Review: Inland Empire (2006)
As prerequisite viewing for Inland Empire, I offer The Short Films of David Lynch and Eraserhead, and with those under your belt you’ll be best prepared for what Lynch is up to in his newest three hour, wildy non-linear fusion of Hollywood Babylon and women in peril picture. All of Lynch’s movies, even at their seemingly weirdest and most incomprehensible, have some sort of thematic through line, some emotional residue that connects the set pieces. Inland Empire, Lynch’s most ambitious and intentionally infuriating work, is no different, and it may be one of Lynch’s most compassionate films if you view it in a certain way. I had a very concrete view of what happens in Lynch’s prior film, Mulholland Dr., and most people I talked to had a similar theory.
This film will not be the same, it may intentionally be designed to have NO decoder ring. I’m not sure, I have a theory as to what it means personally, but you could view it in fifty other ways, or in no way at all. I will say, as some others have, that it is one of the very best, most convincing dream films ever made, and that it has one of the all time best Lynch performances in Laura Dern’s portryal of Nikki/Susan, a woman who either digs deep in herself to give the performance of a lifetime, or succumbs to insanity, or both, or neither.
Portions of this film are rapt and terrifying and beautiful as to be expected from Lynch but others are deeply tedious also, and it seems that the purpose of the running time is to intentionally make it an ordeal, a major thing that can’t be tossed off in between shopping and lunch. I didn’t love Inland Empire, the film may be unlovable, and I was mad walking out of it, but portions of it have stayed with me, and I admire the film’s stubborness, and its unshakable notion of an existence completely beyond one’s control.
Lynch’s decision to shoot in digital is jarring, but it rapidly becomes very integral to the work, and, as usual with Lynch, the sound design is astounding. If you can I suggest this be seen in a theatre, as I imagine most home systems will not do the film justice. I look forward to debating this film with Lynchheads over the coming years.
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