Onlymissing a bit oftext from 'The Cowboy' scene and missing sometext from 'The Audition' scene...soon to be completed
David Lynch's 'neo film noir' epic...
What are you doing? We don't stop here!
Yes reader...I mean you, are you sure you want to stop here?
Ok, but be prepared, this is a long one and a real head spinner and it may well mess with your subconscious.
You've been warned. If you have not seen this film, then I suggest that you do so...and I also suggest that you watch it multiple times, as the viewer can only benefit their understanding by doing so...the 'pay-off' is there waiting for you.
If you haven't seen the film...then you'll be wasting your time reading and this post is a 'giant spoiler', so you've been informed
Firstly...it was very difficult to come up with a 'single coherent post' to explain this 'monster' of a film, but I've given it a try. What makes it difficult...is the mixed forms of identities, timelines and dream/reality/flashback states that the viewer finds himself/herself in, whilst viewing the film in the typical linear fashion.
What the viewer needs to appreciate is that over 80% of the film's span, actually takes place in the 'dreaming mind'of the main protagonist, that being Diane (aka Betty). This story is Diane's story from start to finish and the story is very much 'a tragedy' in the classical sense.
When you watch 'Mulholland Drive' you will find yourself dealing with 3 basic forms of state...these being:
- reality (present),
- dream
- flashback (reality flashback).
I am going to lead you through the film, by tackling it in a chronological way from 'the beginning and until the end' so as not to overly confuse the reader, but in doing so I will also be making reference to latter parts of the film, in order to explain the relevance and the meaning of the film's aspects.
Seeing as though over 80% of the duration takes place in the 'dream state' (of Diane's mind) we must therefore understand and appreciate that all the characters that exist in this 'dream state', are what I call 'dream composites' internally created by Diane (she is the authorof the dream). Yes, most of the 'dream characters' that are present will be based on people familiar to Diane in reality and therefore they will hold parts of their own 'reality persona', but they will also all be marked with aspects of Diane's own psyche.
The basic synopsis
Diane is a budding actress that came to Hollywood from Canada to embark on a film career, before this she first wins a Jitterbug dance contest and this leads her to want to act. Her dead Aunt Ruth (who worked in the movie business) has left her an inheritance and with this she heads to L.A. Diane auditions for a role in a film called 'The Sylvia North Story' and it is a part that she desperately wants, but eventually she loses out and the part goes to another actress called Camilla Rhodes. The film is a major success and this launches Camilla into stardom. Though she misses out on this part, Diane forms a friendship with Camilla and this ultimately leads to the two of them becoming lovers and in turn, the relationship leads Camilla to help Diane get small roles in some of her films.
Eventually Camilla meets a director called Adam Kesher and the meeting leads to them forming a relationship and one that enrages Diane. Camilla goes on to reject Diane (as a lover) and there is a stormy break-up between the two of them. Soon after, Camilla invites Diane to a party at Adam's house (6980 Mulholland Drive) and at first (the secret special walk to 6980); Diane thinks that she and Camilla could possibly still have a relationship of sorts, regardless of her pairing with Adam. This thinking is very short lived and Diane eventually realises that the party is to announce Adam & Camilla's impending marriage, coupled with that Diane also notices Camilla kissing with a young girl (Melissa George) and it is a kiss that is done in such a way, as to indicate to Diane, that she is not her exclusive female lover. Diane ultimately ends up feeling humiliated and all this pushes Diane to the edge (for she truly loves Camilla) and she then arranges to have Camilla murdered by a hitman (probably using the inheritance money), which he subsequently carries out.
After the murder of Camilla...Diane is unable to deal with what she has done (she even feels the heat of the law, as two policemen wish to talk with her) and is racked with guilt and sadness. Prior to the night of her suicide...Diane falls into a drug-induced dream and in it she re-writes the events of what really happened, both with Camilla and her own experience in Hollywood. In the dream she is reunited with Camilla and can continue to be her lover...but the dream can only be temporary and eventually reality comes crashing back in and destroys the fantasy. On waking from the dream...Diane goes deeper into self-loathing and guilt, which leads to Diane being unable to cope and she ends her suffering by taking a handgun and blowing her own brains out.
What I want to do first, is explain the entire chronological 'timeline' of the film (in relation to these 3 basic states outlined earlier) and divide it into sections, I hope this will make it more easily digestible and understandable.
Timeline
0:00:00 - 0:01:56
A mix of seemingly recalled heightened reality and a brief moment of reality (present)
0:02:20 - 1:57:00
The drug induced dream sleep
The drug induced dream sleep
This 'dream span' lasts just under 1hr 55mins...the bulk of the film.
![]()
Notice the exact same bed arrangement from both shots...the sheets/pillow and the golden blanket.
On post-dream awakening, Diane potters about in her apartment answering the door and making coffee.
Here we get our first flashback...
Here we get our first flashback...
2:01:34 - 2:05:11
reality flashbacks..
reality flashbacks..
2:05:15- 2:06:40
Another reality flashback followed by a small piece of reality present...masturbation.
2:06:40 - 2:17:57
From the present to...A flashback to the party at 6980...chronologically followed by another reality flashback, arranging the hit.
6980 party to Winkie's 'hit arranging' flashback
The seguing edit and the crashing sounds of crockery in both 'flashback' settings (6980 & Winkie's) that evoke the crashing sounds that we heard at the film's start...the crashing of the limo (in the dream) aka the accident on Mulholland Drive.
2:17:57 - 2:19:50 (the door knocking)
End of reality flashback...to imagined mental demons, then taking us back to Diane in the present...
2:19:50 - 2:21:56
Diane 'blows her brains out' and she meets with Camilla in the 'ether'.
![]()
2:21:56 - 2:22:16
We cut back to Silencio and the avatar of Aunt Ruth sits in the balcony and utters Silencio.
