What Lies Under the Silver Lake? (Part 1) Looking at Sam

       WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS!!! 

       Under the Silver Lake is a 2018 Mystery/Noir written and directed by David Robert Mitchell. This has been a film that has been heavily polarized, followed by a very short theatrical release, then followed by a transition to Amazon Prime shortly after.

The first time I saw the film, it left me empty and confused. It engaged me for most of the film's 2 hour and 20 minute run time, until its resolution which left me wondering what was the point of it all. I let the film sit with me for a while and it became one of those movies I ended up thinking about with no control over its impact it had on me. I eventually re-watched it a second time, and the film manifested a whole new meaning for me, followed by a new found appreciation for it. So what I want to briefly discuss is what I believe truly lies under....the Silver Lake.

        Under the Silver Lake introduces us to the main protagonist Sam, (Andrew Garfield) a 33 year old slacker that falls for a woman living in his same apartment complex named Sarah (Riley Keough). They share one brief night that nearly leads to something, until the next day when Sarah completely disappears. Sam goes on a extensive quest to find her as the film becomes a very bizarre and surreal noir mystery in Los Angeles, California.

            One of the first things to understand about the film is that it's full of details. Some details are flat-out blatant, and others are in very different places. The beauty and enjoyment of the film is to know which details actually matter and which ones don't matter at all. This is the strategy of the film that I didn't catch on my first viewing. My first watch had me in the mindset that I knew everything that was going on as the film went on. My interest was glued into the obvious details clearly giving answers of Sarah's disappearance, only for the film to tell me "You're not as smart as you think you are, watch the film again".

1. Stay Quiet

 
     When Sam enters Sarah's now-empty apartment, he sees the double-diamond symbol on the wall which means "Stay Quiet".  He goes to who can be only named the "Comic Man" (Patrick Fischler) who interprets the and numerous other symbols that were used for homeless people years ago to communicate during The Great Depression (Note that in 2011 which this film takes place in, there was an economic recession in the US. I'm not sure how deep that parallel goes but I thought it was worth bringing up).

      How this connects with Sam is the question that has been lingering in my mind for some time. Around the film's first act, we learn that Sam hasn't been paying his rent. Throughout his entire trek for Sarah, he still hasn't paid his rent and has been given fewer and fewer days to do so or he's going to be kicked out of his apartment. Slowly and surely this seems to be more and more apparent. First, his car is towed because he's unable to make the payments, and then there are also several homeless people that either pass him or he briefly encounters.

Lastly there's the Homeless King who he encounters and takes him where he wants to go, and at the end of the film, demands the answers why dog biscuits are lingering in Sam's pockets (we'll get to that later).  By the end of the film, which also marks the final day he was supposed to pay his rent, the "Keep Quiet" when he is in another apartment with the older woman with the birds.

     Before I go further, it's not fully clear, but Sam states that he thought he was going to be something important and feels like he messed up at certain points in his life. He's was most likely a has-been of some sort and whatever life he had earlier, it was much better than what he currently has. It seems like he was destined to be homeless no matter what. His original life is gone and he seems to still be fighting for relevance and purpose but his impending eventuality cannot be escaped from. And he hasn't fully accepted that whatever purposeful path he had, is gone completely. It's only until the end that he seems to understand this and realizes after everything he pursued throughout the film wasn't even worth it and that he's better off homeless and at the very least, free from constraints that he fighting to keep at the expense of dissatisfaction in his life.

Note: He also talks about how much he hates the homeless and thinks they're not good people. He doesn't realize he's becoming the very thing he detests.

2. I Can See Clearly Now and the "Dog Killer"
Another element of the film involves Sam's ex-girlfriend on the billboard (left image) and the legend of the "Dog Killer". This was a very frustrating mystery of the film to solve but it becomes clearer and clearer over time. The Dog Killer is considered apparently a big problem in California as this Dog Killer is heavily responsible for the killing of dogs.

    Sam reads a comic book written by the Comic Man that he visits after Sarah's disappearance. The comic is titled the same as the film. He reads about the failed actor that blamed his failings on dogs, taking out his frustration on dogs by simply killing them saying "No one will be happy until at the dogs are dead".


       

  As I mentioned in the previous section, Sam claimed that he used to be something important in life when discussing it with a friend of his. We learn that he's just a slacker that lives in a apartment he's eventually going to get kicked out of. Another element of the film aside from the dog killer aspect is that he projects the sound of barking onto several woman. One is Sarah, the other is some ugly distorted version of Sarah as it seems, the other is a group of woman in the bathroom just wildly barking at him while he's on the floor after getting kicked in the groin.

With these three strange encounters barking humans what exactly does this mean? How does the Dog Killer connect to Sam and his ex-girlfriend?

 Sam tells Sarah when they first meet and he gives her dog a treat that he had a dog once that recently

died. We also learn that Sam was bitten by a dog when he was a child. The important detail that we learn at the end of the film is that had an ex-girlfriend that he hoped he would get back through the dog.

