Lost Highway may be the first film I saw that could be considered to cross the boundary of both independent and avant-garde. I remember the first viewing from a tape rented from Hollywood Video I found myself both confused, and bored in equal measure. I guess I was not quite ready for what Mr. Lynch had to offer, I did, however, like the “Perfect Drug” video that he had directed for Nine Inch Nails at the same time (and for the soundtrack), but I digress. It would be another 5-6 years before I gave the film another chance, and it finally would click with me.

The film stars Bill Pullman as Fred Madison, a saxophone player, who ends up in an odd situation with video tapes being left in front of his house… of his house. Eventually Fred finds himself accused, convicted, and imprisoned of his wife Renee’s (Patricia Arquette) murder. While on death row, Fred falls ill, and out of nowhere finds himself replaced physically by Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty). Not knowing what to do about the situation, Pete is released from prison, but is followed by police detectives. Pete attempts to go back to his old life, but nothing is able to go back to how it was, and Fred’s world weaves through as well.

David Lynch always had a way with narrative from his earliest short films and his debut Eraserhead, but even films like Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks – Fire Walk with Me, had some grounding in narrative sensibilities. Lost Highway is the first film where he seems to begin to eschew traditional narrative in lieu of leaving visual breadcrumbs for the audience to put a complete picture together with. It is a breathtaking, bizarre, and occasionally disturbing experience.

Criterion presents the 4K in a splendid 2160p presentation with HDR that really brings this film to life. Colors pop where applicable, and black levels are nice, inky, and deep. Audio is presented with a DTS-HD 5.1 track that sounds quite solid as well as an LPCM 2.0 track both are crisp and clear. Extras on the Blu-ray include a documentary on Lynch by Toby Keeler, an interview, a making of, a trailer, an audio reading from Next Door to Dark, and more. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.