Lost Highway

Lost Highway is the latest David Lynch opus, which, unlike so many other films on the market, is a deliberate challenge to the viewer. David Lynch breaks with traditional storytelling, in which time, place, action and characters are logically constructed. In Lost Highway nothing is straightforward. Not even the title makes much sense.

The saxophonist Fred Madison and his wife Renée are sent videotapes showing that someone has broken into their house and filmed them while they slept. Other mysterious things happen, culminating in the murder of Renée. Fred is locked up for the murder, which has evidently been recorded on video.

Suddenly the plot turns away from Fred to the young mechanic Pete, who by some miraculous chance has suddenly taken Fred's place in the cell. Pete is released at once. He becomes fatally involved with the seductive blonde Alice, mistress of gangster boss Dick Laurent, who looks exactly like Renée apart from the colour of her hair, clothes and nails.

At the end Pete turns back into Fred. Yes, a plot summary is not very enlightening, precisely because Lynch takes issue with the classic template that we all know ad nauseam.

Lynch is a master of images, sounds and moods. The sense of dread is truly prominent. Perhaps it is Fred Madison's schizophrenic nightmare, but nothing is certain.