TheLimeyConnection


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The Limey (1999), directed by Steven Soderbergh, shares parallels with Mulholland Dr.

Both films tread in dreamily fragmented territory. In The Limey, cuts back and forth from Terence Stamp on an aeroplane make it unclear whether he is shown travelling to Los Angeles imagining what may happen when he gets there, travelling back from Los Angeles remembering what did happen, or a combination of both. Unconventional editing from Soderbergh allows conversations to travel over time and locations, perhaps clueing us in to a story not entirely told in a ‘real’ objective frame.

Melissa George plays Jennifer Wilson, a young actress who has travelled from England to Los Angeles to try to make her name as an actress. Melissa George, you will note, plays the blonde version of Camilla Rhodes in Mulholland Dr. One notable connection is the black and white head-shot photographs used by Lynch and Soderbergh in their films. Particularly the early photo used by Lynch in the rough cut pilot bears a resemblance to that used in The Limey:

Scene from "The Limey"

Scene from MD Pilot

Melissa George photograph in "The Limey"

Melissa George photograph in MD Pilot

Additionally, Melissa’s character in The Limey is murdered, the body placed in a car and burnt-out to make it look like a car accident:

"Maybe there’s something about it in the papers…"

Shooting on The Limey commenced months before shooting on the Mulholland Drive TV pilot did. However, the pilot was in the can before The Limey was released, so it’s difficult to know exactly how either one would have had a good look at the other’s work to reference it in this way. It’s quite possible that the two directors shared notes, saw some interesting parallels in each other's project and perhaps decided to reference each other’s composition.


More possible connections:

The Limey (1999)

Mulholland Dr. (2001)

Both Betty and Wilson are introduced arriving at LAX:


It's sure nice to have someone to talk to on the plane... 


Wilson and Adam are seen dressed in black and driving similar looking silver cars:


Wilson and Adam enter a location ending up in a fight. Both wind up lying on the floor bleeding, with their assailants looming over them. Note the similar vest tops:


Both attend a dinner party with a huge modern art painting visible in the backdrop when they walk outside:


Impressive swimming pools outside:


Black and white sedans crashing on Mulholland Dr.:


Two power figures with blue lamp-shades in the background: