Jitterbug

[Fudgeyer]

i thought i saw a pillow at the end of that. could the pillow mean diane is about to fall asleep and dream?

[StoryeTime]

One can wonder why we do not see HER dance in that contest scene...any ideas?

[KawaTony1964]

At 7 secs, look at the lower left corner. The character there is more significant than any others in the scene. His face appears more clearly and more frequently than any of the other dancers' faces. Then check at 1:03 to 1:15. The bright face of Diane seems to rise up and consume his. While it consumes his face, he reappears on the left edge of the image around1:15, looks at Diane from the edge, perhaps speaks, and then falls backwards out of view. I think he's the dreamer & Diane is his dream.

[LiliScarlett8]

Still haven't figured out why this scene is here at the beginning of this movie. Why Jitterburg ? What does it mean ?

avid Lynch is such a genius.His films are all amazing. And very, very disturbing. Mulholland Drive scared the hell out of me, and even this scene does.

[mskj444]

I think it's something to do with the movie that Naomi Watts character almost auditions for. We don't see them jitterbugging, but it's from that time etc.

[iwanttoeatataco]

betty wins a jitterbug contest back home which gives her the "acting bug" causing her to come to la to try and make it. this is that dance contest (shot unusually, i know).

[guigs89]

so bizarre

[milet91]

at 0:10 to 0:15, everyone look at the dancing black silhouette to the right that progressively moves left... is that intentionally disturbing?

[RYNO2511]

its a guy holding a girl, but yeah its kinda disrurbing

[Sladge126]

David Lynch is great

[lalalalsksksksjdjdjd]

this is so awesome love the drum line yessss!

[ShShShShaun]

0:00 - 0:07.. Best film opening EVER!

[paulmercy]

This is one of my all-time fave films. I was so drawn in by it the first time I watched that I actually yelled "NOOOO!" when it ended. I needed more exposition and I was so confused. Since then I've read about it and I think I understand all of the elements except for the Cowboy. I just cannot figure out how he fits in.

[ShShShShaun]

might confuse you a little bit more... but he doesn't fit in.

He's a wandering party guest.

[xandirwasmylover]

Since we saw him twice, maybe it was Diane's subconscious's way of saying that Camilla and Adam had been bad?

[kalimaganeshshivan]

The Cowboy is a ethereal non-entity, similar to the Mystery Man in Lost Highway. The Cowboy represents the Naomi Watt's character's ego run amok. The Cowboy represents old Hollywood and the Western where basically anything goes be it good or evil and damn the consequences. Basically if she doesn't get what she wants in her life there will be hell to pay. If you remember, in the film, that it was the Cowboy who awakened Naomi Watt's but he was always present in her behavior and animosity.

[AKSyndrome]

spdelgado,

Thanks for posting this.

(SPOILER ALERT)

If you analyze this scene, it automatically tells you on the spot the first two acts were all in Naomi Watts' head. Only Lynch could have pulled this off.

[JezzlyJames]

howso?

[monigay69]

yes this was a great opening to this movie...it confused the hell out of me...but it was hard not to watch...mesmirizing

[monigay69]

i was talking about the movie it was confusing...i liked the opening tho...

[JezzlyJames]

How does it tell you that? Please explain further. I've heard that too but I can'tsee it. It's just a blur to me

[AKSyndrome]

(SPOILER ALERT)

This musical number was all in Betty's head -- as were the events in the film except the 3rd act, where she was a wannabe actress who got into the dark side of Hollywood, which was the real reality. The sequence here validates it with the perodic flashes of her grandparents and how at the end, she's standing front and center at the applause of the dance, but in reality, she's imaginging the applause --- it's not real.

[saffronxl5]

I see it sort of that way, only it's a dream that Diane has that possibly inspires her fantasy of a cleaner, happier life with the woman she loves (the first half of the movie), as her life falls apart and her demons start to get the best of her!

[pelushworld]

I don't agree.

This scene tells us that Diane won a swing contest in the Ontario and that's one of the reason why she wanted to try in Hollywood.