![]()
2:21:56 - 2:22:16
We cut back to Silencio and the avatar of Aunt Ruth sits in the balcony and utters Silencio.
That's your basic timeline...dividing the film into the 3 basic states...reality, dream & flashback.
Now we will run through the film from start to finish...
Now we will run through the film from start to finish...
The Opening...
The 'un-realness' of the opening scene
The Jitterbug puts a magical influence on the characters, forcing them to dance the Jitterbug frenetically. Soon there are many jitterbugs, and eventually, everyone collapses from exhaustion and is subdued by the Witch's army of flying monkeys.
Accompanied by the strange old couple- Irene & Old Man
Let's now enter Diane's dream world...
We begin the dream in the limo...on Mulholland Drive...
In the dream....in the back seat is Camilla (Rita)
In reality...in the back seat was Diane (Betty)
The first aspect of Diane's dream is that she has replaced herself in the limo, with a dream composite of Camilla. In the dream, when the limo pulls over, a hitman turns and threatens Camilla with a gun...but before anything else happens, an oncoming vehicle smashes into the limo and prevents this immediate threat.
What Diane has done is...she is making sure that the occupant of the limo does not become the victim of the 'hitman' brandishing the gun. This also ensures that the occupant does not reach her intended destination...that being 6980 and the accident/crash see are to that.
The journey (in reality) that Diane (later in the film) takes to Mulholland Drive...in her memory, is one that is fraught with her own personal grief and humiliation...which is perhaps why she chooses this spot for the 'dream accident' involving Camilla, after all it was at this exact same spot that Camilla meets Diane for her surprise hillside walk to the party. The party that will lead to Diane order the hit on the 'real' Camilla.
The oncoming vehicle does not have any driver or passengers in it when we see it smashing into the limo...the car is empty...this is a clear indication that we are in a 'dream scape' and that certain details are not fully realised...we will see more examples like this later.
Camilla (Rita) survives the threat of the 'hitman' and also survives the carnage of the crash...cars 'hitting'.
Missing...therefore not dead and cementing the belief that Camilla is still alive, inside Diane's dream.
(Note...Diane in reality, knows that 2 cops want to talk to her...as her neighbour informs her of such, in a 'reality' scene near the films close.)
The surviving Camilla (Rita) then wanders down through the hills and into the city....where she hides herself in a swanky apt...seemingly the residence of Diane's (Betty) Aunt Ruth (who is actually dead in reality).
After Ruth leaves...Camilla (Rita) dazed and confused lies down and goes to sleep. Here we enter a dream inside a dream and we cut to the following...
Dan & Herb @ Winkie's
Note all the emerald green aspects that are at this Winkie's diner.
Perhaps...also a reference to 'sleep'...as in Wee Willie Winkie etc
'The Winkies'...is also referred to as being "sleepy-drunk."(drug induced sleep in Diane's case)
Or alternatively a sexual connortation...Winky/Winkie
When coupled with the 'phallic' Pink's signage...we get Pink Winkie (Penis)
Note the other 'emerald' motifs inside the diner...the emerald tablets on the windows etc
see pic below
OK...now let's look at the whole scene...
The 'sledgehammer' giveaway that we're in dreamland.
It's Diane that is having a dream and here it's via her dream composite of D(i)AN(e)
"It's the second one I've had" (dream inside a dream)
Dan goes on to explain to Herb, that he has this great fear, about a man lurking behind the wall at this particular Winkie's and that there is something bad/evil lurking there and this is greatly troubling him. Note that this particular diner (dream) is the same diner that we later see in the reality flashback of Diane...the one where she arranges the murder of Camilla with the 'hitman'.
The Winkie's Switch Project
![]()
Dream...top images Reality...bottom images
In this part of Diane's dream (top images) she has put the dream composite of Dan at a table (like she was in reality) and placed Herb into where Dan was situated during the 'reality flashback'...in both scenes (flashback & dream) the protagonist looks to the counter. In the flashback, Diane is informed that she will find a 'blue key' in a designated place and finding it will confirm that the murder of Camilla has been carried out.
When this is discussed at the table...Diane catches the eye of Dan at the counter and a non-verbal connection is made via the eyes. This forms a connection between the 'hit key' and this stranger (called Dan) in reality and Dan then later becomes a part of Diane's dream.
The audience is never informed of the whereabouts of the 'designated key drop' but from what we see in Diane's dream (Dan & Herb), it is obvious that the hitman probably leaves the 'hit key' behind the wall at Winkie's.
Getting involved in a mystery @ the diner (Arlene's) Blue Velvet
Jeffrey ends up taking Valen's door key remember (Blue Velvet)
Jeffrey ends up taking Valen's door key remember (Blue Velvet)
D(i)AN(e)...eyeballs the phone outside of Winkies
This phone will later be used in the dream (again!) by Betty (Diane) to make the inquiry to the police.
Death lurks behind the wall at Winkie's in the dream...just like it did in actual reality!!!
The confirmation of death (blue key) lurked behind the wall at Winkie's in reality and Dan's reaction here (in the dream) may well indicate the reaction that Diane felt on its discovery! Dan (in the dream) incorrectly states that there is a man behind the wall...when it is in fact, a woman...an avatar for Diane (as the wicked witch), who herself is the dealer of death (Camilla's). Dan referring to it being a man (in this dream phase) may well refer to the 'man' who placed the key there, Joe the hit-man...Diane's 'dream composite' of Dan has picked up an aspect of Diane's subconscious.
Dream - Rita's (Camilla's) bag containing money & mysterious blue key
Joe: "When the job's done...you'll find thiswhere I told you"
Both keys (in part) denote the same thing
The dream key has other aspects, as you'll see.
The dream key has other aspects, as you'll see.
