I was watching FWWM again for the 60th time and I was considering the peculiar similarity of MULHOLLAND DR. in the mere aesthetic and geometric structure...

I mean, FWWM starts out with a short segment dealing with researches made by FBI agents around the Theresa Banks' case and then the movie suddenly changes, projecting us into Laura's world. The result is a dishomogeneous structure, and this particular structure repeats in MULHOLLAND DR. only thing is it's a sort of reversal.

We are drenched in Diane's dream world and then, almost near the end of the movie, we are brought to a different dimension, reality distorted by her regretful feelings, a slightly different kind of movie, another segment. Note: the first time I saw it, I didn't immediately realized the woman waking in the creepy apartment was the same actress playing Betty in the rest of the movie. I took me a couple of minutes to really get it!

Of course these fractures blend together dramatic parts that are related to each other, otherwise they won't mean absolutely nothing if put in the same film, but it sort of ends up taking this specular shape of "unshapeness".

FWWM = (A) Surreal Prelude (30 minutes long) on Theresa Banks, the FBI agents and actual events occuring + (B) Laura Palmer's story of her last seven days (the remaining 90 minutes)

MD = (B) Diane's neverending fantasy dream (about 2 hours long) + (A) Epilogue on the way Diane actually feels about what she really is and did (20 minutes)

I know this theory is kind of oversaid, but think of it. I'm not talking about similarities in contents or themes... Just the way the structures of these two movies seem to be very complementary.

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

Interesting point... also the endings are pretty much opposite...*major spoilers* Laura goes through hell and winds up being redeemed by an angel, and Diane ends up shooting herself, and the dark side wins... so to speak. Speaking about the sudden shift in scene and plot, I'd say MD is more similar in structure to Lost Highway, where the first 40 minutes or so are more like the end of MD and the latter section is like the dream...

That god damn trailer's more popular than Uncle's Day in a whorehouse!

 Of course MD and LH have similar structures, but I'd say they are more related to each other under the psychic perspective because both films deal with their desires and reveries translated into stranger images and characters which seem, at first sight, to have nothing in common.

I liked the death parallel between the 3 movies. I'd say FWWM, LH and MD are like a trilogy of tragedies (only meaning the main character dies) dealing with the theme of man's duality between good and evil. Of course, this is a very naive interpretation. Just too simple and academic for a complex mind like Lynch's. I would always like to go deeper, but these films are so rich and have such an impenetrable nature to them that you never stop wondering about something, even when you think you got everything explained after your million studies on them.

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

That god damn trailer's more popular than Uncle's Day in a whorehouse!

It'll be interesting for you to look back on these theories after you see IE. I would say that IE could be tied into this. It also is a sort of a tragedy, featuring a WOMAN. I think you could package it with FWWM and MD. And yet it shares the grit and grimness of LH. This is obvious, but Lynch is going on a very clear trajectory with IE following MD and LH. I'm drunk, so I'm not really making any points LOL. I'll get back to this later! 

This would look good on your wall.

-Noah- 

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

Mr Silencio, if you're looking for similarities and reversals between FWWM and Mulholland without going into contents and themes... just keeping it structural... I daresay I see one more way in which Fire is Mulholland's reversal:

FWWM is just great and Mulholland isn't

No digging in contents, you know, just plain fact he he he.

Hmm, but how is Lost Highway connected with Hollywood?...
 

Bobi 1 Kenobi

B. Beware
O. Of
B. BOB 

I also think of Lost Highway, Mulholland Dr., and now Inland Empire as being Lynch's shift from small town to the big city.  Lost Highway may not necessarily be about the making of a movie, but it does draw on Hollywood Gothic conventions like the Femme Fatale/Scarlet Woman leading a man astray, the "Golden Girl", the big city crime boss, the getaway and police pursuit, the Hollywood murder, and the urban nightmare.  There are other Hollywood-set movies that only tangentially touch on the movie industry itself or instead focus on organized crime, street life, crime sprees, etc.

Mulholland Dr. is my favorite of his movies and it has an audience that's grown since its release.

Got up early, found something's missing/ My only name/ No one else sees but I got stuck/ And soon forever came

Withour your ( plural) sophisticated analysis and comparisons, I definitely have seen BV, TP and FWWM as Lynch's small town triplet stories. And Lost Highway, M D, and I E as a trilogy based on LA. Where can he go now ? His stock of small town has evidently been portrayed and the more recent LA - entertainer,movie production period covered. At least as triplets.

Now what? A project/film ( eventually part of a series? ) on a non geographic/ lifestage based background of experience. Perhaps project(s) based on a new location -not geographic, or concerned with external demographics, lifestyles etc. Maybe the new location is ' within ' and not directly based on experience, characteristics, and characters etc. from without, that is to say the outside world.

Does this make any sense?  The seed comes from the apparent increasing journey of Lynch within himself. The TM, yogic flying, almost like his new location is in a way ... like a lodge. I am picturing the scene in FWWM where Gordon Cole looks at the monitor that had shown an agent, and then the agent was not on the monitor. Cole says " Where did he go ? " Maybe , in a way, we will find out where he went.  This post may read as a tad obtuse.

Castles in the air...

We all live inside that dream!

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)