Lost Highway

Confused and mind-boggled were the predominant emotions I felt while watching the film Lost Highway. It was the kind of movie that made question whether I even understood what I just watched and yet, I thoroughly liked the movie, especially the cinematography. There was a suspenseful effect to the whole film in terms of how the camera angles were shot as well as how the events transpired. All the scenes set in the house of Fred and Renee showed how their house not only looked cold and threatening but also very empty literally because of their minimalist furniture and figuratively, because of their disposition towards each other. I sensed that something bad was about to happen to Fred or Renee since both of their characters seemed very distant and secretive to each other. To add to this feeling of foreboding, the videotapes that both of them received showed that someone was clearly watching them. The presence of the “Mystery Man” also contributed to the overall mood of the film — with his vampire-like characteristics and his way of getting into Fred’s mind. 

The film was effective in the sense that it made me wonder how two people could be at two places at once. Given that Fred was imprisoned due to the charge against him for murdering his wife, it seemed strange how he was somehow replaced by a teenager, Pete — who I later learned was his fantasy self. To be able to learn about Fred’s innermost desires was interesting to me seeing as his current reality was not in any way exciting. It was evident that Pete is living the life that Fred wishes he had. Compared to Fred’s mundane life, Pete is young, has a job he enjoys, a group of friends, a girlfriend and to top it all off, is having an affair with the mob boss’ girlfriend, Alice. Pete is also a romantic which is someone Fred is not. 

As the story progresses, we can see how the two different plots “converge” and how the transition between the two plots is convoluted. While typically films follow a linear pattern to mirror reality and for viewers to immerse themselves into the reality of the film, Lost Highway does the complete opposite. It does not follow the regular structure of films of the thriller/horror genre but despite this, it was so visually captivating. The film plays with the human psyche clearly showing us that it is so easy to get lost in our own fantasies and that memory has the power to manipulate our realities. I stopped forming theories on how to explain everything that happened in the film as I began to realize that maybe the whole point of the film was to play games with the viewers minds and I went along for the ride. Just as Pete’s parents denied him the opportunity to know what really happened to him, we the audience too, need to accept the fact that we too were not given a literal explanation of the events of the film.