A closer look at the 'dream' Blue Key
Having just seen D(i)AN(e) die seemingly from shock...we pertinently cut back to Camilla (who is also dead in reality, of course!)
More 'missing' references...as long as Diane's dreaming mind believes that a particular person is 'missing' (Camilla) she is STILL alive.
This phone does not get answered in 'the dream' and the reason is, that if it were, it would make the dreaming Diane cognizant of the real meaning of this call (as you'll understand later)...so it is left unanswered. Instead she flits to another aspect of her continuing dream phase.
The 'reality flashback'
Diane answers the phone (Camilla is calling) in the reality flashback
Continuing in the dream...and not picking up the phone, Diane flits to another aspect of her dream, arriving at LAX Airport
It is here that Diane (Betty) rewrites her experience in Hollywood and it is probably how she wishes that it had been.
The 'jitterbug' old couple - Irene & old man
Betty arrives at Havenhurst (Heaven Hurst)
Betty (Diane) arrives at Ruth's Apt @ Haven Hurst and here (in the dream) she meets the manager Coco. In reality Coco is Adam Kesher’s mother (he's a director)...and we're shown this in the 'post dream' flashback. Virtually the same dialogue is used by Coco, in the dream and in the flashback.
Dream - "Just call me Coco, everybody else does"
Reality (flashback) - "Just call me Coco, everybody does"
Coco Lenoix
Miss Gulch
That dog's a menace to the community. I'm taking him to the Sheriff and make sure he's destroyed.
Coco briefly shows a 'wide-eyed' Diane around and leaves her to her own devices
Betty (Diane) finds a stranger in her Aunt's place...who says that she came here after an accident...the woman is still dazed and confused and says very little...we start to realise that she is totally amnesic.
Betty explains...
Dream place...'in a place where a dream is occurring'and perhaps also a reference to the apartment being a 'literal place (abode) of her dreams' (when compared to her apartment in reality, which you'll see later).
"I just came here from Deep River, Ontario..."
Deep River = in 'deep water' aka 'trouble'
"I just came here (the dream) from deep water (reality)
The woman that Betty finds...and who is 'seemingly amnesic'finds herself a name...
"I'm Rita"....then sleep
into...
Ryan Entertainment Scene
The casting of the lead in The Sylvia North Story
The film that made Camilla a star! (in reality)
"This is the girl"
Castigliani Bros...'Mafia types' put pressure on Adam...to cast who THEY want!
Indicative of the fact that the 'movie business' is not necessarily solely down to actual talent and that there are other machinations behind the scenes etc.
"This is the girl"
Obviously she is NOT the real Camilla Rhodes...even though her name accompanies the photo.
In Diane's (Betty's) 'dreaming mind' she has attached Camilla's name to this girl...In a later reality flashback we see this girl briefly at the 6980 party (she kisses the real Camilla)and this gives us the link. "This is the girl"(in actual reality) is the real command given by Diane (in the reality flashback) to the 'hitman'...to denote who she wants killed and she produces the real photo resume (at Winkie's) along with this dialogue...see Camilla's photo below.
Diane (Betty) in the 'dream state' cannot allow the real Camilla to be attached to this photo...because the logic of the dream will unravel and she will be cognizant of her role in murdering Camilla. Diane's (Betty) dreaming mind has therefore fused this girl and her image to Camilla's photograph...perhaps the devastating kiss that Diane witnesses, is part of the reason for her doing so. "This is the girl" who will replace you (Diane) as Camilla's lesbian lover!
Diane's dreaming mind has fused two aspects together.
Obviously there is another narrative running at the same time within this scene and that connects to the 'mafia types' who are attempting to influence the casting of the lead. Adam is told, in no uncertain terms, that this is no longer HIS film! In the reality flashback at 6980 we find that Adam Kesher did NOT direct The Sylvia North Story and that it was Bob Brooker who did (and that the director didn't care much for Diane, she auditioned and met Camilla!). That being said, this film did make Camilla a star.
A 'nasty taste in the mouth' x 2
![]()
Luigi is also a character from Diane's own reality...he is briefly seen exchanging glances with Diane at the 6980 party. When SHE sips her coffee at the 6980 party...their eyes meet and a non-verbal exchange is made. We have a 'visual metaphor' here...I think that Diane may have had to sexually service Luigi...in exchange for bit parts in Camilla's films. That being the case...and when combined with her drinking her own coffee...this all leaves a 'very nasty taste' in her mouth and subsequently she has her dream composite of Luigi...feel the same, but in a more exaggerated way.
Note Diane's 'SOS cup' and the similar 'wooden fascia' backgrounds for the Ryan scene (dream) and for when she sees the 'real' Luigi at the 6980 party.
Now recall the strange outburst by the other Castigliani brother(Dan Hedaya)...as things start to breakdown at the meeting!
Adam storms off and blankly refuses the demands and is then told that this is no longer HIS film.
Adam’s film gets shut down...
Lynch had Michael Anderson fitted with a false body (above, left)...that is why he doesn't appear to be the same (dwarf -like) in Mulholland Drive, but it's the same actor.
Wizard of Oz
The character called the Nome King is originally named Roquat the Red.
The Winkie Country is separated by the Deadly Desert from the underground Dominions of the Nome King.
Nome/Gnome(dwarf-like)...red dwarf, as above and Mr Roque appears to an underground movie king-pin!
The Bungling Hitman
We join this dream segment in the middle of a 'joke' about an unbelievable car accident, which has both of the men laughing...no doubt a reference to the car accident at the start of the film. The 'dream' car accident is unbelievable of course...because it never happened, only in the dream.
Joe : "An accident like that...who could have foreseen that man"
Ed : "It's unreal...right?"
Joe : "Unbelievable man...ha, ha"
Ed :"It's a funny story right...Fucking car accident?"