She was full of hope but all wrecked.

This is my inertpretation, there're a lot others

[ELBSeattle]

I love this movie. I have watched it about ten times, and just seeing this clip makes we want to see it again. Tonight.

My partner and I have taken things from the movie into our daily lives. If he pats my hand in a condescending way, that's a 'Coco.' If he's taking forever on something I'll say to him, "Come on, Diane, it's been three weeks.' 'Silencio' is a great way to tell someone to be quiet. And there are many times when he or I will say 'yes' in the coy way Rita did when she got into bed.

[lycrahoofie]

I love this post... I am using all of the above if thats ok! x

[duncan36]

Jitterbug scene - manic dance people seperated from their shadows/dark side. See Lynch isnt so hard if you pay attention to what he is telling you.

[DianeSelwyn87]

I'm such a huge (read: obsessive) fan of this film that I based my username on the main character.

I'll never forget how I first saw it. I was at my friend's house playing Goldeneye 007 on his old N64 (I still have mine around the house too), and he gave me the DVD saying that he hated it and wanted it out of his sight.

His loss.

[Joefonzgoldenarms]

awesome yea the name betty is always omminous to me ugh seeing the jitterbug scene when she shows up with the old ppl omg, then then old ppl at the end

omg, ugh gives me chills

[SavageSilencer]

no doubt, starts with man worrying about failling at life etc. then works up through a seires of yin and yang kinda events, to the ultamate people with lots of money, but ugly personality....i could go on and on....

[Joefonzgoldenarms]

yea understatement i try and get my friends to watch this movie all the time and for one reason or another they cant sit through it lol it fails every time and i dont have a single friend who knows the beauty of mulholland drive :/ its kinda bittersweet tho, cos not knowing any ppl in my real life circle who have seen it makes it like my own personal magical fantasy/ nightmare. Again brilliant fucking film

[SavageSilencer]

thats the exact same for me to man. im the only one of my friends that has seen it, not to mention understant it.

[zacattack214]

Hum... Lynch is an aquired taste. I still don't like his work, but it might grow on me because it facinates me. I think he spends way too much time throwing random things up on screen though. His films all seem to be told like some maniac on LSD.

[blknge]

Could be that way but I've really dug what he puts out there, Inland Empire is his finest strange. Make it 8 hours longer and I would love to stay with it. If nothing then try

The Straight Story and The Elephant Man, those two might change your view. he makes really moving work as well.

[ohthehorrorofitall]

There's a brilliance to not just this scene but every scene in the whole movie that cannot really be described with words. None of Lynch's films really can, which I guess is why he chooses to make films instead of writing books.

[100110]

Turn it up... right at the start, there's a quick voice, which sounds like it could be backwards. Any idea what it is?

[EvanCo93Three]

All I heard was something something and then "Camilla" or "do you like vanilla?" but that would be ridiculous.

[bartrumtantrum]

sounds to me like: "does anybody know where we are?"

[omp9]

It sound like norwegian. "Hva er det du sier nå ja", Directly translated to english, "what are you saying now yes".

[WeRGod]

The first time you watch it, you sorta wonder why this scene is eerie... then when you watch it again, you realize that you overlooked the fact that the people are dancing sort of hurrily and forced, and none of them are smiling (since they're contestants). It greatly contrasts with Diane's beaming smile at the end of the scene. Brilliant.

[BasementKoOk]

have to love it!

[JohnMerrick93]

This scene represents the Jitterbug contest that

Diane won and lead her to having minor acting parts in Hollywood movies. We see the two smiling old people here too because the representation of the contest is very dreamlike and so the old people are falsly happy.

[balckshafen]

I loved this part it was so eerie the first time i saw it.

[vickdude21]

made me go WTF my first time watching the movie

[billythehick]

same here. i'd seen the movie from about fifteen minutes after that scene once before, and when this came on i wondered if they were showing the wrong movie

[cerzule]

There's something so hypnotic, humorous and deeply sinister about this little "scene" that makes me want to keep watching it over and over again. Such a fantastic film.

