Under the Silver Lake

This is the most unexpected film I've seen in a long time. And I'm a cinephile, so that alone is high praise. A totally absurdist neo-noir mystery that takes inspiration from David Lynch, Alfred Hitchcock, and others. Think Mulholland Drive meets Vertigo with a few overt nods to Alice in Wonderland. Layered within the bizarre mystery the protagonist seeks to unravel is a love letter to old Hollywood. The score (by Disasterpiece) is as if they lifted the music from a classic noir film from the '50s and laid it down onto this one. The camera work is so well done that it's almost a character in itself.I think it's best to go into this story as blind as possible, so I won't divulge any spoilers. Just know you're going to go on a bizarre journey with very few actual answers (the final scene will solidify your opinion of the movie if you haven't decided by then). But I promise you'll be thinking about it for hours after it's long 2+ hour runtime. The person who recommended it warned, "you'll either LOVE it or you'll REALLY dislike it." I couldn't sum it up better.

The self-proclaimed neo-noir film “Under the Silver Lake” by David Mitchell is of the ilk of films such as “Lost Highway” by David Lynch, “Donnie Darko” by Richard Kelly, and “Vertigo” by Alfred Hitchcock. I viewed it when it was first released in 2018 and then again recently. The scene in it that I found to be most captivating was the scene when Sam, the protagonist, visits Songwriter’s palatial abode tucked away high in the Hollywood Hills. It was metaphorical in regards to the illusions woven into advertising and the subliminal messaging through symbolism that is implanted within various forms of entertainment media. That particular scene also reminded me of the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain. The film also hearkened to some sort of purgatory in limbo between “Night of the Hunter” by Charles Laughton due to the eerie underwater scenes and “Josie and the Pussycats” by Harry Elfont/Deborah Kaplan due to the encoded underlying signaling embedded within music. The ascension near the end of “Under the Silver Lake” also brought “Cloud Atlas” by Lana Wachowski/Tom Tykwer/Lilly Wachowski to mind.Still more, there was an inspiration owing a bow to John Huston, Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick, and Alejandro Jodorowsky threaded throughout the fun movie. It was a light hearted conspiracy theory spin-off from multiple hashes blended with “After Hours” by Martin Scorsese wherein a wild-goose chase unfolds amidst a treasure hunt filled with newly discovered clue after clue that keeps the viewer engaged in a suspense between pleasure and peril. There was even a dusting of Cameron Crowe’s “Vanilla Sky” misting up the ether at times with a medley of silly awkwardness and mild fascination found in mundanely common objects used as props in clever ways, such as Balloon Girl who always has balloons that become a mechanism of her very identity. That alone is a gem in any movie these days, simply to have one’s interest held from opening to final credits. There are plenty of reviews on the film, I really just wanted to note that the character “Songwriter” was really fantastical to me and has found a nesting place in my mind’s hall of memorable moviemaking. That goes to the perfect storm of script writing, cinematography, directing, acting, and all that went into that five minute segment—it concocted an interesting imaginary moment.If you enjoy movies that are not always linear, that border on surreal, and are both mysterious and ridiculous in an entertaining way, then I’d recommend “Under the Silver Lake” to you.If you enjoy movies similar to Terry Gilliam’s “Tideland” by Terry Gilliam, “Requiem for a Dream” by Darren Aronofsky, “Antichrist” by Lars von Trier, or Jacob’s Ladder by Adrian Lyne, then you too may appreciate the titled feature of my little overview. Life most good film work, nearly every movie I mention traces back to literature, some very old, such as the overarching theme found in “Jacob’s Ladder” found in the Book of Genesis.

Under the Silver Lake (2018), an American nenoir mystery/thriller. Stars Andrew Garfield as Sam, a kind of aimless, directionless 33 year old interested in conspiracy theories and hidden codes in say rock music songs and little else, certainly not with any passion. Kind of drifting through life at his LA apartment and kind of apathetic about the fact he facts eviction in a week, he becomes interested in an attractive female neighbor named Sarah (Riley Keough). They have a wonderful night together after formally making each other's acquaintance and Sarah tells Sam to come by tomorrow afternoon and they can spend more time together.Sam comes by and finds the apartment empty. Sarah and her roommates moved out. The landlord has no idea where Sarah went or why. Sam then becomes a detective of sorts and goes down weird rabbit holes trying to find Sarah.I say rabbit holes plural, as some of the various weird threads include two different serial killers at work in the area (one after people's dogs, the other may or may not be fictional and goes after people who Know Too Much I gather), a writer/publisher of an underground comic book Sam reads and later meets who is convinced of Vast Conspiracies involving things like kid's maps on cereal boxes, a missing LA billionaire, and lots of strange tunnels beneath LA revealed to Sam by a man known as the Homeless King (complete with crown). And more.The movie could be stunning visually with lots of creative and trippy camera angles and techniques. It definitely felt noirish with both a deeply flawed protagonist and lots of "beautiful, sunny, palm-tree planted LA has a seedy, dark, insane underbelly of broken people with their own agendas" vibes.It could be as one critic said a film that makes fun of people who love conspiracy theory and secret code movies. There are mysteries shown that don't make any sense, that are never resolved at all, and even when Sam solves some of them, I still don't know what is going on, though the central mystery - what happened to Sarah - does have a definitive conclusion.The movie has one very violent scene though it is not primarily a violent movie. There is sex and quite a bit of female nudity in a few scenes early on, some male nudity as well.I think Andrew Garfield nailed the whole shaggy haired, looks like he just woke up from a nap, staring at the weird things he encountered again and again vibe. As one critic said, he was almost more voyeur at times than detective, though he definitely does do a lot of detective work following leads (and people) and going out to interview people or explore places.

I love this film. It's super underrated. It's like Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, and Alfred Hitchcock got together and made a movie. David Robert Mitchell is one of the true visionary filmmakers working today. So 5 stars for the film, 1 star for this terrible blu ray. It's a BD-R BURNED disc. This causes the disc to freeze in the middle and lose about 8 seconds of the film. I sent it back thinking it was a defective disc. However after getting another, the same problem happens. A burned blu ray is unacceptable at retail. Especially for this price.

This.movie cray cray

Garfield is engaging as he explores Silverlake area in Los Angeles and all the beautiful and weird people.No clue what the end means. Maybe nothing. Strange trip though

Imagine David Lynch and Terry Gilliam working together. Dark mystery mixed with absurd fantasy.Continues background music, style: Howard Shore Silence of the Lambs and Angelo Badalamenti Blue Velvet. (Milan produced a double cd soundtrack that won't be long on the market)Paul Verhoeven dropped by and told the guys to show some tits and ass too, that always works.It's a long story and at the end i was surprised it kept hold on me for most of the time. I love movies where the public is divided; read the reviews, this is one.I was sure i would watch his other movie 'It Follows' a second time and i'm sure i will visit this one again too. Indeed a recommendation for ... people who love oddities, mystery, adventurous cinema.The MUBI blu ray collection is slowly becoming a treasure of careful contemporary cult like oddities and beauties.

I recieved two copies of this bluray. Both had faults. No issues with any other new discs. From what I managed to see, the film looked very interesting.

A good idea that quickly runs out of steam and goes nowhere. I'd go with Inherent Vice or The Big Lebowski for the same kind of story done much, much better.

I love this film, it’s a shaggy-dog gumshoe noir in the style of Big Lebowski about reading too much into signs and codes and hidden messages that actually Nan nothing. Or do they??! Beautifully shot and scored, it’s well worth a watch.

Requested as a gift