MovieChat Forums > Lost Highway (1997) Discussion > Eerie similarities between Mystery Man i...

Eerie similarities between Mystery Man in this movie and John Milton in "The Devil's Advocate".

posted 3 years ago by TheMan18 (12534)
19 replies | jump to latest

Hi folks.

Did anyone else, at least to an extent, see some similarities between Robert Blake's "Mystery Man" character in this movie and the John Milton's Devil character, played by the legendary Al Pacino actor, in "The Devil's Advocate", also released in 1997?

For one, both men tend to have that otherworldly, powerful and Devilish quality to them, there were some by the way who debated that Mystery Man may indeed be Satan or the Devil himself.

Also, both men are capable of being in two places at once and both men also commit murder and other bad deeds whilst also holding their "proteges" responsible themselves for their troubles and tragedies.

In The Devil's Advocate, Al Pacino's character blamed Keanu Reeves for instance for many of his deeds but also what happens to Mary Anne in the movie. And in Lost Highway for instance, the Mystery Man also tends to shadow and follow our protagonist like a ghost of his own conscience, although its also implied that Bill Pullman's character may have himself killed his wife Renee in that movie, and he also assisted him with and even ultimately killed the main antagonist Dick Laurent but also whispered in his ear implying that he finds him personally responsible. Eerie similarities, indeed.

Does anyone else think so?

[–] Drooch (5333) 3 years ago

Not really. I mean they’re both sources of evil but Pacino explicitly plays Satan from the bible, whereas the Mystery Man is more like a Jungian archetype swimming around Fred’s mind.

[–] TheMan18 (12534) 3 years ago

Well, yes they have their differences. But to some extent, there are similarities too, like being able to be in two places at once, for one. And it was debated by some sources that Mystery Man may have been the Devil, as for one, his number has "666" in it.

[–] TheMan18 (12534) 3 years ago

And some people also wondered whether or not the events in "The Devil's Advocate" (1997) have really happened or whether it was all in the lead lawyer Kevin Lomax' imagination, and the film itself is structured and often plays out like a metaphor for the dark sides of the lawyer profession.

Meanwhile some sources have also debated whether or not the events in "Lost Highway" also REALLY happened or whether or not it was in Bill Pullman's character's imagination and both films, although can also be interpreted literally by some, seem to be metaphors, in one case - dark sides of being a lawyer, in another one, bad conscience after possibly killing one's own wife.

And of course in case of both movies, it is all dark, heavy and very adult stuff, that's for sure.

[–] Drooch (5333) 3 years ago

Where does ‘666’ appear?

[–] TheMan18 (12534) 3 years ago

In the trivia section, it related to a phone number and "Fred's phone number ends in the digits 666. This is revealed when he dials it at the prompting of The Mystery Man".

[–] joi2049 (5488) 3 years ago

the Mystery Man is more like a Jungian archetype swimming around Fred’s mind.

I agree with this interpretation, because at the end of the film we also seem to see the face of FRED MORPH and change into the face of the MYSTERY MAN as he drives down the HIGHWAY.

[–] Drooch (5333) 3 years ago

I don’t think that’s what’s happening, his head seems to be bulging and pulsating as it did when he transformed into Pete. I suspect he’s either transitioning to yet another identity, or his head is frying in the electric chair.

If you’ve got a freeze frame or some other evidence to suggest that he’s morphing into the MM then please share.

[–] joi2049 (5488) 3 years ago

Yes you're right and I was wrong to assume that his face MORPHS into that of the MYSTERY MAN when it's also NOT clear what happens to it -- due to the way that we CUT AWAY BACK to seeing the WHITE LINES passing by again on the LOST HIGHWAY.

Anyhow, that's what I'd have done if I were the director is have his face MORPH into that of the MYSTERY MAN.

But LYNCH is much more SUBTLE and AMBIGUOUS as a director, and he would probably also NEVER do anything to SPOON FEED you, or do something that would help a VIEWER to easily figure out what's going on in one of his AVANT GARDE stories.

So for that reason the MYSTERY MAN still remains a MYSTERY.

[–] Drooch (5333) 3 years ago

Indeed, there’d be no ‘room to dream’

[–] Seperatrix (1089) 3 years ago

The first few times I watched the film I assumed that he was, as you put it, "transitioning" to a new persona. Then I read how others interpreted the moment as a reckoning in the electric chair.

Then I thought -- why not both? Perhaps he is trying to escape reality up to the very last moment of his life.

[–] Drooch (5333) 3 years ago

Yep, very plausible.