[lemmycaution12]

omg Ipod totally ripped off Lynch

[luvisamyth]

does anyone know whats being said just before this scene starts it sounds like something is being said backwards in polish.I heard this for the first time with my new purchase of my 7.1 surround sound.The black dog runs at night.The horse is in the well.

[IronMothra]

From a symbolic level, luvisamyth, fascinating. In British Folklore, the appearance of the nocturnal BLACK DOG is believed to be very dangerous and a portent of death. Carl Jung observed the HORSE to represent the intuitive aspect of human nature. The WELL is a symbol of the soul and an attribute of things feminine. The act of drawing water out of a well is symbolic of drawing out and upwards the contents of the deep. All of these aspects relate to the journey of Betty/Diane's character.

[urquinaona69]

The old get older and Hollywood stronger- a good place to be for old people and their parents...!

[icyrainwater]

this thing is trippy

[brautigan1]

haha, you guys have it sooo wrong. The two old people represent the promise of her dream-fulfillment. They welcome her to Hollywood and basically are a way of saying, "Hey, things are going to be GREAT for you here!" As they ride away in a cab, we see them as falsehoods, self-lies. At the end of the movie, there can be no more pretense. Hollywood has chewed her up and spit her out, and now the two old folks are like a horrible mockery of all she'd hoped for.

[gyromancy2]

The pink bed sheets immediately seconds after this part is a big clue as to figuring out this movie(and this movie is really a beautiful work of art)

[jonesrebel]

Im the dancer girl in the clip with balck hair.DL filmed us on a green screen with no final decision on its use.The contest win was added to the script after this was shot!Only DL can get financial backing where he can wing the script and make unapproved changes!Im a big fan so it was awesome to be part of this, he gave us credits and invited us to the premire!Thank you Peter and Lisa(also in the clip plus Lisa is a camera person for the crew) for the great memory!-Kim

[eraserhead321]

Are you the dancer wearing the white top? That's so cool. I love this dance sequence.

[RYNO2511]

i don't believe you

[jksonny]

I think the old people are actually her parents, which symbolizes her conscience and the person she used to be/could have been. That's why they are standing with her when she wins the dance contest. For winning the contest, she wins a walk-on role in the movie that is mentioned later. Just before she kills herself, the parents attacking her is her own sense of guilt and damnation.

[eraserhead321]

Her guilt for hiring someone to kill her friend? Sorry if this spoils things for anyone but that's my interpretation.

[jksonny]

That's what I think; either the guilt she truly feels or even the grief she doesn't feel but knows she should. I also think there's added significance to Diane seeing the Old Couple/Parents at the end b/c it's during the part of the movie that is actually happening (not a dream). I could speculate for weeks on what this could mean but there's no way to be sure. Clearly, Diane is insane by that point but I think there's more to it.

[eraserhead321]

Our parents are the ones we learn our moral values from (to a large extent anyway) and the people we try to please and make proud of us. So in her dream these scary versions of her parents are there because she is ashamed of what she has done, in this sense they represent retribution and her fear of that. I think the scary small versions also represent her dreams of sucess turning sour (an extended conclusion of the grinning parents in the car at the beginning of the film/dream).

[AcesOverKingz]

This may sound weird to you, and i didn't even realize this a friend pointed it out to me. But, those old people at the end of the movie and towards the beginning when she was at the airport are definitely not here parents or related to her at all. You can figure this out if you listen to the dialouge between them. They simply had met traveling.

[eraserhead321]

Thanks for pointing that out. Actually that makes more sense when I think about it, I think they could still be personifications of her guilt possibly and maybe an embodiment of the wide eyed tourists' view of Hollywood.

[eraserhead321]

The transformation of these parents in the dream goes- happy pround parents (after she first arrives in hollywood), then more sinister grinning parents in car (as I've just mentioned), then scary small parents. In other words they are a visual timeline of her desent into suicide and madness.

[jksonny]

I agree with all of this; very good points.

