Review of Inland Empire (2006) by Juan C — 04 Jun 2011

Review circa 2007 - so little love remembered so well!

I was cautious even before I contemplated entering a screening of Inland Empire. David Lynch, digital video and three hours of adventure. I am a huge fan, but so much could go wrong if his impulses deranged his sensibilities.

I was immediately correct and I couldn't believe it. The film looked diabolically disgusting. I would have thought David Lynch would have been much more of a perfectionist of what he was producing. How he let his artistic impulses slide is beyond me.

The use of digital video was awful. The colours were washed out with no vibrant colours ever appearing. The lighting was non-existent and tended to be over-exposed during daylight sequences. And the camerawork lacked any discernable style with the camera wobbling all over the place. It was something a film-grad student would make and not be proud of. Horribly, horribly amateurish.

Of the film itself, it was three hours I won't forget. I am so glad I saw it in the festival atmosphere. When surrealism cannot have any reasoning attached to it, it becomes tiresome. The initial story was quite interesting, with a film being made based on another film which ended up incomplete due to the demise of the lead actors. It kind of had a "Mulholland Drive 2" feeling to it.

Ultimately the film became so fragmented it was just tiresome. It was obviously the carpet would be pulled at some point, but to keep pulling such a metaphor just ends up with a mess. I guess I was as confused as the protagonist who was obviously demented. Though an anchoring point is required to even trace a narrative from this film. That's less than forthcoming and when anything is tried to be pieced together it just falls over like a stack of cards.

I had expected one scene to enter the realm of lesbianism. After all, surrealism seems intertwined with such. Lynch nearly cheated me on this level, but he finally relented extremely late in the film.

My friend was also completely right when the film ended. As the credits rolled, with some kind of dance number occurring behind the credits, not one person left. The whole theatre was so desperate for some form of closure, even though such was impossible, that not a movement was made. Then there was the awkward silence that followed as comments of the film were less than forthcoming.

What an event. And, I have to admit there was a certain mood I was left with which was a little disturbing.