Lost Highway (1997)

“I like to remember things my own way.”

When Fred Madison (Bill Pullman), a saxophone player based in Los Angeles, speaks these words to detectives in the beginning of Lost Highway, Lynch, I feel, gives the audience a big clue as to what this neo-noir’s story is about. And for those who’ve experienced Lost Highway and still claim that the film lacks any amount of sense, they obviously weren’t paying attention. But regardless of the whether or not you derive any type of plot from this trippy, dream-like film, the most important thing is, like any other David Lynch film, you know you’re in for an audio/visual experience unlike any other.

" you’re in for an audio/visual experience unlike any other"


With an over-arching eerie quality, the film tells two stories that overlap each other. We start with Fred Madison. Alone in his home, he hears a mysterious voice over the intercom tell him that “Dick Laurent is dead.” He checks outside, but he can find no one there. But the next morning, his wife, the soft-spoken, dark-maned, Renee (Patricia Arquette) with whom he has quite a cold and jealous relationship with, finds a VHS placed on their front steps. The tape reveals that someone is watching them, taping them, both outside and inside their house. After one of the tapes reveals quite a frightening piece of footage of Fred, he is quickly arrested and jailed.

In the first thirty minutes alone, Lynch is able to establish Lost Highway to be his darkest and most frightening film he’s ever made. He overwhelms the audience with a dreadful atmosphere that is carried out with pushes of the camera that seem to suck us deeper into an inescapable world and the lingering shots that feel like they last too long. And on top of that, we have the cold and contentious dynamic between Fred and Renee, as well as the creepy (and a bit comical) character of the Mystery Man (Robert Blake) who confronts Fred at a party, revealing some unnerving information to Fred.

For the second story that takes up the bulk of the film, we are transported through a series of explosive, surrealist images into Pete Dayton’s (Balthazar Getty) world. A mechanic who was previously missing, Pete somehow ends up in Fred’s cell and returns home. Pete has no recollection of the period when he was missing, and only increasing the mysterious atmosphere of the film, the audience is never given information about it. When a loud and strong-willed gangster, Mr. Eddy (Robert Loggia) – who, by the way, has one of the most hilarious scenes in the film involving the dangers of tailgating - introduces Pete to his bombshell blonde girlfriend, Alice Wakefield (also played by Arquette), Pete and Alice strike up an affair that quickly gets both of them into trouble, especially when Pete learns about Alice’s scandalous history with Mr. Eddy.Lost Highway (1997)

For the climax of the film, Fred and Pete’s connection is solidified through their doppelganger love interests, but mainly through the Mystery Man who possess some kind of dark magic that is never explained but serves as the culminating factor that brings the film full circle. By the end, as the film somehow comes to mind-boggling (in a good way) conclusion, you are left somehow oddly satisfied with how the film wraps up. I mean, at least I was.

But of course, like with almost any Lynch film, you are left with many questions that can only be answered through your own interpretation. But that is what is great about Lynch’s films, and especially with this one in particular. Lost Highway is a full immersion into a noir atmosphere that deeply disturbs your core with its graphic and evocative images stemmed from a creepy storyline all told in a way that only David Lynch can. And like I said, if you cannot come up with your own concrete storyline, that’s okay! The film is about the experience of watching it, the feeling you get, and the surreal images that get imprinted in your brain that horrify you but also make it unable to look away. And with the new release, courtesy of Criterion Collection, you can experience Lost Highway in all its weird, dark, glory with a gorgeous new 4K restoration.

5/5 stars

 

Lost Highway (1997)

4k details divider

DigiPack / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

Home Video Distributor: Criterion
Available on Blu-ray
- October 11, 2022
Screen Formats: 2.39:1
Subtitles
: English SDH
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; English: LPCM 2.0
Discs: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A

“We’ve met before, haven’t we?” A mesmerizing meditation on the mysterious nature of identity, Lost Highway, David Lynch’s seventh feature film, is one of the filmmaker’s most potent cinematic dreamscapes. Starring Patricia Arquette and Bill Pullman, the film expands the horizons of the medium, taking its audience on a journey through the unknown and the unknowable. As this postmodern noir detours into the realm of science fiction, it becomes apparent that the only certainty is uncertainty.

VIDEO

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and taken from the original 35 mm A/B camera negative, this restoration that is director approved by Lynch himself is absolutely stunning. As far as definition and clarity go, the restoration is near perfect with not a noticeable scratch to be seen. But the real stars of the restoration are the depth of the dark tones and the color grading that give the more horrific images an extra and surreal pop. I myself, enjoy the potent and extreme color gradings because of their other-worldly quality, and I think it is perfect for this film and this release. And hey, if this is the version that Lynch himself approved, then I would dare say this is the definitive release for all to feast their eyes upon.

AUDIO

There’s nothing like a Lynchian sound design, and my god, does it just absolutely floor you with Criterion’s uncompressed 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. The swelling sound effects, the dialogue, and of course the legendary Angelo Badalamenti’s atmospheric score all come in clear and strong. Absolutely nothing to complain about here.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None

Special Features:

Though this release lacks a commentary track, the Blu Ray disc contains such a rich amount of special features that give the most detailed account of David Lynch’s artistic process that we will ever see. From the documentary, to the interviews, to the excerpts of books, both on the disc and in the accompanying essay booklet, the extras are just a beautiful excess into Lynch’s mind.

  • Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch, a feature-length 1997 documentary by Toby Keeler featuring Lynch and his collaborators Angelo Badalamenti, Peter Deming, Barry Gifford, Mary Sweeney, and others, along with on-set footage from Lost Highway
  • Reading by Lynch and critic Kristine McKenna of excerpts from their 2018 book, Room to Dream
  • Archival interviews with Lynch and actors Patricia Arquette, Bill Pullman, and Robert Loggia
  • Excerpts from an interview with Lynch from filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley’s book Lynch on Lynch

4k rating divider

  Movie 5/5 stars
  Video  5/5 stars
  Audio 5/5 stars
  Extras 5/5 stars

Composite Blu-ray Grade

5/5 stars


Film Details

Lost Highway (1997)

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime:
134 mins
Director
: David Lynch
Writer:
David Lynch; Barry Gifford
Cast:
Bill Pullman; Patricia Arquette; John Roselius
Genre
: Mystery | Thriller
Tagline:
A lost road on the edge of strange...
Memorable Movie Quote: "Fucker gets more pussy than a toilet seat."
Theatrical Distributor:
October Films
Official Site: https://www.criterion.com/films/31590-lost-highway
Release Date:
February, 1997
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
October 11, 2022
Synopsis: We've met before, haven't we?" A mesmerizing meditation on the mysterious nature of identity, Lost Highway, David Lynch's seventh feature film, is one of the filmmaker's most potent cinematic dreamscapes. Starring Patricia Arquette and Bill Pullman, the film expands the horizons of the medium, taking its audience on a journey through the unknown and the unknowable. As this postmodern noir detours into the realm of science fiction, it becomes apparent that the only certainty is uncertainty.

Art

Lost Highway (1997)