[eraserhead321]

Thanks my friend. Just a few thoughts really, the film is open to interpretation.

[PrincessAhiru]

That would all make perfect sense if those people weren't acting that strange once they enter their limo.They smile really creepy and the women's clapping her hand on the man's leg. It's like "we got her!" I think in her dream, Diane puts herself as a victim of some supernatural powers. She also makes the success of actresses depend on the choice of these creepy Italian (?) guys rather than on their talent to comfort herself because she never got to play good parts in real life.

[asf67]

this reminds me when i was drunk!!!

[SmittS95]

are you still beacusse weth tat speling it stil semms lik it

[MonsterMashKiller]

Wow. Looks like you're more drunk than asf67.

[19wrangler97]

this reminds me of my first time on acid

[az1jeff]

The audience (us) are getting a glimps of how the young blond got her first taste for fame. She won a small jitter-bug contest. You can see the old people at the end of this clip are the same as the two who travel with her to Los Angeles and wish her all the best with her quest to become an actress. The old people represent the fickle genereal public. The same public that love you one day (like the way the encourage her at the airport), then mock you behind your back. They represent the fan.

[teos9888]

I think that the old people are some kind of demons who try to mess up the blond's life...think about it...they drove her mad and made her kill herself!

[GregStGreg]

Nope. Not at all. Sorry.

[transimania]

this was a crazy ass movie

[malodobro]

this is a very good way to start movie like mulholland drive, man...

[bacteriaburger]

"To get rid of this god-awful feeling..."

[Frank52252]

Not great, why so many hits?

[Arrmando777]

far out psychodelic swing man

[sunclov]

Weird man

[Loudfasthate]

most terrifying scene in the history of cinema

[780ursie]

wtf

[TempvsMortis]

It's called Jitterbug, even though everyone in it is doing Swing?

[Silverfrond]

Jitterbug is swing. It often refers to either Lindy or East Coast Swing.

[ribbit942]

I'm hungry. I'm gonna go bake some pasta salad.... xjui dsbdl.

[agenttk421]

yum

[thebizzlehimself]

This is definitely a timeless classic.

Thanks for uploading it, helped me with my Media essay no-end :]

[boganfilms]

this is her beginning. Dianne went to Hollywood after winning a Jitterbug contest, the old couple must be her parents concratulating her, and they had REALLY high expectations of her, she never lived up to their expectations and thats why their image drives her to kill herself, because she was a failure, career wise and in the eyes of Rita/Camilla she is number 2.

[shortee4204real]

A lost wide eyed girl in a new city is approached by an unusually kind much more mature couple. Maybe that odd couple had always been a shadow around a corner nearby her. They find her wherever she goes and she never escapes their ghost. Always haunting her with their memories to keep her oblivious of their bloodsucking and tormenting habits.

[54337316]

I think tjis movie is so deep.

[sweeetra3]

it was kinda scary at the end....

[bachuskz]

maybe its the logic end for this girl who wants celebrity and only founds......dead

[BoyintheMachine]

This is the begining of the movie, Mulholland Dr. I feel the moview is about mindcontrol and this scene to me, indicates 'altars' or other personalities.

[craigily]

hey couldnt help but notice this, the way her image comes into focus on the screen... the tracking of the movement and burry is somewhat similar to the wall moving in and out of focus when she is masturbating later in the film.

[workforkeysersoze]

That's not really relevent... That type of cinematography is used throughout the film, not just during these scenes.

[IronMothra]

And what is she doing when she is masturbating? Fantacising. This supports the theory that the opening dance sequence is also a fantasy into which she is projecting herself. This to me suggests that she never won any dance contest, and was merely living off money left to her by Aunt Ruth, and when this ran out, sank into prostitution.

[desmondswife]

Lynch says that there are two clues before the credits [ as to what the film means], do the credits start after this clip?

If so, WHAT ARE THE CLUES AHAHA

[newbeet]

And, just where are the black people? Isn't this another example of revisionist history? Just where did this style of dance originate? A glimpse of the REAL thing should be posted!