[–] TheMan18 (12534) 3 years ago

2 joi and a few others, its also worth noting that his facial changes in the final scene are a nod to that lady singer in the radiator in Lynch's film debut "Eraserhead" (1977).

[–] joi2049 (5488) 3 years ago

Are you suggesting that his JAWS are full of those same little sperm like creatures that the woman in the radiator was STEPPING on and SMASHING while she performs ON STAGE???

And are you also suggesting that maybe he kills his wife in "LOST HWY" because she was pregnant and he was afraid of becoming a parent like the one that HENRY became in "ERASERHEAD???"

Has anyone seen the other FRENCH FILM where it also copies the way that "LOST HIGHWAY" had someone else make a video of the outside of the couples home and send it to them???

Caché (film) - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caché_(film)

Caché , also known as Hidden (UK), is a 2005 psychological thriller film written and directed by Michael Haneke and starring Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche. The plot follows an upper-middle-class French couple, Georges (Auteuil) and Anne (Binoche), who are terrorised by anonymous tapes that appear on their front porch and seem to show the family is under surveillance

Later on LYNCH also creates ROOM 47 (where the RABBITS live in "INLAND EMPIRE") as a shout out to the ROOM or apt # 047 that we find in "CACHE."

And others also say that the DISEMBODIED HEAD of HENRY FLOATING around in SPACE at the start of "ERASERHEAD" is also a SHOUT OUT to the SPACE BABY that we see FLOATING around in SPACE at the end of Kubrick's "2001" film.

[–] Drooch (5333) 3 years ago

Fred kills his wife out of a jealous rage, there’s no evidence to suggest that it’s because she’s pregnant, nor that she’s even pregnant at all.

Fred’s pulsing, bursting head at the end has nothing to do with Ms mutant-cheeks in Eraserhead.

Is there any evidence to suggest that Henry’s floating head is a ‘shout out’ to the star child of 2001 or is that just a baseless assertion by some internet randoms?

[–] joi2049 (5488) 3 years ago

Maybe there's no evidence that what TheMan says is so, but, imo, it's still an interesting idea anyhow.

The idea with HENRY's head floating in SPACE is how Kubrick's SPACE BABY was viewed by some as bringing HOPE that humans would BENEFIT in some way by his presence.

But obviously SOCIETY has NOT benefited in any way in the story that LYNCH tells us where Henry walks among the FACTORY POLLUTION and they eat MECHANICAL CHICKENS for dinner (because apparently REAL chickens don't exist anymore due to the factory pollution).

Plus there's that other Diseased looking MAN in the PLANET who pulls on the levers who also looks like he's the father of that MUTANT baby that also looks like it has the same disease.

So that's why "ERASERHEAD" is kind of a SHOUT OUT back at 2001 because of how it's kind of suggesting that we haven't benefited from whatever others assumed that SPACE BABY was going to do for us that would benefit us in some way.

Of course you're also free to reject that idea too, but I also like that interpretation as well.

🙃

[–] Seperatrix (1089) 3 years ago

"And others also say that the DISEMBODIED HEAD of HENRY FLOATING around in SPACE at the start of "ERASERHEAD" is also a SHOUT OUT to the SPACE BABY that we see FLOATING around in SPACE at the end of Kubrick's "2001" film."

I'm guessing that Lynch had something in mind with Henry's floating head other than as homage to Kubrick's space child in 2001. Simply because Kubrick had no specific meaning for the scene other than Dr Bowman "transformed into some kind of super being and sent back to Earth, transformed and made into some sort of superman . . " Adding, "“We have to only guess what happens when he goes back. It is the pattern of a great deal of mythology, and that is what we were trying to suggest.”

Here I am, talking about Eraserhead and 2001 on a Lost Highway board.

See what Lost Highway will do to you? I love this film.

[–] joi2049 (5488) 3 years ago

Kubrick had no specific meaning for the scene other than Dr Bowman "transformed into some kind of super being

Homage implies some kind of respect or reverence is being paid or rendered to something, but that's NOT what LYNCH is doing in "ERASERHEAD," where he portrays the HORRIFIC effects of the FACTORY INDUSTRY (the same way as he later portrays the HORRIFIC effects that the MOVIE INDUSTRY can have on a person in MULHOLLAND DR. and in INLAND EMPIRE).

And YES LYNCH also admits in an interview he did that MD and IE were about the FILM INDUSTRY.

And we also see the MAN in the PLANET pulling the LEVERS that seem to CONTROL the life of HENRY somehow (which also implies there's possibly also a SCI FI element involved in the "ERASERHEAD" story).

Anyhow, "ERASERHEAD" is a much more PESSIMISTIC view of life than what KUBRICK portrays. And that's what one means by a SHOUT OUT that LYNCH was kind of presenting us with a MUCH LESS OPTIMISTIC VISION of what our lives are like than KUBRICK suggests its like by presenting us with that SPACE BABY that viewers like to assume is some kind of CREATURE who comes to assists us in some way.

But when you also consider how the appearance of the MONOLITH also corresponds to the violence of the APES (who picks up the bone and uses it as a weapon), and it also seems connected with the other COLD WAR situation where FLOYD discusses and LIES to the RUSSIANS before meeting with the AMERICANS and also threatening them and forcing them to sign NON DISCLOSURE agreements, then why should anyone think that the arrival of the SPACE BABY is going to result in anything GOOD happening???

Anyhow, since "LOST HWY" isn't about the FILM INDUSTRY, I'm also not sure how that story fits in with "ERASERHEAD" or with "MD and IE." It might be about the effects of the PORN INDUSTRY, but that's also not made as evident to us by what we see happening in "MD and in IE." Or by what takes place in "ERASERHEAD," which is also a NEGATIVE critique of the FACTORY INDUSTRY where they turn HENRY's DISEMBODIED HEAD (that also gets replaced by that other CREEPY BABY) into a bunch of ERASERS for the tops of PENCILS.

Anyway, both BOWMAN and HENRY are transformed in both films. And neither one of their transformations might be a GOOD thing that's happened to them (anymore than the transformation of the "Lost HWY" character seems to be a good thing that's happening to him at the end of that film).

On a dark desert highway
Cool wind in my hair ...

And in the master's chambers
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives
But they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember
I was running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before

"Relax," said the night man
"We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave"

~Hotel California
by Eagles

✏✏✏✏✏✏ (rows of Factory produced "ERASERHEAD" pencils)

💡

🎥

[–] Seperatrix (1089) 3 years ago

"Anyway, both BOWMAN and HENRY are transformed in both films. And neither one of their transformations might be a GOOD thing that's happened ..."

Well my quote was from the lips of Kubrick himself. Again, he said Bowman was " . . transformed and made into some sort of superman . . "

Which we typically would think of as positive.

Now, Henry I don't know about. Fred is not a positive transformation that I can imagine.

And yes, i'd agree that Inland Empire and Mulholland Drive were films about making films and the film industry itself.

Nice to see you still hanging around xxpo.

[–] joi2049 (5488) 3 years ago

Are you familiar with Sci Fi films? In "FORBIDDEN PLANET" a character who becomes what you might call a SUPERMAN (due to the way his INTELLIGENCE is increased exponentially) also becomes a serial killing MONSTER (due to the way that the ID part of his personality is also INCREASED at the same time as his intelligence).

In "FARSCAPE" the same kind of a thing happens when another character is SPLIT UP into 3 parts: a PRIMITIVE part, normal part, and an ADVANCED PART. And it's the ADVANCED part or the SUPERMAN part of him that's the MOST EVIL.

And since "FORBIDDEN PLANET" was also made back in the 50's, this EVIL SUPERMAN theme has also been around before Kubrick made 2001 in the late 60's. So by saying """"“We have to only guess what happens when he goes back,""" that also includes the assumption that what happens wouldn't be a GOOD THING (especially after how we've also seen the APES getting violent after their encounter with that MONOLITH and how FLOYD also threatens his own people if they tell anyone else about it).

So I also disagree with what you say about how we consider SUPERMEN to be a positive thing (except for maybe in COMIC BOOK stories written for children which, imo, are more like FAIRY TALES rather than PHILOSOPHICAL explorations of the matter at hand).

In "THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA," Nietzsche also warns us about how APE is to MAN, MAN shall also be to the OVERMAN or the SUPERMAN. In other words, SUPER HUMANS would also consider HUMANS to be as inferior to them as the APES are to MAN. And that's definitely a NEGATIVE point of view for HUMANKIND to encounter and have to deal with.

Also wish I could say that it's nice to see you again Seperatrix, but can't recall that we've ever met before. Did you use to have another different posting name or something? If so, what was it??? Which message board(s) would it be where we have previously met ??? Did you use to hang out at the MD or IE boards??? You can also PM me to tell me what you other name use to be if you'd rather not mention it publicly.

🐇🐇🐇