Cinema Classics Seminar: MULHOLLAND DR. (2001)

Thursday, August 14, 6:30 pm to 10:00 pm
Instructor: Paul Wright, Ph.D., Main Line Classical Academy

With the passing of director David Lynch, cinema lost a giant of postmodern filmmaking. Fortunately, Lynch’s distinctive vision lives on in a body of work that will continue to inspire filmmakers and audiences. Hand in hand with Lynch’s stylistic innovation is his fascination with the mysterious, unnerving worlds beneath the surface of our everyday realities. From his early days as a visual artist all the way to his final effort to refute easy closure in Twin Peaks: The Return, Lynch was positively allergic to cookie-cutter narratives and easy explanations of plot or character.

None of Lynch’s films better exemplifies this than his enigmatic puzzle-box MULHOLLAND DR. (2001). The film begins ostensibly as the story of a would-be actress (Naomi Watts) arriving in L.A. with dreams of stardom, only to befriend a troubled woman (Laura Harring) wrestling with amnesia after an attempt on her life. As their bond intensifies and deepens, so does the mystery surrounding their relationship in a film that defies plot summary in favor of embracing the many paradoxes of identity, intimacy, and existence itself. J. Hoberman famously called the film a “poisonous valentine to Hollywood,” and it is as much a meditation on the business as the art of filmmaking. Join us for a closer look at a modern classic that continues to befuddle and bewitch viewers no matter how many times they have seen it.

You may also like the following events from Bryn Mawr Film Institute:

• This Saturday, 2nd August, 12:00 pm, CATVIDEOFEST 2025 in Bryn Mawr
• This Sunday, 3rd August, 12:30 pm, Exhibition on Screen – HOPPER: AN AMERICAN LOVE STORY (2022) in Bryn Mawr
• Next Monday, 4th August, 06:30 pm, Cinema Classics Seminar: THE THIN MAN (1934) in Bryn Mawr

Also check out other Arts events in Bryn Mawr, Entertainment events in Bryn Mawr, Workshops in Bryn Mawr.