The dream & unreal car accident...getting referenced.
Joe Messing - The Hitman
![]()
Hitman's eyes
Joe then goes on to kill the 'long haired man' in order to steal his book, but it doesn't quite go to plan!
What Diane is doing here (in the dream) is showing that the 'hitman' is one of the most inept hitmen that there could be...he accidentally shoots a 'women' in the next room (through the wall) and then goes on to shoot a 'cleaner' who sees him and finally he shoots the vaccum cleaner, which sets off a smoke alarm and a loud siren sounds...this leads to his hastened exit.
By picturing the 'hitman' as being this incompetent...Diane is perhaps attempting to maintain the illusion that he may have messed (Joe Messing) up the hit on Camilla too...a kind of echo to that.
Note...that Joe shoots a 'long dark haired' man and that he shoots him in the head...this could well be a reference to Camilla being shot in the head by the hitman (in reality). Remember it is a nasty 'head wound' that Rita (Camilla) sustains during the accident at the film's beginning.
Betty (Diane) chats to Aunt Ruth on the phone and they find out that there is an issue with the woman Betty found in the apartment.
Betty (Diane) eventually finds out that Rita isn't her real name (it's borrowed from the bathroom Gilda/Rita Hayworth poster) and that she (Camilla/Rita) doesn't know who she is...she is amnesic.
![]()
The point is...to maintain the 'dream scape' of Camilla actually being alive...the dreaming Diane has to supress Camilla/Rita's identity within her dream, or it will all unravel and she will be cognizant of the fact, that this IS Camilla and that she is the woman that she had murdered!
The point is...to maintain the 'dream scape' of Camilla actually being alive...the dreaming Diane has to supress Camilla/Rita's identity within her dream, or it will all unravel and she will be cognizant of the fact, that this IS Camilla and that she is the woman that she had murdered!
The more Betty (Diane) uncovers about Rita (Camilla) and her story, the closer she will get to unravelling her own story...and the dream will end.
Betty (Diane) decides that perhaps this woman's identity will be inside her handbag and they proceed to open it and examine the contents. Note...we've already seen what the bag contained earlier, when dealing with the instance of the hitman (above)...but here is a recap, in case you've forgotten or are confused.
A bag of money and a mysterious blue key (moon-key)
The dream version of the 'hit money' and the 'hit key' that confirmed death.
The plastic key is also the key that will unlock Betty's (Diane's) fate...towards the film's end.
Cut to Pink's...
Another reference to the fact that he hasn't yet successfully murdered Camilla...and this allows Diane to increase her 'suspension of disbelief' that Camilla is still alive!
Cynthia tells him that everyone has been fired and that the set has been shut down.
"I'm going home...I'm going home Cynthia...I'm going home." (6980 Mulholland Drive)
which pertinently segues into...
which stirs Rita to say...
Betty (Diane) in the dream....mouths the same words she said in the reality flashback, near the films end
'Reality Flashback'
Recall the source...Diane mouths the location (after Camilla tells her) Mulholland Drive
Cut to Havenhurst...
Betty (Diane) persuades Rita (Camilla) that they should anonymously call the police to inquire about whether there was an 'accident' on Mulholland Drive...an attempt to uncover more of Camilla's story.
An ironic statement...
Diane 'pretending' to be someone else...as in 'dream composite' Betty
Pretending to be someone else
Recall...just before the previous brief interlude with Betty/Rita:
"I'm going HOME, I'm goingHOME Cynthia...I'm going HOME."
(Diane going home, as Adam's dream composite)
This is not the only aspect of course...mixed in with this is the real story of Adam's marital strife. We know this because at the 6980 party (reality flashback) he mentions his wife getting the 'pool guy' and himself getting the 'pool' (meaning the house). Diane's 'dream scape' has fused these aspects.
Gene 'the pool guy'/Genes familial (Gene Pool)
Adam stumbles across his wife Lorraine in bed with another lover (Gene), played by Billy Ray Cyrus
Lorraine exclaims...
on the back of that Gene says...
![]()
"Just forget you ever saw it...it's better that way"
What we've just seen can easily be applied to an abuse scenario and one where the 'abuser and the abused' are interrupted (walk in on) by another.
In this setting...Gene is the male abuser avatar (for a parent/guardian) and Lorraine is the abused (Diane).
Remember...Adam (a person from Diane's reality, but also a dream composite of Diane's) prior to this made a 'sledgehammer' point of 'Going HOME' and I believe this is also a reference toDiane's HOME.
Immediately following this strange scenario, we see Adam do the following....
Pour 'Pink Paint' (innocence) all over his wife's jewellery box aka 'the family jewels'.
family jewels
pl.n.
1. Jealously guarded assets or secrets.
2. SlangThe male genitals.
Both apply and on that basis...we have a symbolic visual metaphor...
Diane's innocence...sullied by the male genitaliaof a familial abuser. (gene/genes/gene pool)
Compare this shot from Lynch's Wild At Heart...where Lula is raped by an Uncle, with this shot of Adam after the events at his home.
And on top of all that I'll also throw this 'dream' aspect in too...
![]()
The 'phallic' Pink's sign (also relates to pic below, right)
Books
On the verge of Adam entering the bedroom...we see a bookcase and I've noticed a link via book titles that might clue us in...
The Shadow of Forgotten Ancestors - Sagan & Druyan
Presumed Innocent- Scott Turow (that is already a reference to innocence, own its own!)
these 2 books sit side by side...
So combined it's...."The Shadow of Forgotten Ancestors...(who are) Presumed Innocent."
Could this be a veiled reference to Aunt Ruth? She is an ancestor of Diane's and is dead in reality (forgotten).
