Today on The Following Films Podcast, I’m joined by cinematographer Martin Ruhe. Martin’s latest film, The Amateur, is a tense, grounded thriller, and we spend a lot of time talking about how he helped shape its unique look and feel. We also get into his earlier work, like the beautifully shot Control, and how his collaborations with George Clooney kicked off with The American and later continued with The Tender Bar. It was a real pleasure hearing Martin break down his process, how he approaches working with directors, and how he keeps pushing himself creatively from project to project.
David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive remains one of the most haunting and enigmatic films ever made. It operates like a riddle that refuses to be solved, luring the viewer into a world where time, memory, and identity dissolve into one another. What begins as a mysterious, almost whimsical Hollywood fairy tale gradually transforms into a psychological nightmare. By the end, it’s clear that what we’ve been watching is not a mystery to be unraveled but an emotional landscape, the mind of a woman caught between fantasy and despair. The film tells the story of two women, Betty Elms and Rita, whose lives intertwine after Rita survives a car crash and loses her memory. Betty, a bright and optimistic aspiring actress freshly arrived in Los Angeles, takes her in. Together, they embark on an investigation into Rita’s identity, which unfolds like a noir detective story bathed in dreamlike light. Everything about this world feels heightened: Betty’s charm, the coincidence of events, and the ease with w...

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