I originally posted this on my thread regarding Dan, but I think it provides a huge clue as to what is going on in this film. So, I'm reposting it in this new thread.

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Dan says: "There's a man in back of this place. He's the one who's doing it. I can see him through the wall. I can see his face. I hope that I never see that face ever outside of the dream."

Remember that Club Silencio teaches us about illusions. What is an illusion device that we use every single day?


Ready for the answer?


A mirror.


What is this wall he can see through? The pane of glass that makes up the mirror.

Where's the 'back of this place'? The other side of the mirror. The reflection.

What is this man doing? Looking back at him.

Who does Dan see? Who's this man? Himself.

Betty: "You look like someone else."
Rita: "Oh, I was just looking at myself again."
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I think this may be a major, major clue.

If a person has serious mental issues it could be very possible for them to see a photograph of someone (an actress' photo resume, perhaps?) and mistakenly assume that they are seeing their own reflection in a mirror.

When Rita comes out of the shower and stands in front of the mirror what does she do? She assumes the identity of the 'reflection'.

Could you imagine what a TV would do to a person who suffers this way? That would be awful!

Thinking about it reminds me of the 'lost girl' in Inland Empire for some reason. I guess because she sits there completely mesmerized by that TV.

Back to Dan, though.

Why would Dan's reflection bother him so much (give him a god-awful feeling)?

Is it because he doesn't recognize himself?

Is it because he hates himself?

Or, is it because he knows that the face staring back at him is not his own?

The two 'dreams' he talks about...are they a reference to reality and reflection (illusion)? Or a reflection within a reflection?

Let's look at this. Once Herb goes to the counter, notice his position in relation to Dan. Imagine that Dan is facing forward and looking into a mirror. He can see Herb in the reflection. Now imagine that Herb has a mirror that is positioned so that when Herb casts a reflection into his mirror the image of Herb reflects onto Dan's mirror. This makes it appear to Dan that when he looks into the mirror he sees Herb's face.

Make sense?

We see this sort of set-up in Aunt Ruth's bathroom.

Could Diane and Camilla be a reflection, and Betty and Rita be a reflection in the Diane/Camilla reflection? Or vice versa?

Or is one playing the mirror trick, like Herb can pull on Dan, on the other?

By the way, a reflection within a reflection would mean that one of the reflections is the reverse of the other. The image Herb sees of himself will be reverse of the image Dan sees of Herb.

Something to think about.

This reminds me of something that had always bothered me. Because of my TV screen it was not noticed immediately. I have to be watching this film in the dark to see it.

When Diane goes to answer Camilla's call, you see what looks like light coming in through a window and shining on the wall. When I saw this scene for the first time in complete darkness I noticed that I could see the color green in the greenery at the bottom of this window. That would mean that this is a reflection of this window, not merely light coming through it.

This photo on mulholland-drive.net shows what I'm referring to. Just scroll down a little.

http://mulholland-drive.net/studies/phone.htm

I've seen people mention that when we see the scene with Dan it is in fact Rita dreaming within Diane's dream. A shot of Rita sleeping 'bookends' the Dan scene. This is a clue that something is being repeated within itself.

A dream within a dream.
A reflection within a reflection.

reflection²=the box

What are the strange crashes we hear?

A mirror/reflection being broken. This is the 'accident'.

Right before Adam opens his bedroom door we hear a crash. He opens the door. He's seeing something he wasn't supposed to. The wrong reflection is being shown to him. He's told "Now you've done it!" (broke the mirror/reflection) and then he's told "Pretend you didn't see it. It's better that way."

Cynthia tells Adam that he's "broke".

We hear a strange noise when Betty opens the bedroom door to find Rita awake. We hear a strange noise right before Diane enters her living room to answer the neighbor's knock.

Is it a mirror being adjusted to point in a new direction or to cast a different scene?

Let's look at this. Once Herb goes to the counter, notice his position in relation to Dan. Imagine that Dan is facing forward and looking into a mirror. He can see Herb in the reflection. Now imagine that Herb has a mirror that is positioned so that when Herb casts a reflection into his mirror the image of Herb reflects onto Dan's mirror. This makes it appear to Dan that when he looks into the mirror he sees Herb's face.

Now, before Herb got up from the table and walked to the counter, he was sitting across from Dan. Take a snapshot of Herb from Dan's POV as he sits there. Notice which direction Herb's hair is parted from and notice which side of Herb will have light from outside landing on him.

Take a snapshot of Herb as he's at the counter casting a reflection onto Dan's mirror. From Dan's POV, which side does Herb part his hair from now? Where does the light from outside fall on Herb now?

This is what Dan means when he says everything is the same except for the light.

Also, the use of mirrors/reflections would explain the mirroring we see throughout the film...including the reversal of the buttons and buttonholes on the neighbor's white shirt. What does this possibly say about the wedding band we see on Diane's finger? Which hand is it really on?

I think I may have figured out what the deal is with the pink, blue and purple.

When a printer prints packaging that contains images they usually use basic colors. These basic colors are 'mixed' to create other colors. Usually one color is applied at a time so it is real important that everything is lined up correctly. Otherwise, you will wind up with a double image (or a blur). To help the printers know things are in alignment they will have little dots, circles or squares print on the box...someplace conspicuous.

An example:


To make the color purple, two colors are used. Blue and red. If things are not in alignment, a printer will see a red circle and a blue circle (where they should only see a purple circle if things are aligned correctly).

I think we are clued in that mirrors/reflections are not in alignment, or are completely broken, when we see something in both baby blue and pink. Things are in alignment when we see one thing in purple.

In the case, for example, where we see the pink and blue pool chairs at Adam's pool side, we are being shown that things are not in alignment. We should be seeing one purple pool chair. Same thing with the pink and blue paint. There should have been one can of purple paint if things were in alignment.

Things are in alignment when we see the purple lady at the airport.

Things are not in alignment when we see the pink potted flower and the blue potted flower just inside the gate at Havenhurst (just after Rita collapses in the bushes).

I also do not think that pink and baby blue are the only colors used for alignment purposes. While Dan speaks to Herb at Winkie's we see someone dressed head-to-toe in yellow walk by outside the front door. Moments later we see someone dressed head-to-toe in baby blue walk by (in the other direction).