Customer Reviews

Inland Empire

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

You will have your eyes wide open from start to finish. You will enjoy the rich, texturized experience, unless you are shallow and need all the answers, right here, right now. Really, do you need all the answers? This a beautiful film, and thus a piece of artwork. Lynch is a painter, and here again we see his art. He refuses to do "commentaries" because he believes you should be able to understand a film in your own way.

This film has so much, that it can be difficult to watch. You can see yourself, and also your other self that may have been, or perhaps in another universe. There is more to our world that what our small philosophies can imagine. Time and space are not handed to you on a silver platter with a clock and a ruler in this film; Lynch's mind works differently, thank goodness, and we can move beyond the straight lines and dumb plotlines of TV and other movies that have become blockbusters (the rabbits in Inland Empire seem to epitomize this mentality). I enjoyed this film much more the second time I watched it, and I am looking forward to seeing it again, for I see something new and amazing in it, that stirs me every time I see it.

This movie has no real narrative structure, from what I can make of it.
The film's an art piece for the adventurous viewer.
It's not the best work Lynch has done- Mulholland Drive is still his masterpiece as far as I'm concerned.
But this film is something special, that's for sure.
Let's hope Lynch doesn't retire any time soon...

The only word that comes to mind as I watch this flick over and over again is 'compartmentalization'. If you look at what's happening to music and film stars these days it's obvious that something is going in with their minds. The music and entertainment field in general is ruled by over-controlling mind-numbing back room psychos who take their instructions from the execs who suck the life out of anyone remotely resembling talent. This movie is about how an actor's mind is compartmentalized, broken up and then reassembled into a Hollywood drone to be easily controlled and manipulated by handlers who take delight in ripping people's minds apart, milking the money and numbing the mind of the audience. I think Lynch has taken this flick to absurd(a) heights following Mulholland Drive which I think is a better picture and a more understandable version (for the audience) of Hollywood as a pig farm of actors, directors and the corporate execs who control everything. When the mind is broken up into pieces and reassembled to 'fit the part' - this is where Hollywood becomes pure evil. See Black Swan for another version of an actor's mind manipulated by the dark forces of an entertainment industry that has sold its soul to the devil - literally. Lynch couldn't come straight out and tell anyone in the public what's behind Hollywood but if you watch this movie you'll see exactly what happens. The real story is just a tad below the surface of the images.

I enjoy movies not just as entertainment, but also as glorious human art form. However, the primary objective of a movie in my opinion is to entertain, and let the education, message, or art flow from it without the viewer being aware of anything except the entertainment value of the film. When a film becomes overtly preachy or "artistic", and as a consequence throws away any coherent storyline or entertainment value, then it becomes a pretentious and narcissistic enterprise on the part of the director. This unfortunately is what David Lynch's Inland Empire is.

The story is totally incomprehensible, and it is obvious that the film actually wants it to be so. Instead, we have a continuous sequence of compelling and disturbing images with intriguing lighting and shadows surrounded by a creepy musical score, all coming together to create that David Lynch surreal mood of non-sensical existential horror. Sadly, once the novelty wears off after the first half hour, what we have left is a painfully boring film that gives us nothing in terms of story or entertainment. The fact that this film is almost three hours long makes it virtually impossible to watch in one sitting except for the David Lynch super fan or the masochistic film viewer.

Watching "Mulholland drive" had given me hope that, eventually, all the loose ends would tidy up and make sense. Instead it went the other way. I had the opposite experience from watching "Inland empire". From the beginning, it seemed that none of it was going to make sense at all, and it was only near the end that I had hope that I would be able to make sense of the story. But of course that didn't happen.

This isn't a pleasurable movie to watch. It feels like Lynch is having a private joke at your expense. The only part I truly enjoyed watching was the ending credits, and I don't mean that in a cynical way, they were fun to watch (basically a "Sinnerman" video a la Lynch). That being said, once it's over, the movie lingers in your mind. So if your pleasure lies in thinking about a movie once it's over, this is for you. If you prefer being entertained while watching a movie, this isn't for you.

I am inspired by your teaser to write. That someone would call this film "magical", is a stretch. If by "magical", you mean you can make it disappear, then yes, it was magical. Please make it go away, was what I wanted to say as I struggled to watch this; I ended up fast forwarding through the film as the throbbing of my headache became worse.
It was a type of torture that I would not recommend to anyone. By using digital video, Lynch may have saved enough money to afford a cinematographer next time. The stills look interesting, but it helps to have a little bit of light when making a film. Otherwise it is a radio play. David Lynch has made many brilliant movies, but this is like an ingrown hair. Lance it before flesh eating disease ensues.

Torturously long, ridiculously inconsistent, a film only a film student could say they loved. The Nina Simone song during the closing credits is fantastic but do yourself a favour and buy one of Simone's CDs.