![]()
There is also a book called Dr Susan Love's Hormone Book visible...'love'& 'hormones' getting referenced with 'genes' and 'sex' and 'infidelity' and 'subliminal abuse'...quite a potent mix.
We know Betty (Diane) never mentions anything about her parents...they never feature at all and the only familial connection we get, is through 'Aunt Ruth' (who could have been her guardian) and no mention of the male aspect (Uncle) is ever given either.
There is a photo in Ruth's apartment @ Havenhurst and it shows a woman and what appears to be a very young girl.
![]()
![]()
During this shot...Betty (Diane) is walking past and through to the corridor (Cenci painting) whilst talking to Aunt Ruth on the phone...when Betty (Diane) passes the painting of Beatrice Cenci...she tells Ruth (in the dream, in reference to Rita/Camilla being in the apartment)
"I don't think we have to do that, don't worry...I don't think we need the police"
The fact that this is mentioned while passing the Cenci painting...makes it interesting.
The prominent picture of Beatrice Cenci in Betty's (Diane's) apartment.
Victim of incestuous abuse, at the hands of her father.
According to the legend, Francesco Cenci abused his wife and his sons and reached the point of committing incest with Beatrice.
In the Oz books, Dorothy is an orphan raised by her aunt and uncle in the bleak landscape of a Kansas.
Maybe there is a similar parallel with Diane here?
Rita Hayworth...
![]()
There is a belief that Rita Hayworth was sexually abused by her own father (incest)...they even toured as 'dance partners' (father & daughter)
Beatrice Cenci, Laura Palmer (you'll see her later), Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Vallens, Diane Selwyn...most are victims of incestuous sexual abuse, all are victims of sexual abuse.
Betty & Rita then hide the money and key...
![]()
Keeping the mysterious key & money in a hat box...Keep it under your hat! (Secrecy)
Inquiring about the accident on Mulholland Drive
After this inquiry Betty (Diane) & Rita (Camilla) go into Winkie's (yes the same Winkie's we've already seen). This Winkie's is where the hit on Camilla was organised in reality (flashback) and now their dream composites are both on the premises...and this leads to a discovery, of sorts.
This is the same phone that caught Dan's eye when he went to look behind the wall...and now Diane is using it to make a call...her 'dreaming mind' has referenced this phone twice and connected it to the previous Winkie's scene with Dan & Herb.
Betty (Diane) thanks the waitress for her order...
"Thanks......Diane"
![]()
this stirs Camilla (Rita) to recall...
Both women leave and return to Havenhurst to discuss the memory recall...
This discovery leads the women to search out Diane Selwyn's phone number and a call is made...
In this part of the dream we're led to believe that they're calling a 'Diane Selwyn' because that is who Camilla/Rita thinks she might be.
Yes...it is strange to be calling yourself and that is exactly what Betty (Diane) is doing...calling HERSELF, because it is Diane that answers and with some familiar dialogue!
"Hello it's me...leave a message"
That dialogue is also sourced from the original call from Camilla (reality flashback)....when she calls Diane at first, it goes to the answer machine and we hear:
"Hello it's me...leave a message"
then Diane picks up...
Diane picks up...after the answer machine reveals that it is Camilla calling
Leaving a message for Diane...Twin Peaks
Cynthia....Bankruptcy & The Cowboy
Looking for Diane Selwyn's Address...
Close-up...Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery
There is a knock at the door...
Betty (Diane) gets a subconscious reveal here...perhaps Louise Bonner is an aspect of Diane's own conscious (because she has dreamed her into existence) ...like the 'mystery man' in Lynch's Lost Highway. Her subconscious is trying to clue her in!
Louise: "Someone is in trouble...Who are you and what are you doing in Ruth's apartment?"
Betty (Diane) "I'm her neice, she letting me stay here...my name is Betty"
Louise: "No its not, that's not what she said, someone is in trouble something bad is happening!"
Louise seems to know that this is NOT Betty and states as much, she also states that someone else is in trouble (meaning not Betty).
Louise: "No she said it was someone else who was in trouble" (Louise gesturing towards Rita/Camilla)
Louise knows too much...and she would, she is a part of Diane's (Betty's) subconscious and is trying to get through to her, but to no avail.
Diane's 'dream composite' of Betty decides to ignore this vital clue...and she brushes it off!
Meeting 'The Cowboy' at the Corral
Howdy...
Diane's 'pov'...The girl seen kissing Camilla exits
Seconds after she leaves...the cowboy enters briefly and exits (all in a few seconds) and their paths would have crossed
Audition
"Woody...playing Chuck" (wood-chuck)
wood...sexually hard
tell me where it hurts baby
dad's best friend goes to work
scene about an older man taking advantage of an underage girl
16 Reasons Why I Love You
Every Little Star
Love songs...followed by betty soon saying "I’m in love with you"
Remember..."This is the girl" (in reality) is the command given by Diane to the 'hitman'...the one who is going to kill Camilla...who was due to be Adam's wife! Yes...Adam (in the dream) is doing as he was instructed to by the power moguls around him.
![]()
![]()
The meeting of eyes and Betty (Diane) runs off...
In the dream...this is the first time that the 'dream composites' of Diane & Adam meet in the same space, also present is a girl called Camilla Rhodes (Melissa George) although she is only Camilla in name and not form, but here we have for the first time solid elements of all three and they are colliding in the dream! When the dream version of the 'hit selection command' is given by Adam...his eyes soon meet with Betty and this puts her at unease, for "this is the girl" is her own dialogue from reality. As we approach the end of the film the 'dream scape' walls are beginning to close in on Betty and reality is ever creeping closer, as is the truth...the waking state is nigh and the dream is weakening.
The two women go off in search of Diane Selwyn...
Sierra Bonita
Selwyn is originally an Anglo-Saxon name, also occasionally spelt Selwin, deriving from 'Sel'(castle/house)& 'wyn/win' (friend), roughly meaning "friend in the house" or"friend in the castle".