[SharonJ91]

Huh? I guess you haven't seen the movie. The jitterbug contest took place in a small Canadian town (Deep River, Ontario). I doubt there are many black people there.

[donnie10855]

give me a break, please.

[JacobLA]

Not to mention that there were plenty of white people swing dancing during that time period (I know a number of them). Also, a number of the clubs were unfortunately segregated at the time so it wouldn't be all that suprising to see an all white people contest.

[IsaacBickerstaffEsq]

"just where are the black people?"

They took one look at Deep River Ontario and jitterbugged on back to Detroit.

Seriously, Google it. There's a reason Lynch "likes" the place.

[LesbianVampireLover]

Thanks for posting. I had culled an mpeg of this from a copy of the film, then lost it in a hard drive crash. Lynch always has great music and of course, Angelo Badalamenti rules! (gotta find some Twin Peaks stuff now)

[lindyhop411]

The dancing in the video is actually "lindy hop". Jitterbug isn't actually a unique dance, it's just a general term for all kinds of swing dancing.

[cursedgold]

Sure it is. The Jitterbug is the style of dancing in three when the music is in four. It's often described as the "slow, slow, quick-quick, slow, slow, quick-quick." I've done Jitterbug swing for a good while now, but I can't seem to wrap my mind around Lindy Hop. It looks so cool.

[lindyhop411]

Actually you're describing single time east coast swing. (There's also triple time east coast swing), but neither is specifically a dance called "the jitterbug". Again the term doesn't apply to any individual type of swing dance. Think the difference between karate and martial arts, they mean the same thing.

[tpesc]

One of the best opening scenes to a film. Seriously.

[EsaEsLaChica]

this is just awesome

obviously she didn't win the contest, she is a looser and she wanna die

[spryguy12345]

i love how Lynch will never reveal his true intentions to this scene or the movie in general.

we'll just keep guessing until the world ends, i guess.

[IronMothra]

I actually subscribe to the theory that she NEVER won the jitterbug contest. I contend the jitterbug contest was Aunt Ruth's intro to Hollywood, and Diane was fantasy projecting herself into this scenario. Note the period feel to the costumes, the red haired woman repeatedly seen (young Aunt Ruth), and finally how inappropriately dressed Diane was relative to the other contestants.

[Goll7um]

Where in the video is this red-haired woman? Give times for examples, 0:25, 0:52, whatever.

[IronMothra]

Look for the woman with short red hair, wearing an all-beige ensemble. Her partner wears a red shirt and black pants.

0:06-0:09 center background

0:12-0:17 foreground

0:17-0:20 background

0:36-0:39 left edge

0:55-:1:00 left edge

Pops in and out throughout ghostly superimposition.

[35starfish]

She mentions this at the dinner party. Almost 1/2 of the movie is a dream revisit of this scene: Wilkins, the cowboy, the coffee man, the tryout. I think the old people were actually her grandparents and when they haunted her, she knew they weren't just from the airport. Had this been a TV show as first designed, the director would have moved in with Wilkins in the dream after being kicked out of his house.

[mgmgrand1980]

she be winner in her country(canada), then she coming hollywood CA

;)

[Tate22]

I remember sitting in the theater after the Universal Logo - this came on, the first thing you see. It was SO crazy. Loved this movie.

[grapedragon]

I dont understand the meaning of the Intro to be honest :-/

[skinky1999]

Betty/Diane (Naomi Watts) won a jitterbug contest before arriving in Hollywood. Its apart of dream. And that's where she met those creepy old couple.

[cage611]

which creepy old couple

[SharonJ91]

Did you see the movie?

[pene888]

I dont think she met them there I think the old couple are betty/diane's parents because you can see that at the end they drice her to kill herself and that is the vision she had of failure, because her parents were haunting her mocking her at the end

[goofballoon]

I think you're right. I think it's her parenst or at least a representation of/substitution for her parents.

[skinky1999]

Thanks for the clip. I didn't understand the meaning of it until it was discussed on the IMDB.