The analysis of "Lost Highway" as a moebius strip can be taken quite
literally.
The film contains irresolvable ambiguities concerning the linear,
temporal ordering of events: the events in Fred?s recounted dream early
in the film are repeated (as non-dream events) later in the film; and
Fred?s visions in his prison cell, of an the exploding cabin from which
the mystery man appears and disappears, are repeated towards he end of
the film, although they are not coded as Fred?s visions. But how can
Fred?s dreams and visions so accurately predict forthcoming events ?
unless those events have already happened? This suggests that the
narrative of "Lost Highway" is literally organized like a moebius
strip, rather than linearly. If this is the case, then the scene in
Fred?s prison cell represents the twist in the moebius strip, the twist
where the topside is transferred to the underside. The film's opening
and closing scenes are the moments where the two edges of the moebius
strip are connected together (a moebious strip is a simple strip that
has been twisted before being joined together), with Fred represented
outside his house on one side, and inside the house on the other side.
Moreover, to travel around the entire length of the moebius strip, one
needs to go around it twice ? first on one side (from the intercom
message to Fred?s transformation in his cell), then on the other side
(from Pete being released from prison to his transformation back into
Fred), before we are returned to the moment where the two sides are
joined (Fred conveying the intercom message to himself).
Warren Buckland
Editor, New Review of Film and Television Studies:
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/17400309.asp
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