‘Lost Highway’ is one of the darkest movie of David Lynch. Like any of his movies, the plot is opened to personal theories and it is enriched in scenes with a hidden meanings. One of the most complex aspect of the movie is the sudden metamorphosis of the main character, Fred. In One moment the main character is in a cell and, a scene later, he is a complete new character, and this last for the next half of the movie.
I will try to give my personal theory regarding this topic, so of course will be heavy SPOILERS.
The metamorphosis scene is fast, chaotic and disturbing, both for the main character and for the viewer. Quick and grotesque images build the path to what will happen next. The main character, a middle aged musician accused of the murder of his wife, is there in the cell, and, after these scenes, a young car mechanic called Peter is now in his place.
The metamorphosis scene is a disturbing succession of several small sequences. Let’s analyse them one by one to have an idea of what is happening.
- The blue light: before everything, the light will start to blink and turn blue.
- the lost highway: a car is moving fast in the night. The metamorphosis already started.
- In one moment, the figure of Peter will be standing in the corner, surrounded by darkness. The perfect match for the metamorphosis is found.
- The change of Peter. Meanwhile, Peter is with his family and his girlfriend, watching a blue light like if was hypnotised. Everybody is trying to stop him, but he is walking toward the light, like a moth in the night. The metamorphosis is like a bond and the two character are now getting connected.
- The eyes of Peter are fusing with the blue light, staring at Fred in his cell. Peter is actively fusing with Fred, his eyes are watching inside is mind.
- The pain. Fred is rolling in pain, with blood on his face, screaming in sufferance. The metamorphosis is a terrible process for the body, a strong and unforgiving experience.
- The hole. The scene ends with an out of focus close shot of an open wound, probably in the head of Fred. The camera will move inside the hole, symbolising the fusion of Peter and Fred, both in body and mind.
The metamorphosis is gruesome and disturbing, a process of intense pain for the body, which will lost its own identity. But it could be even worse! According to the original script the process would be even more gruesome and disgusting, leaving Fred face as “blank, white mass with eye sockets”.
Here the complete scene from the original screenplay.
INT. PRISON - FRED'S CELL - NIGHT
Fred is still curled on the floor, but spasms begin to rock
his body. He goes into convulsions, blood gushes from his
nostrils. His head is badly swollen. Fred vomits repeatedly,
and drags around in his mess. Fred turns, straining upwards
as we've seen him do before. His face and head are hideously
deformed.
Fred brings his shaking, tortured hand to his forehead. He
pulls his hand down across his face squeezing it as it goes.
As his hand passes over his face, Fred's features are removed
leaving a blank, white mass with eye sockets.
We move into the eye sockets and beyond.
What is the meaning of the metamorphosis in Lost Highway?
The metamorphosis is a process that brings to a total change of an individual. Sometimes the metamorphosis is necessary to evolve or to become better. A worm that becomes a butterfly is a new reborn individual, now able to fly instead to crawl on the ground. Other times a metamorphosis is the born and the acceptance of a new individual, an evolution toward a set of new behaviours and the developing of a better person.
Let’s now think of what is happening to Fred.
Fred was close to a breakdown caused by his morbid jealousy, which lead to the brutal homicide of his wife. He was imprisoned for a crime that his mind is not able to accept. Trapped in a confined space, he has no alternative than to face his own crime. But what Fred made is too strong to simply accept it. It is in this moment that his own mind is acting as a defence system, allowing him to avoid to face his crime. This escape mechanism is triggered by the solitude and by the trauma, creating a process such painful and violent.
The metamorphosis of the mind is affecting also the body, but all the process is guided by a perverse jealousy. This is quite evident since the images crossing the mind of Fred before the metamorphosis are the burning house (symbol of rage and passion) and the pale man (embodiment of jealousy). During the metamorphosis, the mind of Fred is travelling through several possibilities, represented by the dark road at night. Between all the multiple bodies and minds in which Fred could be morphed, the final choice is Peter. Why?
Peter is a young man, that do a job based on strength and hates music. He is the total opposite of Fred, and for this reason is a suitable candidate for the escaping metamorphosis. Since the process is anyway guided by the jealousy, the results are not what he was expecting.
The reality of Peter is also the total opposite of the one of Fred. Not only body, behaviour and mind are different, but also their reality. In this new world, Peter is the object of the desire of a woman with the same appearance of the wife of Fred. This time he is “the other”, the lover and the desire of the woman. In this reverse reality, like a joke of the destiny, he is also victim of the jealousy of another man, a dangerous criminal. The mind tried to protect him from the truth, but the joke of the destiny guided by the jealousy is bringing Fred to the other side of the mirror. This time as victim of jealousy. But I will describe more about the representation of the jealousy in a future article, when I will talk about the Pale Man.
At the end of the movie, another gross metamorphosis will take place. Also in this case Fred is trapped. He is followed by many police cars, accused again of terrible crimes. The police is behind him, no way to escape. The mind will try to protect him again by triggering another disturbing metamorphosis. Fred will morph in a deformedcreature, a swollen man without a precise identity going toward another painful metamorphosis. It is happening again.
When trapped at the limit, the mind will try to protect us, but at a high price.
Surreal and Creepy 
Really worthy to add Fred’s quote, definitively it is a key step to define the character. I personally didn’t catch the connection between the movie and OJ case, but you are totally right about it.
Digging the web I also found a direct quotation of Lynch about this in the book Catching the Big Fish:
“At the time Barry Gifford and I were writing the script for Lost Highway, I was sort of obsessed with the O.J. Simpson trial. Barry and I never talked about it this way, but I think the film is somehow related to that.”
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@ranarif thanks for your reply, I had never come across the Lynch quote, so to have that kind of validation of my theory (guess) is kinda satisfying. Generally Lynch doesn’t give too much away as he likes people to make their own interpretation, which for the viewer, of course, makes things so much more satisfying, the act of making your own sense of things rather than being told, it’s this, this and this. And David clearly realizes that.
Although I’m not a huge Deadhead or anything, it reminds me of Jerry Garcia’s guitar style. Jerry doesn’t take up all the sonic space when he plays, but leaves these wide gaps not only for his bandmates, but also for his audience to fill in the open space between the notes. That makes things more fun for everyone, ya know?
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I’m going to add one more thing here if I could. My take on David Lynch is that, sure other filmmakers may show you deeds, and sometimes those deeds are violent, or murderous, or crazy. And you know the old saw, like Jimmy Buffet says,
I was never ever frightened
By the murderer on our block
He nurtured orchids and raised hamsters
The neighborhood is still in shock
But David shows you the story from the inside, what it’s like on the dark side of the moon. And that’s totally different from anyone else in the film business. David makes it an experience, not just a performance. And that there, that’s genius.
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David Lynch is a master in portraying the hidden and unexpected darkness that erupts from everyday life. Fragments of nightmares appear suddenly in many of his movies, but I think with Twin Peaks he was really able to show this. A small town slowly sliding into a nightmare, where also the most normal person could have an evil side, a literal Doppelganger.
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>>Spoilers<<
Remember, Fred says, "I like to remember things my own way." So he is an escapist and his first metamorphosis is one more mental escape, one more way to deal with unpleasantness by running away. At the end of the film, there is no escape by running away and he is being electrocuted in the electric chair for his crime.
My personal feeling is that this is David Lynch's take on the OJ murders and how one might rationalize one's deeds by convincing one's self it never happened.
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