Is the 2010 Mulholland Drive StudioCanal Collection blu-ray an alternate cut?

[bluecardigan]

Living in Australia, I first saw Mulholland Drive on a VHS tape hired from Blockbuster Video in 2004. And some point in 2012 when I was fascinated by blu-ray I bought the Mulholland Drive one being sold at the time from UK, and because it was about 8 years between watches I didn't notice anything obviously different about this, and then fast forward I watched it again during a David Lynch movie night in 2017.

This year I noticed local home entertainment stores were selling Mulholland Drive on blu-ray again, this time remastered and with the artwork looking very close to the original release. I still had my StudioCanal blu-ray but this new release had some newly commissioned interviews, so I couldn't resist buying it.

Upon watching it I felt like I'd been watching a slightly different cut to what I remembered, and it seemed to be closer to what I watched in 2004.
The next night I stuck on my old StudioCanal blu-ray of Mulholland Drive just to scratch my curiosity and it pretty much confirmed my theory, this 2010 blu-ray was a somewhat less optimistic version of the same story with some alternative scenes and bits not shown in the theatrical cut and even leaves out certain scenes shown in the other cut.

My question is, is there an alternate cut not really confirmed as existing and has anyone else watched both blu-rays and can back up my theory a bit?

 

[Mr. Reindeer]

Living in Australia, I first saw Mulholland Drive on a VHS tape hired from Blockbuster Video in 2004. And some point in 2012 when I was fascinated by blu-ray I bought the Mulholland Drive one being sold at the time from UK, and because it was about 8 years between watches I didn't notice anything obviously different about this, and then fast forward I watched it again during a David Lynch movie night in 2017.

This year I noticed local home entertainment stores were selling Mulholland Drive on blu-ray again, this time remastered and with the artwork looking very close to the original release. I still had my StudioCanal blu-ray but this new release had some newly commissioned interviews, so I couldn't resist buying it.

Upon watching it I felt like I'd been watching a slightly different cut to what I remembered, and it seemed to be closer to what I watched in 2004.
The next night I stuck on my old StudioCanal blu-ray of Mulholland Drive just to scratch my curiosity and it pretty much confirmed my theory, this 2010 blu-ray was a somewhat less optimistic version of the same story with some alternative scenes and bits not shown in the theatrical cut and even leaves out certain scenes shown in the other cut.

My question is, is there an alternate cut not really confirmed as existing and has anyone else watched both blu-rays and can back up my theory a bit?

I don’t believe there has ever been any other cut, besides the bootleg of the ABC pilot. It would probably be helpful if you would cite specific scenes that you believe are in one version and not the other, a difference in run time, etc.

 

[bluecardigan]

I don’t believe there has ever been any other cut, besides the bootleg of the ABC pilot. It would probably be helpful if you would cite specific scenes that you believe are in one version and not the other, a difference in run time, etc.

I'd have to watch the two blu-rays and take notes and compare them, to do that. With my life being utterly chaotic right now I think people will just have to take my word for it. I contacted a well regarded fan site about it too and they basically ignored my email.

 

[AXX°N N.]

Dvdcompare is generally reliable and it doesn't list anything in the way of cuts that would affect the film as you say on the releases you've noted.

It does however list some cuts I wasn't aware of but that are very minor. Apparently whether Laura Elena Harring's privates are optically censored (per Lynch's request), and whether there's a fade effect or hard cut on the jitterbug sequence, depends on the individual release. Criterion didn't have the fade effect as was originally intended until their 4K release. Who knew!

 

[bluecardigan]

Dvdcompare is generally reliable and it doesn't list anything in the way of cuts that would affect the film as you say on the releases you've noted.

It does however list some cuts I wasn't aware of but that are very minor. Apparently whether Laura Elena Harring's privates are optically censored (per Lynch's request), and whether there's a fade effect or hard cut on the jitterbug sequence, depends on the individual release. Criterion didn't have the fade effect as was originally intended until their 4K release. Who knew!

Okay well. As far as I know Laura’s pubic region was visible when the film was released in cinemas but for every home video release it’s remained digitally darkened as an agreement between Laura and David, but this is insignificant compared to what I mentioned. The only part I like about the jitterbug scene is the flashes of Naomi Watts and the old couple. “What are you doing, we don’t stop here”.

 

[LateReg]

Sounds like someone is having a real Fred Madison moment.

 

[AXX°N N.]

As far as I know Laura’s pubic region was visible when the film was released in cinemas but for every home video release it’s remained digitally darkened as an agreement between Laura and David, but this is insignificant compared to what I mentioned.

All I'm saying is this is all I could find in terms of documentation, that said documentation asserts it's not across all releases, and that said insignificant cuts are the only cuts documented.

It sounds to me like you may be confusing the differences one can perceive in a film any time one watches it (due to anything, really, mood not least of which) and the existence of objective difference. Barring some kind of furnished proof or an effort on your part to A/B test, I don't think you'll get a more thorough response.

 

[bluecardigan]

Sounds like someone is having a real Fred Madison moment.

Can you not be a real jerk right now? I have a life threatening disease. I’m sure David would find your comment very inappropriate. I have ESP, what do you have Tic Tacs? I literally have what David Lynch has. That’s a lot more than I can say about you.

 

[Mr. Reindeer]

Can you not be a real jerk right now? I have a life threatening disease. I’m sure David would find your comment very inappropriate. I have ESP, what do you have Tic Tacs? I literally have what David Lynch has. That’s a lot more than I can say about you.

First off, I am very sorry that you're going through that. I hope that your suffering is as minimal as it can possibly be, and that you have a decent quality of life for many years to come. That absolutely sucks.

That being said, there's no earthly reason that LateReg could have possibly known what you're going through. Was his reply to you mildly snarky? Sure. But please try to recognize the way your initial correspondence came across. As a brand-new member, you're coming into a community of very dedicated Lynch fans, talking about a film that is arguably the most studied, dissected, and analyzed film made in this century, and claiming to have discovered a heretofore-unknown radically different alternate cut that no film scholar or fan has ever made mention of in the history of the Internet. I think for fairly good reason, several of us were skeptical, but open to engaging with you in good faith. When I politely asked for even one specific example to support your claim, your reply was that we'd have to just take your word. To be perfectly blunt, I think your approach came across as condescending. The response that LateReg made to you isn't the response that I would have made. But I also don't think it was out of line; and, once again, there was absolutely no way he could have known about your personal circumstances, so trying to act like he should have is completely unfair.