David Lynch's Inland Empire (Limited Edition Two-Disc Set)
by David Lynch
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux, Laura DernDirector: David Lynch
Brand: Inland
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); Polish (Original Language); French (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 179 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-08-14
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Absurda / Rhino
Movie Reviews of David Lynch's Inland Empire (Limited Edition Two-Disc Set)
Movie Review: Eternal Recurrence and The Karmic Wheel of Time
Summary: 4 Stars
Some very interesting theories in the Discussions Section on this film. Which is what prompted this review.
Finally, for me at least, a cohesive and coherent Lynch film.
**************SPOILER**************
Detailed metaphors, symbols, and Mcguffins (or my lack of catching all the symbolism) aside, here's what I took away from this film upon my initial viewing: The film is simply about a woman forced to relive her brutal murder over and over again under the theory of eternal recurrence for her egotistical karma and harmful infidelities. (Eternal recurrence is an archaic and Nietzschean concept. Woody Allen made a joke about this theory in HANNAH AND HER SISTERS. "Great, now I'll have to sit through the Ice Capades again.")
Allow me to preface my theory about this film by saying: from what we have learned from ancient Eastern thought and physics, time is not a linear event. The concept of time is temporal and subjective. It is possible that multiple timelines may co-exist as a singular event. In "eternal recurrence," the same existence or life is played out over and over again thru time. In Hindu religions it's expressed as the Wheel of Time. Nikki Grace is trapped by her karma or by The Karmic Wheel of Time. According to Eastern doctrines, we all are. Birth, death, and rebirth. Samsara. The only escape according to some Eastern philosophies is thru enlightenment, by paying for that karma ("a past-due bill"), or by altering it. Or, by some other Lynchean shift in consciousness. The Phantom, or Crimp, represents Nikki's "animus" (The masculine inner personality of a female in Jungian psychology.) or her evil karma. Nikki is warned of her Phantom personality or karma by the old gypsy woman at the beginning, "evil was born and followed the boy." Only when Nikki finally kills the Phantom, or her adulterous evil twin, can she free herself from her eternal karma. Free herself from the endless cycle of birth and death. Become enlightened. The Crying Girl (credited as The Lost Girl) represents Nikki in her latest incarnation on The Karmic Wheel of Time, watching her karma and her numerous nightmare lives unfold on TV right before her eyes. The death of The Phantom, or the cleansing of her filthy karma, frees Nikki from the trappings of time and ego, while also freeing Nikki in her current incarnation as The Crying Girl. She has broken her evil karma which allows her, as The Crying Girl, to finally achieve marital bliss, children, and karmic happiness. By the end, Nikki has changed her karma. That's it, in a Lynchean nutshell.
(During my second viewing of the film, I realized that Nikki initiates her evil karma in a past life by murdering her husband and his lover, for which she must suffer karmic payment for her own infidelities by being murdered in a similar fashion during future incarnations.)
********************************
Certainly valid, if one considers Lynch's adherence to Eastern Vedic thought, philosophy, and meditation. Lynch even quotes the Upanishads in the DVD extras.
The Rabbits are the coolest concept Lynch has come up with in a very long time. Awesome and hypnotic. Like a Magritte painting. Mind blowing to say the least. Would love to see this flick on shrooms. To me, the Rabbits represent the karmic materialistic trappings of ego. Samsara. Or, eternal Hell on Earth. If only Lynch had had the temerity to linger on the static images of them for a much longer time in the film. They are macabre. (You can find some 6 to 8 minute episodes on YouTube. Unfortunately, they were not included on the Bonus Disc.) Everyone else's interpretation about this film and the Rabbits is wholly valid. What a cool flick. My hope is that, after spending more time with it, I may see it as a Masterpiece.
Not being a fan of MD or LH by any means, I had given up on Lynch. (The only reason I rented IE is because I was intrigued by the trailer.) So, I have no idea how this narrative is applied to MD. In my opinion this is his best film since WAH and FWWM.