The archway that both girls walk through (we don't see the castle arch in full, during the film) is a castle turret/tower. It's obvious that this location wasn't merely an arbitrary choice by Lynch and that it has been deliberately chosen..for the related 'castle' (name/place) reference/connection. The 'friend' aspect is on point too...Betty is visiting a pre-cognitive version of herself.
After calling at number 12 they realise that 'Diane Selwyn' is actually staying at number 17...she has swapped apartments with the women they met and who is now at number 12. This is true in reality too...DeRosa mentions in the 'reality' (present) scene that "it's been three weeks" (in reference to collecting her things now , after she first moved out).
After calling at number 12 they realise that 'Diane Selwyn' is actually staying at number 17...she has swapped apartments with the women they met and who is now at number 12. This is true in reality too...DeRosa mentions in the 'reality' (present) scene that "it's been three weeks" (in reference to collecting her things now , after she first moved out).
This is echoed in the latter 'reality' phase...by the woman (DeRosa) knocking on the door of Diane's real apt. The knocking that will pull Diane out of her drug-induced dream state and back into reality!
Seemingly...as there is no one at home, Betty (Diane) & Rita (Camilla) find an alternative way in, to further investigate.
A bad smell indicates that there is something wrong...
They discover a female corpsein the bedroom
We get a hard knocking here too (the neighbour) and this is an example of dream-precognition...and what will soon occur in reality, post-dream and in the present.
![]()
(Top) Dream corpse bed...(Bottom) Reality Diane waking from the dream
The corpse lies in an almost identical setting and position, as that of Diane when she wakes (the same neighbour knocks both times) from her dream in her own apartment...in reality! Notice the window, gold blanket and the bed sheets etc. In Diane's 'dreaming mind' she is receiving 'pre-cognition' of her own death that is to come, in reality! This 'type' of knocking also gets echoed in the moments before suicide, as well ...more elements of precogniton. So when DeRosa knocks in the reality segment, we see Diane on the bed (just about to wake) in the same position as the corpse from this scene.
Dream door v Reality Door
Notice the door @ Sierra Bonita and that it is a very close (but not exact) match to the door of Diane's 'real' apartment...another example of the not fully realised 'dream scape'.
Both women return to the safety of Havehurst and they both fear for Rita's (Camilla's) life...after discovering the corpse at Sierra Bonita.
Betty (Diane) decides to make a disguise for Rita (Camilla) so as to conceal some of her identity
Ironically...her 'dream composite' of Camilla is starting to look like Diane (Betty)
In the dream...This night, Betty (Diane) declares her love for Rita (Camilla)
A love in reality...that leads to Camilla's destruction and one that will also lead to Diane's destruction.
Post-love making...Rita (Camilla) stirs in her sleep and repeats in Spanish...Silencio, No Hey Banda etcand asks Betty to accompany her somewhere!
This leads both women to take a trip...a trip that will ultimately unravel the 'dream scape' and solve the mystery of the box and key and also the mystery of Rita (Camilla) and her fate.
The trip to Silencio
The road to hell
Silencio
![]()
Well, well...look who turns up @ Club Silencio...
One is Sheryl Lee (far right) aka Laura Palmer & the other looks like a 'ringer' for Ronette!
She (Lee) may not be credited in the film, but it is her!!!
![]()
A member of Club Silencio
One is Sheryl Lee (far right) aka Laura Palmer & the other looks like a 'ringer' for Ronette!
She (Lee) may not be credited in the film, but it is her!!!
'The Reveal'
![]()
No hay banda,there is no band...
No hay banda,there is no band...
Inside Silencio...Betty (Diane) and her subconscious are being informed, that what she is currently experiencing (inside this dream she is having) is not 'reality'...but an illusion, a tape recording....and that is what a dream can be described as being. A dream is 'unreal' and it is an 'illusion' a subconscious mental construct...almost like a tape recording that is being played back.
In Oz & with Dorothy's dream, the wizard & the magician were both shown to be an illusion before she wakes. In Diane's dream, the magican and the box are show to be an illusion, as she is about to discover after this scene and when she wakes.
Both Diane and Dorothy get their reveals...in similar ways.
Magicians, curtains and illusions...both in Mulholland Drive & The Wizard of Oz
The Blue Box & Key as Silencio in microcosm
The entrance door has aspects of the boxes interior, the stage steps. The plastic blue key, when inserted, is the microphone aspect. Rebekah and Diane both lay dead...Rebekah's death is dream 'precognition' of the suicide to come....microphone & bedpost
Inside Silencio...and it looks like the inside of the mysterious blue box that Diane (Betty) finds in her bag.
![]()
The crescent moon blue key/pyramid/triangle - Silencio crescent shape/pyramid/triangle
The box IS Silencio in microcosm or Silencio IS the box in macrocosm
What follows is a strange moment...the magician seems to be directly connecting with Betty (Diane) and she reacts in an odd shaking manner to this connection. Could the magician be another avatar for an abuser...Betty is shaking violently and the magician is seemingly making it happen! Remember that Betty's (Diane's) subconscious is being informed (we're being informed too) throughout this scene....and the magician at the start of this 'strange moment' says "LISTEN". We hear strange sounds...
In reality we're actually in The Tower Theatre (Silencio) and we hear and see thunder and lightening (see gifs below)...do we hear the magician ejaculating too (directly in respect of Betty/Diane)...there are sounds and gestures made that may lead us to think so...the magician leaves us with a devilsih grin and he vanishes.
The Tower represents the paradigms constructed by the ego, the sum total of all schema that the mind constructs to understand the universe. The Tower is struck by lightning when reality does not conform to expectation. (Diane's reveal that she is dreaming, not reality!)
