Mulholland Drive (2001)

The scene I am using from the neo-noir psychological thriller, Mulholland Drive (Written and directed by David Lynch, 2001) that I am using as an influence is the scene at Winkie's, a local diner, a man named Dan (Patrick Fischler) tells his companion Herb (Michael Cooke) about a recurring nightmare involving a shadowy person living behind the restaurant. When Herb encourages Dan to confront his fear by exploring the rear parking lot, he encounters a terrifying figure and collapses from fright.

The reason I have selected this scene is because it is able to blur the lines of reality and dreams from the audience. As Dan is talking to Herb in the diner, everything seems to be reality. Dan is explaining to Herb that in his dream, he sees this evil figure. After Dan describes his dream to Herb and they then confront it, only to discover that it is indeed true, there was a "monster" at the back of the restaurant.  The same is true for Diane (Naomi Watts) ; her extended fantasy gradually segues into horror before reality hits. We see this scary bum again near the film's end as he "unleashes" the elderly couple who preoceed to "attack" Diane.  The couple, representing innocence, are chasing a woman who has committed a vile act.  Her innocence has been lost, violently discharged within the evil dream (represented by the man behind Winkie's) that comprises most of the film.

Shutter Island ending parts 2 & 3

Shutter Island

I am using 'Shutter Island' (Dir. Martin Scorsese) as one of my influences for my film project, and I am especially taking a look at the end scene. The reason for why I am looking at this scene in particular, is because it follows one of the main conventions of the psychological thriller which is the 'twist' for the protagonist. In 'Shutter Island', US Marshall "Teddy" Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is investigating the case of a missing person, Rachel Solando, on the Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island, he goes on to discover that he is in fact Andrew Laeddis and that he killed his wife after she drowned her children. Also that Edward Daniels is in fact an anagram of Andrew Laeddis, and that he is the most dangerous patient on the island and that they are trying to 'cure' him and this is the last attempt and doing so before they perform a lobotomy. The film ends were it seems that Laeddis has regressed back to the character of "Teddy" Daniels but before he is taken away for the lobotomy he says it would be worse to 'live as a monster, or die as a good man'.