unlock this dream. Diane's dreams are mixed with various complicated factors-love, hate, low self-esteem, impulse, regret, idealism, jealousy, guilt, etc. These factors are mixed into various characters in the dream.
First of all, love and hatred by love. This is why Diane killed Camllia. Camilla is a gay partner with her, and friends who are walking around in Hollywood together. But Camilla quickly became successful and was engaged to director Adam Kesher. Diane wanted to keep the relationship but was refused (122'). Diane threatened her, but Camilla didn't care. Diane finally hired a killer to kill Camilla. In the dream, Diane hoped that Camilla would be with herself forever, so she arranged for Camilla in the dream to lose her memory in the car accident on Mulholland Road. Obviously, before 115', Rita had always relied on Betty. Betty was in a strong position, and Rita needed her help, protection and comfort everywhere. This is the most obvious manifestation of imitation-Betty is Diane's idealized self, integrating part of Camilla's characteristics-excellent (as can be seen from her excellent acting), self-confidence, unhurried and so on. Diane has inherited a consistent sense of inferiority in her relationship with Camilla, which allows her to integrate herself with the powerful Camilla in her dreams for satisfaction. It is worth mentioning that Camilla in his dream named himself Rita, from the famous Hollywood movie star Rita Hayworth. And this movie star plays the most roles of femme fatale. It can be seen that Diane is sorrowful about the great harm Camilla has inflicted on her.
Second, the contradiction between ideal and reality. The silhouette dance at the beginning of the film is a performance that Diane once stood out from the crowd. This achievement makes Diane full of ideals for her acting career. But after coming to Hollywood, her repeated defeats and failures gradually made her on the verge of collapse, and she fell into a homosexual relationship with Camilla and couldn't help herself. Therefore, Betty in her dream has excellent conditions that Diane does not possess-an aunt who lives in Hollywood left her real estate and has excellent acting skills (it is possible that Diane's acting skills are also good, but the cruel selection and a series of hints The black-box operation mentioned made her never make her head). Diane knew that she had made a mistake, so she turned her real relatives, the uncles and aunts who raised her, into strangers in her dreams, so that they would not be sad for the crimes they had committed. At the end of the film, Diane's fantasy before shooting suicide is the hideous aunt and parents. Diane couldn't face the pressure of society and family, and eventually she went to death. Here, the imitation is manifested in the role change of the aunt's parents.
In addition, impulse and regret. Diane was emotionally impulsive and hired a killer to kill Camilla. In her dream, she certainly hoped that none of this had happened. So the killer I hired became a stupid idiot, and he was able to get away by killing three people in a row. And the killer's accomplice, the hideous beggar on the back wall of the Yunqi restaurant, was the most terrifying thing in Diane's dream. It was he who told Diane Camilla's death, and probably gave her some evidence (pictures of wrecks or dead bodies?), packed in a blue box. Diane thought of the beggar as a devil-like existence, and frightened a roadside man that day. It's a pity that Diane's wish did not come true-the killer killed Camilla cleanly. The blue box, on the other hand, is a hypothetical existence similar to Schrödinger's cat-before it is opened, nothing will be determined in it. When it is opened, all illusions and possibilities are transformed (called "collapse" in quantum physics) into the only reality. This is why the dream is over when the blue box is opened. Diane realized that Camilla's death was a fact, all her hopes had been shattered, and finally ended her life in conjecture.
The part between 95' and 115' takes place in an opera house. The host kept shouting No hay banda! (No band) It is an illusion. It seemed like a performance with medieval religious colors. As we all know, the United States is an "A Nation under God", that is, most people are believers. The doctrine of Christianity is an important part of the basic values of many people. The religious scenes that appeared in Diane's dream can be understood as the judgment of her own sins by the religious moral bottom line in her heart. In Freud's theory of consciousness, this scene can be interpreted as "censorship". The unconscious desire escapes the inspection effect in the dream, which allows us to see Diane's fantasy and dream. At the end of the dream, when Diane was gradually waking up, the examination function began to suppress the subconscious, constantly telling the consciousness itself "This is an illusion, everything is an illusion."
One point that has nothing to do with psychoanalytic theory, the irony of "dream making" is the biggest theme of "Mulholland". The film hints at the darkness of many film circles-malicious manipulation by the management, hegemonic power and money transactions, unfair selection mechanisms, and so on. Such problems are also reflected in Diane's dreams. Actors are at the lowest level of the entire operating mechanism, and they are also in a passive position in business. Success depends on people, and it will hurt people. At the same time, in the process of acting, the split of personality is also painful. Naomi, the actor of Diane, revealed in an interview that she once wanted to give up when making this film and was depressed. She even had the idea of driving to Mulholland Road to commit suicide. She mentioned several times that director David Lynch was "exploring my dark side".
The analysis of the movie ends here. These pale words are absolutely impossible to summarize the connotation of this great movie. They are just a simple and superficial exploration of this story using classical psychoanalytic theory. To appreciate its deeper meaning, please turn on the DVD player and relive Diane's nightmare on Mulholland Road with David Lynch. Although this is certainly not a pleasant process, you will definitely gain something.
Reference materials:
"Interpretation of Dreams", by Freud, translated by Sun Mingzhi, The Commercial Press.
"On Photography", by Susan Sontag, translated by Huang Canran, Shanghai Translation Publishing House.
Some comments on the Internet.
Mulholland Road fan discussion website LOST ON MULHOLLAND DRIVE
http://www.mulholland-drive.net/
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