David Lynch is notorious for his idiosyncratic style of filmmaking and his newest venture, Inland Empire, might be his bravest attempt yet. Laura Dern stars in this three-hour experimental and plays three different characters. It is almost impossible to outline the plot, seeing that the plot line is very fragmented. When asked about the film, Lynch reportedly replied that it is “about a woman in trouble, and it’s a mystery, and that’s all I want to say about it”. Following his example, I will not say too much about the film myself – I will leave this to the viewer to discover and decide for himself/herself. I concede that this might be a cop-out on my part seeing as the film has left me very much perplexed, but I also believe we all attach different meanings to different symbols and that Lynch would welcome this of each of his viewers.
Be warned, this is not an easy film to watch. It is challenging, complex, puzzling (and not in a good way), dark and bewildering. All in all it is not an enjoyable experience, even though I am happy that I went to see it. This film was much rawer than The Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, and even though it might be more authentically Lynch, not even half as entertaining. From the start of the film, Lynch attacks and terrorises one’s senses. The beginning sounds are overwhelming, threatening, alien and alienating. It conjures up feelings of discomfort and, thereby, sets the tone for what is to follow.
The film was entirely shot in digital video and it is used to great effect. Especially in the scene wherein the weird woman visits Nikki Grace at her mansion home. The dogme-camera shots and the close-up shots of her face, together with the fish-eye-lens-feel, are unsettling and intrusive. The film is also very dark and grainy and aids to create a gritty, mysterious feel.
One can venture many interpretations of the film. It might be a critique on what cinema-goers expect of commercial films, or a critique on the Hollywood star system and celebrity cult-following, or about the gravity of one choice that might affect the rest of one’s life, or, or, or. This film generates countless ors. But there is especially one interpretation my husband ventured, which I find quite interesting. In the film there is a specific reference to how important information is in the filmmaking business and this idea seems to bleed into the whole work. David Lynch is a master manipulator and puppet master when it comes to giving information in this film. At times he bombards one with such long scenes of opaque dialogue, that one finds one’s mind wandering and struggling to pay equal attention to every bit of information that is uttered. Then bits of this information overlap in other scenes later on in the film, and even though it rings a bell, one cannot quite recall what was said about this exactly. And this merely adds to one’s confusion. The viewer gropes at parts of the film, desperately searching for something to hold on to or to unify the fragments provided. Lynch dangles the rope and the reader takes the bait, but then pulls the mat right under from one just the same. The human mind seeks coherence and order and needs enough information to fill in the gaps to make this gestalt. But one has to wonder: does Lynch indeed give one enough information to put everything together?
Because at other times, he withholds so much information from the viewer, and takes such giant leaps between scenes that it is extremely difficult to shape it into a unified whole. Lynch is the hypnotist referred to in the film and entices and entrances his viewers. One can sum up the film with a quote from Laura Dern’s character: “I can’t tell if it’s yesterday or tomorrow and it’s a real mind-fuck”. I will leave you with this comment my husband made about it: “Like most of David Lynch’s films, I am so happy to have seen it, and so relieved that it is over.”
Genre: Drama / Mystery
Running time: 172 min
Country: USA / Poland / France
Language: English / Polish
Director: David Lynch
Writing credits: David Lynch
Producers: David Lynch
Mary Sweeney
Jeremy Alter
Laura Dern
Marek Zydowicz
Cinematographer: Odd Geir Sæther
Editor: David Lynch
Music: David Lynch
Distributed by: StudioCanal
518 Media
ABSURDA
Main Cast:
Nikki Grace / Susan Blue – Laura Dern
Devon Berk / Billy Side – Justin Theroux
Kingsley Stewart – Jeremy Irons
Freddie Howard – Harry Dean Stanton
Doris Side – Julia Ormond
Visitor – Grace Zabriskie
