INLAND EMPIRE
directed by David Lynch / 2006 / Poland / USA /France
Billy: “I’m lonely”
Sue: “You poor small infant child”
It’s completely dark and suddenly a spotlight turns on-- INLAND EMPIRE dramatically appears on the screen accompanied by stunning music, creating one of the most intense openings I’ve ever seen. It gives you a tremendous sense of excitement, as does simply reading short summaries of the film’s premise. They are vague descriptions that are easy to find all over the inter-web but aren’t necessary; I’m giving up on any explanation of this film. David Lynch is notorious for making movies that are difficult for most to understand but are open to endless theories. This takes us to new heights, well sort of. It is a culmination of various recurring Lynch themes: woman in trouble, split personalities (i.e. a different representation of the same person), big dreams, threatening men, and so on. The first 45 minutes are fairly easy to grasp because they revolve around a Lost Girl from Poland (presumably the main character) and a developing story involving Nikki/Sue (Laura Dern), an actress living the ideal life, and Devon/ Billy (Justin Theroux), her co-star. Nikki’s reality turns into an unfathomable nightmarish world of endless and unforeseen sequences stretched over the next two hours.
I saw this with friends who really disliked it and I can’t help but feel that this may be prevalent; one of those films that produces a great divide. This time around Lynch abandons film and shoots with a Sony PD170 digital video camera, generating a completely different aesthetic not seen in his previous films. At times I felt disappointed by an apparent lack of dexterity and I definitely missed his wonderfully rich cinematography. Strangely enough I’ve always loved his ability to frighten me, like in Twin Peaks when Bob appears in Sarah Palmer’s mirror(ahh!) This is arguably the most horror filled movie he has made; terrifying moments could come at any time and I’m certain that everyone will be shocked by at least one scene. My favorite had to be the human bunny-rabbits derived from his web-series “Rabbits”, who seemingly live in purgatory.
I only wish he could remove all scenes that include an annoying group of women (the prostitutes) because it was just ridiculous. You have to really admire Lynch for his innovation and ability to craft an irreplaceable atmosphere, even if it means you are really uncomfortable. Ultimately everyone should watch this and create their own interpretations because that’s half the fun.
VALERIE