Inland Empire

Starring: Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux

Synopsis:

Nikki (Dern) is a married actress who ends up in bed with her co-star, but is it an affair or just acting? When the two start calling each other by their characters’ names, the faint line between fact and fiction gets even fuzzier in this mystery. Kingsley (Irons), the director of the film within the film does little to help the characters — or the audience — distinguish reality from fantasy.”

Inland Empire is a notoriously difficult film to review. It has the infamy of being one of Lynch’s most unusual works to the point that some critics have accused Lynch of playing a joke on the movie-watching public. I tend to believe that Lynch knew partly what he was setting out to make and, instead of structuring the narrative, he let the movie take its own course.

The film is best enjoyed without any form of overall analysis. To try and figure out the meaning of the story would be to fall into a mental cascade of confusion, unnecessarily. Unlike most films there is nothing in Inland Empire that can be solved. Mullholland Drive teased fans into this acceptance but Inland Empire requires it fully to manage the three-hour running time without frustration.

So, I will assume that anybody interested in a Blu-Ray copy of Inland Empire is more than likely familiar with this surreal and often obsessive film. It stands to reason that if you’re going to watch a three hour movie that clearly has this particular Director’s name on it, you’re going to have some idea what you’re in for.

I can only give an interpretation of what I think the film is about. I find it fun to muse over the content but recognise that I too should not fall into the trap of over-analysing it.

Throughout the years, Lynch has often used abstract or dreamlike imagery to get a point across. Even in the largely mainstream film, Dune, Lynch weaves the mystical abstract within the scenes depicting the taking of the water of life and the prescient abilities it gives the participant in the ceremony. Lynch clearly likes to subvert, from the halfway twisting of plot in Mulholland Drive to the naked inhibitions of the narrative in Inland Empire. The title is ambiguous in itself; does it represent a geographical location or does it refer to the map of human consciousness in which Laura Dern’s character Nikki wanders?

Lynch flirts with little in the way of conventional style, expanding on the mental trip that was Mulholland Drive . Yet the movie is 100% abstract. This means that the viewer will not walk away having felt like a “normal” film has been watched. That’s the beauty of Lynch’s movies, for me, the brain is engaged in a totally different way. It appears as a very personal film to Lynch, one that he invites us to engage with. There’s almost a challenge thrown down to the audience in seeing what we make of it, and how we react to it. What is consistent with his other movies are the images of either demonic or angelic atmosphere.

The film consists of a number of vignettes spliced together reflecting Nikki’s starring role in a movie about adultery that just happens to be cursed by Polish gypsies! That synopsis comes as close as you get to a “story”.

Regrettably, I can't recommend buying the movie in it's Blu-Ray form. I feel that the medium (blu-ray vs video camera) does nothing for the movie at all. It was originally shot for inclusion on the David Lynch website and it shows. If you already have the DVD, stick with it. If you're buying it for the first time, you're better off getting the standard DVD and watching it upscaled. I'm not a tech head but there are plenty of resources on the web explaining how Lynch filmed it. There are a number of extras, which can also be found on the original 2-disc DVD:Guardian interview at the National Film Theatre with David LynchA short interview in London'A conversation with David Lynch' by Mike FiggisA masterclass with David LynchInterview at the Cartier Foundation

Summary:

Inland Empire is not much of a keeper. I only hope that Lynch's earlier 35mm movies will be released on the Blu-Ray format as they will be truly worth checking out if mastered correctly.

Film: 5/10...Blu-Ray Disc: 2/10 (Wayfarer)

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