Inland Empire

I saw the new David Lynch movie, Inland Empire, last night at Cinema 21. It was kind of like Mulholland Drive only with an extra hour of weirdness stuffed into the middle. It was good, but way too long (3 hours.) It was also pretty far out, even by Lynch's standards. A lot of the script was written during filming, and it shows. But give Lynch credit for making the movie he wanted to make. He experiments with sound and images and creates a unique work of art. The film is constructed in a completely subconcious manner and is not to be understood in any rational way. Of course Lynch movies never are, but keep in mind that his last film, Mulholland Drive, was originally intended to be a TV series, so it was made for a wider audience.

Inland Empire was shot entirely with digital video, and it has the grainy look of the hand held video scenes in Lost Highway. Objects come in and out of focus. Lights and lighting effects take on particular importance as characters emerge and disappear into the many doors of the stage sets within the story. Imagine Laura Dern lost in a maze. Now imagine she doesn't know who she is or how she got into the maze in the first place. Awesome! Actually she is pretty awesome in this movie. If you like Lynch movies, this is definitely worth checking out. It just needs an intermission. If you see it in a theater, just make your own. Trust me, you won't miss anything that could help you understand the story. My favorite part was the dance number during the end credits. It takes place in the main characters house and all of the characters are there. But so are a bunch of folks who weren't in the movie. There's even a lumberjack sawing a log in the background! No Log Lady though.