Lost Highway (1997)

Lighting. That's the thing I remembered most from the first time I saw this film. Amazing lighting. Certain directors, Lynch included, are able to tell the story using camera movement, what's seen/not seen. Lynch, however, has taken that a step further with the way he chooses to light his scenes - he sculpts his shots in a manner that seems almost more like a theatrical lighting designer's work. The use of shadows within the home, the stark colors that accompany certain scenes, even the car lighting in the titles - all of this is used to draw the audience's attention to a certain point, and all of it thrills. With the terse, "European art-film" dialogue style (at first the most distancing thing I found in Lynch's work, it is now one of my favorite elements), sharp sound work, a strong cast, and the marvelous, spiralling structure of the film only reinforcing it's strongest feature - its atmosphere - this is a work that will be discussed long after the credits fade. In my short 22 years, the best film I've seen, bar none.

Fmovies: The thing that's great about Lost Highway is there is no absolute solution to the events in the film, everything about the film is open to interpretation and after you watch it you either need to thing and talk about it for a couple of hours or watch it again. In Mulholland Drive, people say that it needs to be watched twice to be fully understood. Lost highway needs to be watched about 3 or 4 time to be slightly understood and will probably never be fully understood. All the clues are there in the film but to include all of them to make sense is very difficult. However it is very rewarding to try and find out the meaning of Lost Highway.

Although it is described as a modern film-noir, it's more inspired by Alfred Hitchcock. The use of music to increase the suspense of the film is used a lot here and in many Hitchcock films such as Psycho. Even if you cant work out what it is about, it is still a very tense thriller.

Final Score – 10/10

I absolutely loved this movie. I have always loved to watch a good flick that puts my brain to the test. Maybe the film isn't suppose to make much sense, but that's what I love about it. You have to try and analyze it and make your own theories about what just took place. This movie isn't for a lot of people and I mean a lot. You have to like movies like Mulholland Drive, Memento, The Man Who Wasn't There, etc.. to even begin to like this one. I'm not necessarily a big David Lynch fan, but this movie rocked big time.

One of the most eery parts of the film is when (Bill Pullman) is making love to his wife (Patricia Arquette) and her face turns into the mystery man (Robert Blake). A very freaky looking individual, indeed. In my eyes, he represents the devil. But, that's my take on it.

Another great scene is when Pete is making love to Patricia Arquette in the Desert. The lighting, music, camera angles, emotions and everything is just one of the best pieces of cinemtography I've ever seen in my life.

My recommendation is this: If you liked Mulholland Drive, Memento, Pulp Fiction, Fargo, The Man Who Wasn't There, Blue Velvet, then this movie is your cup of tea. If not, don't waste your time, cause you'll hate it, more than likely. 3 1/2 *'s out of 4 *'s.

Lost Highway fmovies. This was the first time I was in anticipation of the release of a David Lynch film. Having only discovered his movies (and Twin Peaks) in the period of 1992-1997. I became a huge fan, owning several films on video as well as the complete Twin Peaks series.

I was not disappointed with Lost Highway. A film that left me totally stunned. A film that I did not want to end, in the hope that I could figure out what was going on. A film that left some scenes imprinted on my brain like a tattoo. A film that is a dream.

This film is what dreams are. There are times when you feel you control the dream, and times where you feel it escapes you. Slow and rapid events. Images that don't make sense. Fantasy. Horror. Surrealism. Symbolism. All part of a long dream, that I doubt anyone can decipher, including Mr Lynch.

Seeing this film for the second time with a person who truly did not "get it" (though I thank her for her patience to watch the whole film), made realise that there are two kinds of people in this world. I love this film. I can't wait to watch it again.

I believe it was the legendary Homer Simpson who once gave the ideal description on David Lynch productions. During watching a ‘Twin Peaks'-episode he said, `Brilliant…but I don't get it'. Too true…you love what you're seeing and you want to be a part of the mysterious Lynch universe! You actually feel the urge to search for solutions, you want to solve the riddle that is Lost Highway and you desperately try to do so…until you realize it's in fact a puzzle that cannot be solved. Therefore, my advice would be: Don't try to be Einstein and develop too many ‘theories'… just get overwhelmed by Lost Highway and enjoy the mixture of weirdness, violence and erotica you get to see. It's amazing what David Lynch pulls off here! He serves an absurd and impossible structure that involves an inexplicable metamorphosis of the protagonist and he actually gets away with it!! Meanwhile, he introduces a bunch of bizarre – but extremely fascinating – characters of which you don't know they're real or just creations of a mentally ill mind. Lynch in top-condition, in other words…you almost start to suspect he's laughing with his audience. The quality of Lost Highway is brought up to an even higher level by the terrific musical score (Angelo Badalamenti), a blasting soundtrack (Rammstein!) and sublime acting. Bill Pullman and Balthazar Ghetty supply each other terrifically, even though they don't have ONE scene together. And Patricia Arquette…either blond or brunette… looks gorgeous. No wonder men in this film fall into madness over her.

Lost Highway comes with my highest possible recommendation, yet I still prefer the David Lynch of the lat 70's and 80's. Can't really give a reasonable explanation for thisÂ… Films like Blue Velvet and Eraserhead had something extra.

This is the first film directed by David Lynch I've seen, not counting The Elephant Man, which is another great film, but is an outsider in his career, since it is not surreal. This film is, however, making it the first typical Lynch film I've seen. And I'm honestly not sure what to make of it. I had heard a lot about Lynch's films before watching, but I guess I hadn't heard enough. I went into this film hoping for a good mystery, an interesting puzzle to solve. As the end credits rolled I didn't know what to make of what I had just seen. I didn't get an answer to the question I kept asking while I was watching; "What exactly is this film about?". As soon as the credits were over, I read a comment or two by Lynch fans... and the truth dawned on me. It's not supposed to be solved. It's not a movie where you, when you see the very end, exclaim "Ah! Now I get it!". This film won't provide you with some twist ending or have a character come up to the lead and explain it all. It's not supposed to make perfect sense or be easily explainable. It's not real. It's fantasy. Fiction. The whole film is like a dream, or, more appropriately, a nightmare. The film is great; it's just not for me. I won't let that affect my rating, however. This was an excellent example of masterful film-making. Lynch's direction is eminent, evidenced by the fact that I kept watching, despite not understanding half of what was going on or being able to sympathize with any character(something we are much too used to from mainstream movies). The lighting is great. Lynch really plays around with it, and it's always interesting to look at. It also really adds to the mood, nicely set by careful editing and music usage. The acting is flawless, and that is not a term I use lightly. All in all, a wonderfully well-done film, but definitely not for everyone. Wasn't in my tastes, but I enjoyed how well-made it was regardless. I recommend this to fans of art films, rather than conventional ones. Fans of Lynch should enjoy this. Very surreal and loose. 10/10