The querent may be holding on to false ideas or pretenses (the dream); a new approach to thinking about the problem is needed. The querent is advised to think outside the box. (blue box) The querent is warned that truth may not oblige schema. It may be time for the querent to re-examine belief structures, ideologies, and paradigms they hold to.
Here also is a key to the mystery of sex. The tower is supposedly filled with gold coins which, showering out in great numbers from the rent made by the lightning bolt, suggesting potential powers. (ejaculation)
You'll notice that earlier the magician was using his wand (euphemism for penis).
He could easily be fitted into the place of the Devil Card...the card that precedes The Tower.
The Lightning Struck Tower...
"It's hard to understand but the touch of your hand, can start me crying"
(Crying, lyrics)
Cry Me A River (Rio=River)
Crying....over YOU (Rebekah Del Rio)
Sung in Spanish during the film, but lyrics reproduced in English...
I was all right for a while, I could smile for a while
But I saw you last night, you held my hand so tight
As you stopped to say "Hello"
Aww you wished me well, you couldn't tell
That I'd been cry-i-i-i-ng over you, cry-i-i-i-ng over you
Then you said "so long". left me standing all alone
Alone and crying, crying, crying cry-i-ing
It's hard to understand but the touch of your hand
Can start me crying
I thought that I was over you but it's tru-ue, so true
I love you even more than I did before but darling what can I do-o-o-o
For you don't love me and I'll always be
Cry-i-i-i-ng over you, cry-i-i-i-ng over you
Yes, now you're gone and from this moment on
I'll be crying, crying, crying, cry-i-i-ing
Yeah crying, crying, o-o-o-o-ver you
Sung in Spanish during the film, but lyrics reproduced in English...
I was all right for a while, I could smile for a while
But I saw you last night, you held my hand so tight
As you stopped to say "Hello"
Aww you wished me well, you couldn't tell
That I'd been cry-i-i-i-ng over you, cry-i-i-i-ng over you
Then you said "so long". left me standing all alone
Alone and crying, crying, crying cry-i-ing
It's hard to understand but the touch of your hand
Can start me crying
I thought that I was over you but it's tru-ue, so true
I love you even more than I did before but darling what can I do-o-o-o
For you don't love me and I'll always be
Cry-i-i-i-ng over you, cry-i-i-i-ng over you
Yes, now you're gone and from this moment on
I'll be crying, crying, crying, cry-i-i-ing
Yeah crying, crying, o-o-o-o-ver you
Diane crying over Camilla...multiple times
"But I saw you last night, you held my hand so tight"
Yeah crying, crying, o-o-o-o-ver you"
Even Diane's dream composite of Camilla...cries.
These two scenes seem to mirror each other...tears and the key, in both dream and reality.
These two scenes seem to mirror each other...tears and the key, in both dream and reality.
Crying in silence(silencio/Spanish)...the song 'Crying' was sung in Spanish (inside Club Silenico) and Diane is staying at Sierra Bonita (Spanish)
Both women return to Havenhurst to open the box...
Opening the box
Betty (Diane) unable to face the truth of the box and what it's opening will lead to...disappears from the dream world and leaves Rita (Camilla) to open it alone. Betty (Diane) was informed at Silencio that 'all was an illusion' and now the illusion is evaporating.
In the film we both ZOOM...into Silencio (the club) and also Zoom into the box when Rita/Camilla opens it!
The dream composite of Rita/Camilla returns to where it came from, that being Betty's (Diane's) mind and she disappears into the box.
Aunt Ruth (already dead & in the ether) hears the box drop on the floor
Knocking by the cowboy 'dream'...knocking by the neighbour 'reality'
Remember the cowboys warning...
![]()
Here we're clearly shown that the cowboy does indeed visit Diane TWICE and that it is indicative of Diane (who was told via her 'dream composite' of Adam) having done BAD.
Remember the cowboys warning...
Here we're clearly shown that the cowboy does indeed visit Diane TWICE and that it is indicative of Diane (who was told via her 'dream composite' of Adam) having done BAD.
Awaking from the dream...into the present (reality)
The dream is over...
What follows is reality (present) and various flashbacks (reality)
![]()
The knocking is Diane's neighbour (DeRosa), who wants to retrieve her things (they swapped apartments in reality)...note, she says that Diane has not been around/seen for days!
What follows is reality (present) and various flashbacks (reality)
The knocking is Diane's neighbour (DeRosa), who wants to retrieve her things (they swapped apartments in reality)...note, she says that Diane has not been around/seen for days!
Neighbour: "Oh by the way...those twodetectives came by again looking for you"
Two detectives in reality!
Two detectives (dream)..."Somebody's missing..."
![]()
Two more detectives (dream)..."Looking for somebody..."
Diane's real apartment
![]()
Diane has 'Winkies' cups at home!
Did she have to work there (at some point and steal them) or did she just steal them...her apartment is threadbare and austere looking!
Did she have to work there (at some point and steal them) or did she just steal them...her apartment is threadbare and austere looking!
Post-dream identity confusion...just for a second, Diane hopes the dream can still be real...as she glimpses Camilla again.
![]()
![]()
One and the same
From reality...
Into first flashback...
On the set...
With her standing all alone and looking on...Camilla wants to make sure that Diane sees the beginnings of her blossoming romance with Adam...and the non-verbal message is delivered.
The break-up gets very messy...
Fans and sexual abuse...'self sexual abuse' in Diane's case, as she violently masturbates.
![]()
![]()
masturbation & phone ring
![]()
flashback...the call summoning her to 6980
The Party
...crockery crashing sounds
![]()
that are perhaps, echoed in the dream 'crashing sounds'
![]()
flashback to winkies arranging hit...our third visit to Winkie's
1)dan/herb...location of key and evil & death, dan (DiANe)
2)betty/rita...an 'accident'& the recall of the name diane selwyn , diane badge waitress
3)diane/hitman...what really happened, betty badge waitress
twice in the dream, due to it being the location of arranging the hit in reality, a heavy burden.
