Under The Silver Lake (2018) ***1/2
Under The Silver Lake (2018) is one of those films where the mystery and the enticing journey are far more interesting than its conclusion. The ending somehow still feels perfectly appropriate for a film populated by vapid characters, inexplicable oddities, seeming non sequiturs, a layer of unreality, and clues/symbols that (maybe?) don't amount to much.
Director David Robert Mitchell clearly took a page from David Lynch and Joel & Ethan Coen, not merely because of Silver Lake's Los Angeles setting (a la Mulholland Drive (2001) (review) and The Big Lebowski (1998) (review)), but its neo-noir leanings. Where it fails to match those classics is in its lack of characters that a general audience can identify or empathize with. Its lead is kind of a loser and all of the women have thankless roles—a good deal of them appearing nude for no apparent reason. I'm honestly not sure if the film is trying to make a comment on privilege, the male gaze, the patriarchy, and cults—along with various other things—or not. In that way, it reminds me a bit of Bret Easton Ellis—wading in a strange middle ground.
Silver Lake is a smorgasbord of references to pop culture and allusions to films of yesteryear such as Rear Window (1954) and Rebel Without A Cause (1955) (review) but it is no carbon copy or simple pastiche. No, it is indeed its own beast, filled with interesting cinematography and an unusual score/soundtrack (one part throwback, one part modern), that it can't help but appeal to my eclectic sensibilities.
One of Under The Silver Lake's biggest strengths is that Mitchell followed up his sophomore film, It Follows (2014) (review), a horror film, with something completely different. I didn't quite love It Follows either but both films have an undeniable energy. Silver Lake as a whole doesn't quite gel for this viewer, but it's still a very good film that—with all its layers, inconsequential or not—demands additional viewings.
Director David Robert Mitchell clearly took a page from David Lynch and Joel & Ethan Coen, not merely because of Silver Lake's Los Angeles setting (a la Mulholland Drive (2001) (review) and The Big Lebowski (1998) (review)), but its neo-noir leanings. Where it fails to match those classics is in its lack of characters that a general audience can identify or empathize with. Its lead is kind of a loser and all of the women have thankless roles—a good deal of them appearing nude for no apparent reason. I'm honestly not sure if the film is trying to make a comment on privilege, the male gaze, the patriarchy, and cults—along with various other things—or not. In that way, it reminds me a bit of Bret Easton Ellis—wading in a strange middle ground.
Silver Lake is a smorgasbord of references to pop culture and allusions to films of yesteryear such as Rear Window (1954) and Rebel Without A Cause (1955) (review) but it is no carbon copy or simple pastiche. No, it is indeed its own beast, filled with interesting cinematography and an unusual score/soundtrack (one part throwback, one part modern), that it can't help but appeal to my eclectic sensibilities.
One of Under The Silver Lake's biggest strengths is that Mitchell followed up his sophomore film, It Follows (2014) (review), a horror film, with something completely different. I didn't quite love It Follows either but both films have an undeniable energy. Silver Lake as a whole doesn't quite gel for this viewer, but it's still a very good film that—with all its layers, inconsequential or not—demands additional viewings.
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