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Lynch is famous for making unusual movies that are sometimes difficult to understand and give way to different interpretations. I recently watched his most famous movies. Some of them were very interesting but some were difficult to tolerate. Here comes a brief review of his famous movies:

Eraserhead (1977) is a plotless surreal film consisting of a series of disgusting scenes with no intention to deliver a message (2/10). Blue Velvet (1986) is a mystery crime investigation film where a young man is involved in strange relationships. The scenes are well-studied and accompanied by very nice songs (7/10). Wild at Heart (1990) starts like an adventure movie with many scenes particular to Lynch, such as long car trips, asphalt shots, surreal images and lots of weirdos; however, it ends in an overly sentimental fashion dissappointing the viewer (6/10). Lost Highway (1997) is one unique David Lynch movie with a very interesting plot. He uses uncommon techniques of storytelling in which characters, names, places and times change in strange ways. This is one of his major works (8/10). The Straight Story (1999) is where Lynch's obsession with roads reaches a peak and he presents a road trip movie. A grumpy old man hits the road with a lawn mower to see his sick brother, however, the story is straightforward and does not give an impressive message (6/10). Mulholland Drive (2001) is the most mentally-challenging film of David Lynch. It has a nonlinear narrative and a very long dream sequence which was made with profound knowledge in the subconsious mind and dream analysis. You can resolve the plot after multiple views. For me, it is outstanding and among top 50 movies (9/10).

On the other hand, Inland Empire (2006) is a complete psychodelic experience and unlike Mulholland Drive (2001), at least half of the scenes are not related to the main plot. Even if you cut them out, the movie will not lose any meaning. Also I am not into surreal imagery. For this reason, I could not tolerate it (1/10).

This one is the most mentally-challenging film of David Lynch. I watched this first at the cinema and and a few more times over the years. It is difficult to understand it completely, but I will try to explain the main plot.

Essentially, the film brings criticism towards Hollywood filmmaking industry, that is, how the directors are forced by producers to choose a prespecified cast or how the cast need to flatter the directors to get a role. Now that in mind, Diane (Naomi Watts) was once very close and intimate friend of Camille Rhodes (Laura Harring), a successful film star; however, Diane was just mediocre and never as successful as Camille. After Camille gets a role from the director Adam, she becomes attracted to him and this is where the fall of Diane begins. She becomes very jealous and even mentally sick. Camille visits her and tells they will no longer be together. Diane is so upset and her mental sickness flares up. She hires a murderer to kill Camille.

Afterwards, she has a very long dream. In the dream, Diane names herself Betty and lives in a much better apartment. Betty has just arrived at Hollywood with lots of hope to become a famous actress. Camille survives a car crash and becomes amnesic. Camille is helpless and takes refuge in Betty's apartment.

She doesn't remember her name and calls herself Rita. Betty enjoys her company very much and they together try to find out who Rita actually is. They hang out together all the time and even get intimate. In a midnight, they go to a concert. In the concert hall, there is weird show delivering the subliminal message "everything is fake". At this point, Betty gets a shock and the dream begins to collapse. When they get back home, Betty disappears and the dream comes to an end.

Diane wakes up in her lousy apartment. She discovers that the murderer left a blue key on the coffee table in her apartment signifying that he did the job. Diane goes mad and kills herself.

The film has a nonlinear narrative. It begins with the long dream sequence. This is why it is confusing. I tried to recount in the chronological order. This is an extraordinary film. I believe no scene was haphazardly shot. Every scene and every dialogue seem to be diligently studied. All symbols, images and characters appearing as a puzzle in the dream have a purpose. David Lynch obviously researched the psychoanalysis of dreams and the mechanisms of the subconscious mind. It is almost impossible to resolve everything at first view unless you are a genius. In this genre, Lost Highway (1997) was already a great film, but Mulholland Drive (2001) is one step ahead of it. He raised the bar so high that it won't be surpassed for a very long time.

Lost Highway is one unique David Lynch movie with a very interesting plot. He uses uncommon techniques of storytelling in which characters, names, places and times change in such creepy way that same event may be both a foreshadowing and flashback at the same time. Various interpretations are possible. In my version, young Pete represents the alter ego of the main character Fred who states at one point in the movie something like "I remember the events not as they happened but as I imagine", so he creates in his mind a completely new story of himself and his partner Renée with different names (Pete and Alice). There are also common characters in the both stories like the detectives and the Mystery man. Characters are all associated with strong emotions and sentiments. For example, the Mystery man represents fear and death.

It should be remembered that not everything is so clear and the script may give way to different interpretations. Technically, the movie is a little slow paced keeping a constant suspense and many beautiful songs are included. It is definitely worth watching and thinking on.