MARKED MOVIES

Director: David Lynch.
Screenplay: David Lynch.
Starring: Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Jeremy Irons, Harry Dean Stanton, Julia Ormond, Mary Steenburgen, Grace Zabriskie, Peter J. Lucas, Karolina Gruszka, Jan Hencz, Krzysztof Majchrzak, Ian Abercrombie, Jerry Stahl, Diane Ladd, William H. Macy, Jordan Ladd, Kat Turner, Kristen Kerr, Terry Crews, Nastassja Kinski, Scott Coffey, Laura Harring, Naomi Watts.

“I figured one day I’d just wake up and and find out what the hell yesterday was all about. I’m not too keen on thinkin’ about tommorow. And today’s slipping by”

“A dream of dark and troubling things” is how Lynch himself described his directorial debut Eraserhead in 1977. It’s fitting then that his first and (so far) last film share similarities with this description. In fact, this is probably the most coherent thing you can take from INLAND EMPIRE (Lynch insists the title is capitalised). Even the marketing executives had no idea how to promote the film and, in the end, decided to punt it with the vaguest of taglines: A woman in trouble. The rest is basically up to the individual viewer. But make no mistake, INLAND EMPIRE lands you squarely in Lynchland. 

Plot: After taking the lead in a new movie “On High in Blue Tomorrow’s“, Hollywood star Nikki Grace (Laura Dern) learns the script was actually filmed once before as a Polish film named “47“. Her director (Jeremy Irons) informs her that the film may have been cursed as it was based on an old Gypsy folktale and led to the murder of its previous actors. Believing this to be true, Nikki’s imagination takes over as she struggles with her own identity and unable to tell the difference between her new role and reality.

Known for his inventiveness and wicked sense of humour, there was a time in Lynch’s career that he adopted a particular approach to his storytelling that involved surrealism and dream logic. These approaches initially featured sparingly but they arguably became more prominent with Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me in 1992 or, to a greater extent, Lost Highway (1997) and Mulholland Drive (2001) with particular attention to symbolism and metamorphosis. INLAND EMPIRE has much in common with the latter two, L.A. Noirs, and as difficult and perplexing as these films were, they still had answers to be found within – with some effort, their puzzles could be solved. INLAND EMPIRE, on the other hand, is a very different beast and probably the most challenging film in Lynch’s oeuvre. I have to put my hands up and admit defeat; I didn’t entirely understand what Lynch was going for here. I have ideas but eventually I had to make peace with the film and just go along with the mystery and the confusion and revel in Lynch’s mastery at mood and composition.

At 3 hours long it’s quite the commitment and demands the utmost concentration. This is an unforgiving film experience that will not accept anything less than a viewers full commitment and if you’re not up for that, then forget it. I’d also add that this is a film that’s strictly for Lynch enthusiasts. Naysayers and doubters need not apply.

Lynch’s decision to shoot in low-grade digital video may put many viewers off and it has often been said that the film isn’t aesthetically pleasing. It can often look grainy and out of focus but, personally, I thought his intention here was a masterstroke. It allows him to utilise his low-lighting mood and gives the film a more personal vibe with the events and characters feeling much more authentic. So much so, that it only adds to what is already a deeply disturbing and unsettling experience.

It’s been admitted by Lynch that he began this movie as an experiment and over the period of three years he would film certain scenes and images before constructing a narrative. Shooting began when he didn’t have a script in place but the more he shot, the more the film grew and his ideas merged into something. Many, if not all, viewers will still wonder what he has came up with as this is a film that’s so abstract and surreal that it could easily be written off as self-indulgent and pretentious. You could also say, that certain scenes and events don’t make sense at all and Lynch is throwing what he can at the screen just to see what sticks. There’s no doubt that it’s a difficult film to determine meaning from but I also find it difficult to accept that it’s accidental. There’s a spiritual and existential angle to the film which may or may not be about our main character being in a state of purgatory and going through some form of spiritual cleansing. There’s a central theme that can just about be grasped but trying to make sense of the Rabbits sitcom (with out-of-synch laugh tracks), the prostitutes dancing The Locomotion or crazy clown faces are just some of the more bizarre inclusions.

The first hour is actually fairly coherent and easy to follow but it’s in the second third that the narrative changes perspective and, quite frankly, baffles the shit the out of you. It’s very difficult to keep up but this is because the time frame and the characters shift and you’re left unsure as to what and whom is doing what and unable to tell the difference between fantasy and reality. At one point Dern even utters the words… “I don’t know what was before or after. I don’t know what happened first and it’s kinda laid a mindfuck on me”. Not only will you identify with this feeling but it’s a reminder on how the film should be viewed. Any chance of piecing the mystery together has to be done by shuffling the events and characters and approaching the film from a non-linear perspective.

Lynch has often toyed with alternate realities, dream states and doppelgänger’s and INLAND EMPIRE feels very much like the evil twin to Mulholland Drive. They share similar themes and commentaries on the nature of Hollywood and stardom but for as dark and disturbing as Mulholland Drive is, INLAND EMPIRE takes it much further. This is a truly horrific and nightmarish depiction of fractured psyche’s and shattered dreams.

Like Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive, Laura Dern is front and centre and delivers an outstanding central performance. This an actress I’ve had a few questions about over time but there really isn’t any fault in her superlative work here. She has to play around with several roles and she’s entirely committed and convincing in all of them. That said, even Dern and the rest of the cast admitted that they had no idea what the film itself is about. Maybe that’s the point. Lynch did, after all, admit that it was an experiment and maybe the fault lies with the viewer for thinking otherwise. In this case, I just accepted the journey as the reward.

One of the most challenging and exhausting films I’ve ever seen. Whether or not you make sense of it, doesn’t take away from the fact that you’ve witnessed an artist at work and been thrust into an intriguing mystery that has the utmost refusal to be solved. If this proves to be Lynch’s last film (and I sincerely hope it’s not) then he bows out with the ultimate head-fuck. Lynch is most definitely an acquired taste and if you don’t like him?… You should acquire some taste.

Mark Walker

Trivia: Despite Lynch claiming he is now done with filmmaking, he did admit to Twin Peaks season 3 being shot like an 18 hour film that just happens to be split into episodes.

This entry was posted on June 6, 2017 at 10:00 am and is filed under Horror, Mystery with tags 2006. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.