Critique by

Thomas Messias
from Toujours Raison

ROAD TO NOWHERE by Monte Hellman

Released 13 April 2011 - Duration : 2hours01min

2011 / Drama / USA

Thomas Messias (Author) Readers (1 vote)

9 /10 9 /10

The release of Road to Nowhere is the origin of a new phenomenon: it is undoubtedly the first
time we can talk about a Lynchian movie without the comparison inevitably turning in favor of
the adjective filmmaker. The latest film by Monte Hellman, returning from the damned when we
had all but given up waiting, sounds like a cousin of Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks: Fire
Walk with Me, re-orchestrating moods and themes that are believed to be reserved to the great
Lynch. Make no mistake: if this film can be described as a mental puzzle, it does not wallow in
the weird or unhealthy, but only flourishes in a rich and stimulating setting of abyss.

Road to Nowhere is impossible to summarize adequately, except perhaps by more structured

analysts. Beginning with a news story based on disappearance (s) / suicide (s) and a hundred
million dollars, it is soon taken over by a filmmaker looking to make a potential masterpiece
under the watchful eye of a certain blogger having a special interest in the matter ... Soon the
worlds will cross, intersect, all centered around the mysterious Velma Duran, disturbing heroine
of the original story, and her interpreter on the screen, an aspiring actress with a crazy
magnetism. The complexity of the ensemble is undeniable, but the scenario is designed less as a
puzzle to solve than a psychic journey into the world of cinema and desire. "If it all made sense,
it wouldn’t interest me," says the director of the film in the film (who also shares the same
initials as Monte Hellman). Because that's the beauty of this art before us, to create the best
question marks, and shine upon them a thousand lights. Road to nowhere employs this brilliantly
for over two hours.

The film makes cinema a sacrifice more than a priesthood, and makes every shot a real struggle,
both artistic and personal. His project has largely convinced producers and actors, all believing
they’re participating in a masterpiece by the filmmaker Mitchell Haven, and leaves no room for
error ... even though filmmaking is not an exact science. And when desire felt for his actress
coincides with the one he feels for her as a woman, perceptions are biased and nothing is the
same. Especially since the spectrum of the case, Velma Duran, is still present and more insistent
as the case was never resolved (if there even was a case). This disorder then Hellman puts in a
box with a hair-raising control, his staging simple enough to always stay close to the action and
the protagonists. One can legitimately get lost in some of the mazes of the script, but the film
never gives the impression of leaving the spectator abandoned. This is what makes the difference
with many other works of sham filmmakers.

Full as an egg, Road to nowhere gives the impression of being only the short version of a
massive work, and makes us in any case want to expand our vision to grasp a little better the
workings of this sensory, exhilarating and lived story. It must be said that with the too rare
Shannyn Sossamon at its head, Hellman could not find a more luminous and enigmatic
performer. Beautiful to die for, she makes her characters (Velma Duran and actress Laurel
Graham) a contemporary Laura Palmer, human Pandora's box about which we dream of piercing
the mysteries. Not so inaccessible (but received with great caution), Road to nowhere certainly
differs from what Monte Hellman has been able to present until now, but it is purely and simply
the most beautiful cinema offering given to us to watch this year.