MovieChat Forums > Lost Highway (1997) Discussion > What's the deal with those snuff videos?

What's the deal with those snuff videos?

posted 4 years ago by TheMan18 (13055)
5 replies | jump to latest

Especially in the scene where Mystery Man shows to the dying Dick Laurent on his portable TV (apparently, the device is meant to be somewhat supernatural cause I doubt those 90s portable TVs could record and playback those images like that, right?) and we then have those weird snuff porn videos featuring Marilyn Manson looking creepy as hell (and who even IS Marilyn Manson supposed to be here, besides a porn star of course, was he meant to be a man or who, and also why and by whom does he get killed, is it even meant to be for real or?) and blood being featured among sexual imagery, and then Dick Laurent sexually fondles Patricia Arquette's character, well, what is that even all about and what REALLY happens here, and even if it is another one of the crazy imaginations of Fred's character, well, is it meant to imply and suggest that besides being a gangster, Dick Laurent is also in charge of some kind of illegal snuff film underground criminal porn ring or something not too dissimilar topic wise perhaps from Dino Velvet in "8MM" (1999) with Nicolas Cage two years later?

Thanks.

[–] christomacin (4660) 4 years ago

Well, Pullman's wife played by Patricia Arquette worked in the porn industry, so this is just an even more extreme end of that whole scene.

[–] TheMan18 (13055) 4 years ago

In some ways, the film is also a surreally dark satire of the porn industry.

[–] DickusBiggus (220) 7 months ago

The wife has nothing to do with porn and very probably Dick Laurent has nothing to do with the Mafia everything is the subconscious of Bill Pullman who recently killed his wife out of jealousy so he created this series of fantasy scenario where his wife is still alive and in one was forced to have sex with Laurent and Laurent is this dark individual, but that fantasy is instable because has nothing to do with reality is wife wasn't forced to cheat on him, she sleeps with Lauren because she wanted, so he starts seeing her as a cold-hearted nympho who is a porn actress.

The entire movie is an instable fantasy that is constantly changing a fantasy he created to forget or justify the fact he killed his wife the entire movie take place in his mind during a mental breakdown provoke by guilt and regret for what he has done and all happens during the first seconds at the beginning when he is driving running away from the police who are chasing him, there came the name of the movie Lost Highway

He first imagine himself as nothing has happened with his wife alive remembering the last days with her but the fantasy break she ends up being killed even in his fantasy, then a new fantasy emerged he is now young, is not impotent anymore and can have sex all the time with two different women, has liberals and loving parents, is more free the kind of man his wife could love, but that fantasy also breaks his wife start to reject him and Lauren enters in so he imagines Lauren as a mobster and his wife as an unwilling victim, but that scenario also breaks, and his wife is a porn actress and everything is a twisted plot of snuff films and drug dealers.

Some people think in reality he also killed Lauren, but I don't, I think he only killed his wife and dint have chance to kill Lauren

The dark man has a double function is a representation of reality breaking the illusion and the dark side of Bill Pullman his constant anger, he breaks and enable the illusion of Bill Pullman

[–] Melton (4731) 7 months ago

Interesting. I always thought that the initial Fred segment was essentially reality (albeit abstracted by Fred’s worsening jealousy) but you’re suggesting that the first half is also inside Fred’s mind as some kind of deranged memory..?

[–] Seperatrix (1241) 2 years ago

IF the film is a subconscious rendering of Fred's psyche it could just reflect his worst fears, suspicions and accusations toward his wife.