Kurt gave me permission to throw some entries into the Finite Focus series, which he deservedly dominates. I’m directing my efforts toward scenes that I consider Great Cinematic Moments, as well as just excellent or study-worthy individual scenes (mostly because if I didn’t constrain myself, I’d end up just posting random scenes I happen to like, and nobody probably wants that). By a Great Cinematic Moment I mean either a) it’s a moment of such great cinematic beauty, innovation, or transcendence that the scene itself makes one remember again why we believe in the power of cinema; or b) it’s a moment of such importance to the film that it becomes a centerpiece or distillation of the film itself. A lot will probably be both, but my distinction is whether a scene is powerful on its own, or within the context of the film.
The first scene I’ve chosen is both, though it probably fits into category b) a little bit better. I pretty much knew I wanted my first post in the series to be from David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr., a film that completely overwhelms me to the point of speechlessness (and often movelessness, too) every time I see it. But I had difficulty choosing which scene to post – thankfully Kurt saved me the trouble by having already posting the Club Silencio scene (which would get my vote for most overwhelmingly emotionally powerful scene of…a long time – it fits squarely into my first definition above).
Read more and see the scene in question after the jump.
In the scene I’m highlighting, aspiring movie actress Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) goes to her first audition. And nails it beyond all belief. Up to this point, Naomi Watts has been playing Betty a little overeagerly, a little overcheerfully, and a little, well, badly. In addition, we’ve seen Betty practice the audition script with her friend Rita and perform it like a particularly bad telenovela. This audition has every potential of being disastrous, if we take the character of Betty and the so-far-exhibited acting ability of Watts at face value.
But when she steps into the audition room and begins the scene, something happens. She takes the scene, as melodramatic and soap opera-ish as it is, and goes somewhere with it that the lines themselves don’t even seem to suggest. She adds layers of complexity to her character and subtext to her brief set of lines. It’s still a little over the top, but in such a completely different way than the earlier part of Mulholland Drive that it feels profound. And it is. Even on its own, it’s powerful, a stunning example of what Naomi Watts is capable of. Within the context of the larger film, it shows that Watts’s seemingly inept acting up to this point is itself an act, which begins to alert the viewer that not everything is what it seems in Betty’s Hollywood.
I think I can actually leave it there, without any spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen the film yet. (But if you haven’t, SEE IT NOW.) This scene is a major turning point in the film, showcasing Watts and her ability to carry the rest of the film (which she does), and kicking Lynch’s critique of Hollywood into high gear. Despite how many great and memorable moments there are in this film, for some reason I keep coming back to this one when I think about the scenes that just bowl me over.
I remember seeing this in the theater and my jaw dropped at this scene. I had no idea who she was at the time and then in an instant she was on my radar of women actors to watch and love. This is still her signature movie moment in my opinion.
Breathtaking.
Yeah, that’s the other reason it worked so well – Naomi Watts was nearly an unknown quantity at the time (she’d been in a bunch of stuff, but nothing really featured or familiar to American audiences), so you didn’t really know if she was playing Betty that way because she couldn’t act, or what. This scene is so perfect and revelatory because the lack of meta information about Watts actually played into the way we read the scene. Perfect casting on Lynch’s part, and what a way for Watts to breakthrough.
Obviously Andrew, you should have spent more time watching Tank Girl.
But Jandy is right on this scene it is the first magnificent example of ‘layers’ to which the film will start really pealing back from that point onwards.
No joke, the audition scene, the Club Silencio scene and the old-people-chase at the end are 3 of my favorite scenes of all-time. I must’ve seen this over 10 times now and I’m always shocked at how fresh and powerful its affects on me is. Naomi Watts…when is she gonna get another tour de force like this?
Forget about Watts, when is Lynch going to have another Tour de Force like this!
(anyone see his most recent producer-credit “My Son My Son What Have Ye Done?”, I caught it at TIFF this year, he could be onto something, would have been better if he had directed it himself. At times I felt Herzog was trying to be Lynch instead of actually being Herzog)
Is she even capable of something like this anymore? It was a beautiful harmony between the character of Betty as well as Watts real-life career starting to turn for the better…. if she can find a role (or be offered one) to touch on her career and life realities now, she might once again achieve that golden performance.
“At times I felt Herzog was trying to be Lynch instead of actually being Herzog.”
Exactly. And he fails miserably. Other than the performances I didn’t like that movie at all.
I’d say INLAND EMPIRE is at least as much a tour de force for Lynch (and Laura Dern), though I have a greater soft spot for Mulholland Drive and it’s definitely more accessible. But INLAND EMPIRE is pretty overwhelming (I think in a good way).
Interestingly, Naomi Watts was just named the most bankable actress in Hollywood by Forbes Magazine (Hollywood Reporter story) – apparently her last three movies averaged about $44 for each $1 she makes. I’d say it’s about time for her to get a really, good meaty role again and remind us all how great she can be.
Watts is also the ‘remake queen’ (Ring, King Kong, etc) but her performance in FUNNY GAMES US is pretty damn good stuff.
There is a fairly consistent progression to abstraction in Lynch’s work with INLAND EMPIRE as the most unhinged experiment he has ever done, and to me, it is his greatest film. Despite its long run time, I find it a pretty fast watch considering how rich it is with information.
On Herzog’s My Son My Son, What Have Ye Done: There are some good performances in there for sure and that cast is character actor heaven! (Dafoe, Shannon, Kier, Dourif, Zabriskie, Sevigny) but the movie is shot incredibly flat and lifeless and given the graphic nature of the crime at hand, weird that it is simply forgettable.
oh! Funny Games, how could I forget! Yes, I loved her in that!
I really really wanted to love Inland Empire. And I’m sure I had just set my expectations far too high.
@rot- I didn’t find it as fast a watch as you… his indulgence in that one got a little exhausting for me. I’ve only seen it once, maybe I’ll sit for it again!
@Kurt- GREAT Performances! I loved the tableaus.
I think there’s a lot to love about Inland Empire, but somehow I see it more as a “project” than Mulholland. Self-indulgence definitely isn’t anything new to lynch (nor should it be) but, I don’t know, Empire just feels to me like it needed just a BIT of outside influence, a studio or someone stepping in and at least asking, “Uh…what the hell does all this mean?”
Nevertheless, I think the movie’s interesting all the way through and just another example of how thoroughly Lynch can manipulate his viewers to feel just about anything he wants them to.
(Except for in Elephant Man. Ugh…I don’t care what anybody says, that movie bored the hell out of me)
I remember the first time I came out of INLAND EMPIRE I had the distinct feeling of being high, my legs were wobbly, my head was spinning from that awesome musical number at the end. Anything that can get me that deep into an experience that I can’t immediately shake it, I call that a victory. For me it is the perfect Lynch film, I want him working at that level more so than say Blue Velvet.
When Herzog dipped his toe into the Lynchian universe with My Son, I think it just reasserted that what Lynch does, while seemingly chaotic and messy, is actually more difficult to do than it would appear. Its not just have some weird characters doing weird things in a dreamy way, he makes something symphonic out of numinous sensations that at least for me with INLAND EMPIRE had me every step of the way.
Here in Austin our actors take themselves seriously. I tell anyone who’ll listen that they need to rent Mulholland Dr. and watch Naomi’s audition scene to understand in a blink just what great acting is. And to put her skills into even higher relief, notice the way Lean has her juxtaposed beside the other hopeful actresses, who we feel put in a creditable effort, until Naomi steps in and blows the roof off.