After being surprised at winning the audition for the Betty/Diane role, Watts had spent years as a struggling actress looking for her big break, but was at one point about to be evicted from her apartment for being in debt during the making of MR.

Fortunately, and unlike the Diane character, Watts became the star she wanted to be after critical acclaim for her role.

I guess, therefore, there was a great deal of personal emotion, depth and experience at the way Watts played both roles.

A fantastic film that even after repeat viewings still holds its thought-provoking magic, just like putting a jigsaw together without the aid of a picture. Eventually the pieces will fall in place … probably!

So I understand where the conventional interpretation of the movie comes from, but I’m inclined to reject it. For one thing, the end of MD is, if anything, *more* surreal and strange than the supposed dream that precedes it; there’s nothing there that definitively proves to me we’re in reality. For another, as you suggested, sorting things into neat little “dream vs. reality” boxes isn’t Lynch game. To me, Lynch’s movies are twisted up messes because that’s how life is, and how memory is, especially under heavy distress. MD isn’t weird just for giggles, but because it’s a reflection of a character who can’t bear to face reality. (There’s a line of dialogue in Lost Highway that explains this idea well.) And the precise logistical details of our lives never matter as much as the emotions, the relationships, the failures that linger in our minds.

For all of Lynch’s surrealism, his movies feel remarkably accessible to me, because at their core they’re intensely personal psychological studies. And what really resonates with me is how he refuses to lie about the fact that some of our fears, our regrets, our demons simply don’t go away. Lynch turns the mirror inward and forces us to confront the disquieting notion that, despite an untold number of horrors in the world, the real monsters lie within ourselves.

Anyway. Loved your review. Isn’t it incredible that Naomi wasn’t even nominated for this performance? Never change, Academy. Btw, if you really want a ‘Norman Rockwell painted in blood and bile,’ watch Blue Velvet. Now there’s a movie that’ll knock you on your ass.

Also, if you haven’t seen them, let me recommend Belle de Jour and The Double Life of Veronique, two awesome foreign films that share some key similarities with Lynch.