Inland Empire (2006)
David Lynch's final film to date seems a more personal experience for him than it is to the viewer. Shot entirely digitally it never feels cinematic and the sound quality is often variable ranging from inaudible to ear shattering at times.
The film stars Laura Dern as an actress who wins a lead role in a movie which she soon finds out is a remake of a cursed Polish project that was never completed from then on things degenerate into what can only be described as a Lynchian nightmare. However unlike other Lynchian nightmare movies such as Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) and Blue Velvet (1986), the lack of budget and the digital filming makes it seem a bit cheap to these eyes.
At three hours it's also far too long. The first hour is quite engrossing but then my attention began to waver and during the final hour i was becoming, if not bored, then rather disconnected by events.
The idea that Dern's character is completely consumed by the film and script means it is difficult to know if we are watching the actress and her experiences or her character performing the actual film, it creates an an interesting idea and Dern is quite brilliant, in fact it's a crime that she wasn't even nominated for an Academy Award for her performance here. but somehow it doesn't really work as a whole for me.
Inland Empire is surreal and challenging but it also feels a bit cobbled together and the overall feel is of getting lost in a maze or perhaps in this case a rabbit warren would be a better analogy.
|