In this post we continue with Lynch's 6th clue (of 10) to interpreting the movie: Notice the robe, the ashtray, the coffee cup.
We went over the significance of the 'piano' ashtray in part 16 of the analysis. Shown at left is a different ashtray, the one near Diane's phone. In parts 6 and 9 of the analysis, we discussed the fact that the cigarettes in this ashtray appear to be the same kind the hit man smokes, and thus, their presence indicates that he and Diane had already discussed the possibility of doing a hit on Camilla prior to the party at Adam's house. It was also mentioned (in part 6) that the man with the yellow phone (the hairy-armed man) appeared to be calling the phone shown here, from inside the same building as that in which his own phone is located. I think what's going on is that the phone and ashtray shown here are in a room in some sort of 'sleazy' hotel or rooming house, out of which Diane plies her trade as a call-girl. Normally, when the hairy-armed man calls it is to let her know to meet with a given client who is requesting her services; but in this instance, he's calling to let her know to go to the audition Adam is staging (as discussed in part 9).When Diane later dreams of Adam being in a sleazy hotel room, the room he's in is probably Diane's dream-representation of her own room as shown here. As mentioned earlier, Diane's dream of bad things happening to Adam is a form of dream-revenge for his not giving her the role she desired, and for his apparent 'romantic involvement' with Camilla, which causes Diane to be jealous, since she's in love with Adam.
We went over the significance of Diane's pink and white robes in part 16. In the screencap at left, Rita is shown wearing a robe that is somewhat more 'regal'-looking than Betty's simple pink robe. The idea here is that the part of Diane that Betty represents (her persona), sees Rita as a 'movie queen' of sorts. Since this is what Diane herself desires to be, and since Rita represents Diane's subconscious (in addition to representing Camilla), the fact that Rita's wearing this robe here not only signifies Diane's desire to be a famous actress, but it also tells us something about the esteem in which Diane holds Camilla, insofar as status as an actress - she sees Camilla as being 'above' herself in this regard. In short, Diane sees Camilla as the actress she herself desires to be.
Above left: This man is one of Diane's clients, and he happens to see and recognize her at the Mulholland Drive party. This gives Diane a sickening feeling, especially since he's staring at her. Above right: Diane's coffee cup at the party: notice what appears to be foam floating on top of the liquid.
Left: Having seen the client at the party, along with the sickening feeling and the sight of the foam, combine in Diane's dream to yield the 'espresso man', Luigi Castigliane, who becomes nauseous and spits out his drink at the meeting with Adam and the others. What's probably the case is that the man is, in real life, not only one of Diane's clients, but he's also someone in the movie business. Perhaps this is true of most or all of Diane's clients - they are men who are involved in making movies, probably ones which are non-mainstream.
