Mulholland drive and Postmodernism

(Fig 1: Movie Still)

1) Hyper-realism: This film has hyper realistic elements sprinkled through out. We're first introduced to it with the intro, people dancing but has nothing to do with the "story". Another example can be found with Betty, she acts in a happy go lucky way when Rita is in a distressing situation. 

(Fig 2: Movie Still)

2) Non-Linear Narrative: The beginning of the film sets up the ground work for a typical story that the audience was expecting. However, at that point Lynch takes the story and jumbles in up. The audience has no clue by the end of it what reality the story is in. 

(Fig 3: Movie Still)

3) Altered States: Building off of the previous point, this film mixes reality and fantasy so much at a point we are convinced that fantasy is reality in this film. For example, Betty is revealed to be a jaded actress named Diane. This reality shatters the reality that Lynch had been showing us.

(Fig 4: Movie Still)

4) Self-Referencing: This film as "random" as it may seem has clear comments on Hollywood culture. Again referring to previous point the fantasy and reality element is also a 'What if', people try to be actors or make it into Hollywood and sometimes the reality isn't the fantasy. The scene where the director is casting an actress, people with more power and authority strong arm him into choosing someone he doesn't want to.

(Fig 5: Movie Still)

5) Pastiche: The film references different aspects of Hollywood culture and its history. Rita, also known as Camilla, references the actress Rita Hayworth who was seen in a poster in the apartment. Hayworth embodied what an ideal actress was in the 1940s, which is a goal that Betty wants to achieve. 

Illustration:

Fig 1: https://religion.ua.edu/blog/2015/06/18/mulholland-drive-extremely-enigmatic-or-surprisingly-simple/

Fig 2: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/35603/1/decoding-the-fashion-of-david-lynchs-mysterious-mulholland-drive

Fig 3: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/35603/1/decoding-the-fashion-of-david-lynchs-mysterious-mulholland-drive

Fig 4: https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/film/news/a7676/mulholland-drive-explained/

Fig 5: http://www.mulholland-drive.net/cast/rita.htm