Inland Empire review

There’s an episode of the Simpsons where Homer is watching a man on TV, dancing with a horse, in a red room. It’s a parody of David Lynch’s acclaimed, cult TV series ‘Twin Peaks’. Looking engrossed, Homer utters: “brilliant. Just brilliant!”, then pauses and adds more quietly: “…I have no idea what’s going on.”. Don’t worry Homer; that’s the way most of us feel about Lynch’s work. The man is clearly a genius – he creates elaborate, brave films that force us to explore the deepest, darkest depths of our imaginations and emotions, and they’re captivating – but at the same time, he tells stories that leave us completely baffled. Rather than put audiences off, though, his confusing plots seem to delight most people. They add to the mystery, challenge us, get us thinking. And even when, like Homer, we have no idea what’s going on, the visual stimulation alone is enough to entice us.

Inland Empire, Lynch’s latest opus, is a three hour rollercoaster ride of nightmarish visions, strange characters, and surreal scenes that range from beautiful to vulgar, humorous to sad, lush to downright ugly. Although a lot of the scenes are seemingly unconnected, there’s some semblance of a plot, with Laura Dern (who you may remember from ‘Jurassic Park’, and Lynch’s ‘Blue Velvet’) playing a Hollywood actress who lands the lead role in a romantic blockbuster. Upon meeting her co-star (Justin Theroux), there are signs that the scripted romance between the two may be spilling over into reality, but it becomes increasingly unclear – both for us and for Dern’s character – which events are happening in the film they are making, and which are happening in real life. The revelation that their production may be cursed adds to the intrigue, and lulls you into thinking that a logical story might be unfolding. Things get increasingly bizarre though, and as we jump between all sorts of abstract scenes, characters and settings (including a family of talking rabbits), it becomes clear that trying to make sense of it all is futile. Regardless, the scenes are so stimulating that it doesn’t really matter.

The thought of three hours of artistic craziness might fill you with fear, but I actually found myself yearning for more come the end. The cinematography is amazing, the dialogue (though incomprehensible for the most part) keeps you listening carefully for clues and hidden meanings, and the soundtrack (including the doomy synths that seem to present in most of Lynch’s films) is suitably atmospheric and unsettling. The acting is also very impressive, with Dern in particular giving an outstanding performance. Lynch was so impressed with her acting that he set up a billboard on Hollywood Boulevard to campaign for her to be nominated for an Oscar… and, in typically unexplainable David Lynch fashion, sat beside the billboard himself, with a cow on a leash! Check out a video of this madness:

Inland Empire is quite an experience at the cinema. You get utterly absorbed in it, wrapped up in Lynch’s dream world. Watching it gives you the same feeling you get when you’ve just woken up from a deep sleep, and everything in the world seems intensely ‘real’, yet strange and alien at the same time. I’m sure it will still capture people’s imagination when it comes out on DVD, but doubt it will seem quite so impressive on the small screen. I’d recommend catching it at your local indie cinema if you still can, but if you’re too late, grab it when it’s out on DVD, turn off the lights, sit close to the screen, and prepare to freak out.

Graham Pembrey

Watch the trailer

Listen to Lynch talk about Inland Empire

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 21st, 2007 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Arthouse cinema in Brighton. 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.