Even though I understand the aesthetic that Lynch was going for with this piece, I only wish he would have used real film, maybe a better digital camera, or brought the film more into focus. I also wish he had used better ambient lighting in certain shots. This film was far too dark in places when it wasn't necessary. The soft dirty focus, vignetting, and fisheyed close-ups were a distraction at times, and played a large part in almost annihilating my full enjoyment of this film. IMO, this was an unnecessary device to exhibit Lynchean dreamtime. However, I may change my opinions about this after subsequent viewings. My theory is that the entire narrative takes place in dreamtime. (Parts of the film were too grounded in reality for dream narrative. I actually wish it had been a little bit more cryptic.) For the entire film to be in soft focus to simulate dreamtime, puts a very big demand upon a modern viewer. I feel that his use of music and his Lynchean set pieces are all that are ever needed to present his inner dreamworlds. However, it is his painting, not mine. (The scratchy phonograph needle that was used to represent one of Nikki's past lives was a nice touch.) I do love the raw grainy look of old film. It's like dragging a dry oil paint brush across a canvas so that the texture of the painting surface shows thru. But, I feel that it's very easy to get carried away with the newer medium of digital tape. Unfortunately, Lynch says he'll never use real film again. Too bad. :(
Aside from being a dreamscape, comparisons to ERASERHEAD are baffling to me. This piece wasn't quite on the same level as ERASERHEAD (is anything?), but it is a very fine Lynch film, none the less. Past reviewers that complained about the "editorial sloppiness" are way off base about this film. IMO, every scene is crucial to the narrative. Nothing was extraneous. (As a matter of fact, I felt that a few scenes adding more clues about The Phantom were needed.) The film is ponderous at times for the average viewer, but the 3 hour running time moved by very quickly for me.
All of the music cues Lynch utilized for this piece were excellent, including his own compositions. I'm especially partial to his ambient music and The Rabbits' theme. Most excellent.
Everything you've heard is right on the money, Laura Dern IS truly amazing in this. A very giving performance. (In some of her scenes, she looks so much like her mother Diane Ladd, it's eerie.)
INLAND EMPIRE indeed.
The DVD extras are great. Over an hour of extra footage, most of which was not necessary to the narrative and was rightly cut. His interview is shorter than the one on the ERASERHEAD DVD, but he seemed more prepared and relaxed in this interview. I love his thoughts on music and the importance of proper theater and home theater equipment for the purpose of achieving the full intent of the artist's vision during playback. (One of my pet peeves are friends that insist on watching films on computer monitors.) Lynch goes off on people that watch films on computers and cell phones. He gets angry and very sad by the use of technology and its trend towards the "putrification" of this artform. (Lynch, I feel your pain, man.) Watching him work behind the scenes was very cool. Because his signature technique is mood, I've always had the feeling that Lynch was very meticulous and demanding in his direction to his actors, and it shows here. "Anyone need some Fixall?" Great stuff!
Now, if we could just get Lynch to film a true biography on Francis Bacon, everything would be right with the world. Or, at least right with the Lynchean Universe.
Signed,
An ex-Lynchead that is intrigued by Lynch again.
Summary of David Lynch's Inland Empire (Limited Edition Two-Disc Set)
A magikael, fairy dusted ride through the darkest realms of our collective imaginations. Terrifying!Though Inland Empire's three hours of befuddling abstraction could try the patience of the most devoted David Lynch fan, its aim to reinvigorate the Lynch-ian symbolic order is ambitious, not to mention visually arresting. The director's archetypes recognizable from previous movies once again construct the film's inherent logic, but with a new twist. Sets vibrate between the contemporary and a 1950s alternate universe crammed with dim lamps, long hallways, mysterious doors, sparsely furnished rooms and, this time, a vortex/apartment/sitcom set where rabbit-masked humans dwell, and a Polish town where women are abused and killed. Instead of speaking backwards, mystic soothsayers and criminals speak Polish. Filmed on video, the film's look has the sinister, frightening feel of a Mark Savage film or a bootlegged snuff movie. Constant close-ups, both in and out of focus, make Inland Empire feel as if a stalker covertly filmed it. A straightforward, hokey plot unravels during the first third of Inland Empire to ground the viewer before a dive off the deep end. Actor Nikki Grace (Laura Dern) is cast as Susan Blue, an adulterous white trash Southerner, in a film that mimics too closely her actual life with an overbearingly jealous and dangerous husband. When Nikki and co-star Devon (Justin Theroux) learn that the cursed film project was earlier abandoned when its stars were murdered, the pair lose their grasp of reality. Nikki suffers a schizophrenic identity switch to Sue that lasts until nearly the film's end. Suspense builds as Nikki's alter ego sleuths her way through surreal situations to discover her killer, culminating in Sue's gnarly death on set. Sue's actions drag on because any sign of a narrative thread disappears due to idiosyncratic editing. Nonsensical scenes still captivate, however, such as when Sue stumbles onto the soundstage where she finds Nikki (herself) rehearsing for Sue's part. In this meta-film about identity slippage, Dern's multiple characters remind one of how a victim can become the hunter in their fight for survival. Lynch's portrayal of Nikki/Sue's increasing paranoia is, in its own confusion, utterly realistic. Laura Dern has created her own Lady Macbeth, undone by her guilt over infidelity. Even though Inland Empire is too long and too random, Laura Dern's performance coupled with Lynch's video experiments make it magical. --Trinie Dalton
More Films from David Lynch
 Wild At Heart |  Mulholland Drive |  Blue Velvet |
Stills from Inland Empire (click for larger image)
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