Could these encounters mean that he's projecting his past failed relationship onto his ex? As we see he sleeps with any woman he can find on the daily. As he blames his ex, he covers this failing by lustfully pursing other woman he encounters.

This could also be subconsciously what he wants to avoid is a failed relationship since Sarah herself has a dog as well. He doesn't want it to end the same way it did with his ex. The element of the Dog Killer ties to the film.

3. The Coyote 
Another key element in this film is the presence of a coyote that is around trash cans a couple of times. As the Hobo King guides Sam to his next part of his investigation, he points out a coyote they come across. Sam asks if it will hurt him and the Hobo King responds that he should follow it instead of running away.

Now a coyote symbolizes several things. One meaning in particular is revealing the truth behind the illusion or chaos. When one crosses a coyote in his/her path, that would mean that there's no need to keep worrying and that a new beginning awaits you.

Sam does follow a coyote that happens to be at his apartment complex and it leads to yet another party. This one has his ex-girlfriend involved and she has a new fiance. They have what seems to be a civil exchange despite how much has changed between them.

I interpret this as the coyote leading Sam to the reality that there's no going back to his previous relationship. The one that he most likely held onto for longer than he needed. She seems happier and more at peace, realizing there's not a future with him and the harsh reality is that there's no future with her. It also notes that a coyote is a type of canine so even though the element of the "Dog Killer" lingers in play, the coyote shows that a new and different path awaits Sam.

4. Smells Like Skunk
When Sam's booty call (Riki Lindhome) visits him after a role she
asks "What's that smell?".

This is a reoccurring part of the film and it's probably the most apparent part of the film. Every women Sam encounters wonders about his "smell". One woman says it smells like skunk.  He responds that skunks are common in LA. Even the Hobo King says that he doesn't have a good smell on him.

One interpretation is that the skunk represents his infidelity and that he pretty much reeks of it. The moment (seen above) where the skunk walks next to him confirms the degree of his infidelity. But one thing that stood out to me was when Riki Lindhome's character lends him loads of tomato juice in the bathroom and tells him after their conversation that he smells very bad. She also adds that she'll be back when the smell goes away. She doesn't ever return though but that's for the next part since she is strictly "The Actress" in this film.

This stood out to me because it tells me that Sam might've possibly had a chance to have a relationship with her but because he has such a lustful sexualization of women, that the smell of his sins drive ones that truly care about him away. I may be looking too deep into this but it's a part of the film that's been on my mind.

5. The Paranoid Protagonist

Sam has been known to have a massive obsession with codes and believing in conspiracy theories. He believes that there are things that more important people know that they hide from the lesser important. He's known by many fans of the film as very paranoid. He tells the Topher Grace character that he feels he's being followed.  The Topher Grace character tells him that's the "Modern Persecution Complex".

The Modern Persecution Complex is a real thing. It simply means that you believe that someone is constantly after you. After the 1950's during the Cold War, psychologist Brooke Cannon recorded that the patients believing they were followed increased five times the rate than normal.

Another study by psychiatrist Borut Skodlar (bottom left image) and his researches concluded that "Demons, ghosts and witches as sources of influence and persecution were replaced by radio waves, television and computers,". Topher Grace's character says this

same thing only wording it differently by saying "Who needs witches and werewolves when we have computers?"

What does any of this have to do with Sam? Sam is under the impression that 's being targeted, and he also believes that important people know things. This is also incorporated by his believing to decipher codes and find hidden meanings. Is he trying to rediscover his meaning in life? Is he trying to find answers that aren't there and believes something/someone is trying to rob him of his journey for answers of himself away? It's a pretty vague element of the film but I believe Sam is narcissistic enough to think that he's able to find the answers to what went wrong in his life by resorting to deciphering complicated codes when the answer is much more simpler but he denies the more harsher and face-value truth. He uses his deciphering
to find out where Sarah is, and it leads to only seeing her one more time before he never sees her again. But instead to confess to the Hobo King that he can't let go of his past and that he hoped his ex-girlfriend would go back to him.



6. In Conclusion

        By the end of the film, Sam learns that Sarah is in her tomb and that he's never going to see her again. His entire journey led to no real answers and at the very end of the film after he confesses his true internal struggle, he goes home and accepts that there is no real depth or meaning except what we create. Going back to his "smell", when he has an affair with the older woman in his apartment complex she asks if he's wearing a certain fragrance called "patchouli". He tells her "no". This type of plant can be a fragrance, an antiseptic, or an oil. It can cure depression, it has a naturally sweet smell, and it can heal certain types of wounds. After confessing to the Hobo King of his mental dilemma, it seems as if he's  finally let go and has been taking steps to being true to himself. His infidelity seems to be gone and despite being homeless, he in my opinion, has a chance to start a new path, even if it starts with him living on the streets.

This is Part 1 of my thoughts on the film. If you have anything you want to add, leave a comment and follow my FB page!