To which the hitman responds by merely laughing, you'll recall his earlier dream scene when he was laughing with Ed about the car accident...obviously he knows that the key was only ever symbolic. In Diane's case, it becomes more than just that and holds a special place in her unfolding dream scape, as we saw earlier in the film.
We cut to what seems like an image from Diane's psyche...'the wall behind Winkie's' (that featured so heavily) and we find the bum with the box, he places it inside a brown paper bag.
We close in on the bag and see the 'old jitterbug couple' (in miniature) escape from the box/bag...most likely (as mentioned earlier) they are an avatar for Diane's abusers, Aunt Ruth and her male companion.
![]()
![]()
Blue Velvet - Jeffrey putting the severed ear into the 'brown paper bag'
We close in on the bag and see the 'old jitterbug couple' (in miniature) escape from the box/bag...most likely (as mentioned earlier) they are an avatar for Diane's abusers, Aunt Ruth and her male companion.
(See Erinyes..below)
Chthonic ( "in, under, or beneath the earth" pertaining to the Earth; earthy; subterranean) designates, or pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in relation to Greek religion. The Greek word khthon is one of several for "earth"; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather than the living surface of the land (as Gaia or Ge does) or the land as territory (as khora (χώρα) does). It evokes at once abundance and the grave.
Notice the 'can' ring-pull and brown paper bag containing the box.
Something has been 'opened' (ring-pull)
There is a small piece of meat there too.
Diane haunted by 'demons' of the past, present and future
We hear maniacal laughing (from the male) and we hear a young girl screaming, all at the same time...this seems like a replayed moment from Diane's abusive past (in her psyche) and this combined with the hammering at the door...pushes her over the edge.
The heavy knocking that comes from the door...is a sound that we're now very familiar with throughout.
Irene/Erinye(s)
Erinyes
In Greek mythology the Erinyes "pursue, persecute"--sometimes referred to as "infernal goddesses" (Greek χθόνιαι θεαί)-- were femalechthonicdeities of vengeance. A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as "those who beneath the earth punish whosoever has sworn a false oath".[1]Burkert suggests they are "an embodiment of the act of self-cursing contained in the oath".[2]
Infernal...of or relating to 'hell'
The 'bum and the box' remind me of Hellraiser (Clive Barker) and that would be apt...'raising hell'.
The ending of Hellraiser seems to have quite a bit in commonwith Lynch's ending...from the box and derelict, to both scenes taking place in a area for dumping rubbish etc.
It all looks very similar to Leland...chasing down Laura (incestuously abused) & Ronette
Echoes...
The bed in Lynch films...a place for sleep/dreams, sex/sexual abuse and death
Josie (Twin Peaks) John Merryck (The Elephant Man) Mutant Baby (Eraserhead)
"To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil."
"The rest is silence"
(Shakespeare, Hamlet)
![]()
(Shakespeare, Hamlet)
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks - 'moon-key''box''gun''under your cloche' (type of hat)
The opening of the box...that resulted in death!
Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive 'moon-key''box''gun''under your hat'
The opening of the box...that resulted in death!
In Lynch's Dune...
The 'pity pat' or 'pat of humiliation' - Lost Highway
Humiliated Fred...eventually goes on to kill his own girlfriend...which is exactly what 'humiliated Diane' ends up doing!
Beatrice Cenci
Died Sept 11th 1599
Victim of incestuous abuse, at the hands of her father.
According to the legend, Francesco Cenci abused his wife and his sons and reached the point of committing incest with Beatrice. He was jailed for other crimes, but thanks to the leniency with which the nobles were treated, he was freed early. Beatrice tried to inform the authorities about the frequent mistreatments, but nothing happened, although everybody in Rome knew what kind of person her father was. When he found out that his daughter reported against him, he sent Beatrice and Lucrezia away from Rome to live in the family's country castle at La Petrella del Salto in the Abruzzi mountains. The four Cenci decided they had no alternative but to try to get rid of Francesco, and together organised a plot. (like the hitman & Diane)
In 1598, during one of Francesco's stays at the castle, two vassals (one of whom had become Beatrice's secret lover) helped them to drug the man, but this failed to kill Francesco. Following this Beatrice, her siblings and stepmother bludgeoned Francesco to death with a hammer and threw the body off a balcony to make it look like an accident. However, no one believed the death to be accidental. (accident on Mulholland Drive)
Somehow his absence was noticed and the papal police tried to find out what happened. Beatrice's lover was tortured and died without revealing the truth. Meanwhile, a family friend who was aware of the murder ordered the killing of the second vassal to avoid any risk. The plot was discovered and the four members of the Cenci family were arrested, found guilty and sentenced to death. The common people of Rome, knowing the reasons for the murder, protested against the tribunal's decision, obtaining a short postponement of the execution. However, Pope Clement VIII, fearing a spate of familial murders (the Countess of Santa Croce had recently been murdered by her son for financial gain), showed no mercy. On 11 September 1599, at dawn, they were taken to Sant'Angelo Bridge, where the scaffold was usually built.
![]()
119 - 911
911
Betty calling 911about accident
Born 9/11
Beatrice Cenci
Died 9/11
9/11 & David Lynch
Via Dutch TV (mul-Holland)
We finish with Lynch's most apt message to his audience, regarding his work.
The 'Spanish' rendition of Orbison's 'Crying' couldn't be more appropriate and easily
inter-changes with...
The 'Spanish' rendition of Orbison's 'Crying' couldn't be more appropriate and easily
inter-changes with...
In Dreams - Roy Orbsion - Blue Velvet