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Inland Empire (2006)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer (WGA):
David Lynch (written by)
Release Date:
7 February 2007 (Belgium)
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Tagline:
A Woman In Trouble more
Plot:
An actress's perception of reality becomes increasingly distorted as she finds herself falling for her co-star in a remake of an unfinished Polish production that was supposedly cursed. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
2 wins
&
5 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(44 articles)
David Lynch's Next Project? Documentary on Transcendental Meditation
(From ReelzChannel. 19 November 2009, 2:05 AM, PST)
David Lynch to Do a Documentary on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
(From MovieWeb. 18 November 2009, 5:33 PM, PST)
(From ReelzChannel. 19 November 2009, 2:05 AM, PST)
David Lynch to Do a Documentary on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
(From MovieWeb. 18 November 2009, 5:33 PM, PST)
User Comments:
Kieslowski Films Joyce
more (291 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Laura Dern | ... | Nikki Grace / Susan Blue |
 | Jeremy Irons | ... | Kingsley Stewart |
 | Justin Theroux | ... | Devon Berk / Billy Side |
 | Karolina Gruszka | ... | Lost Girl |
 | Jan Hencz | ... | Janek (as Jan Hench) |
| Krzysztof Majchrzak | ... | Phantom |
 | Grace Zabriskie | ... | Visitor #1 |
 | Ian Abercrombie | ... | Henry the Butler |
| Karen Baird | ... | Servant |
 | Bellina Logan | ... | Linda |
 | Amanda Foreman | ... | Tracy |
| Peter J. Lucas | ... | Piotrek Król |
 | Harry Dean Stanton | ... | Freddie Howard |
 | Cameron Daddo | ... | Devon Berk's Manager |
| Jerry Stahl | ... | Devon Berk's Agent |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for language, some violence and sexuality/nudity.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
180 min | Poland:197 min (Camerimage Film Fest)
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Iran:18+ |
UK:15 |
Belgium:KNT |
France:U |
Poland:18 |
Italy:T |
Ireland:16 |
Netherlands:16 |
Spain:13 |
Finland:K-15 |
Germany:12 |
Portugal:M/16 |
South Korea:15 |
Argentina:16 |
Singapore:M18 |
Sweden:15 |
Australia:MA |
Spain:18 (DVD rating) |
Brazil:14 |
USA:R (certificate #42975) |
New Zealand:R16 |
Iceland:14
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
During a conversation between David Lynch and Laura Dern, Dern mentioned that her husband was from the Inland Empire (an area east of Los Angeles County, including Riverside and San Bernadino County). Lynch confesses he stopped listening to what she was saying because he loved the sound of the words "Inland Empire", and finally decided on these words as the title of his movie because "I like the word inland. And I like the word empire."
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Soundtrack:
The Loco-Motion
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FAQ
Can someone explain this film?What is with the rabbits and Axxon N?
What is the connection to Darkened Room?
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more (291 total)
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I saw this during a period of extreme emotional stress, probably the best possible mode. It was also surrounded by my listening to "Big Fish," Lynch's book, read by himself. The contrast is astonishing: Lynch's banal aphorisms in the book with rich, multilayered cinematic literacy in the film. Yet another lesson in relative articulation and the notion that an artist often is the worst authority on himself.
Let's have no mistake: this film is important. I place it on my list as one of the two films of 2006 that you must see.
There's a lot to say about this. I think I'll let others comment on Dern's attunements, and the general notion of the story having to do with guilt and sexual desire.
I'll comment only on two aspects which struck me. The first was how Polish this movie is. Its Polish within the story of course: a good half of the action involves Poles. The plot device is a Polish curse that somehow bends time and causality. And there are some Polish locations as well.
But the thing is shot using Kieslowski's mannerisms. Its a peculiar style that to my knowledge no one else has used. It focuses on two motions: that of the environment as space which governs and changes. And that of the characters in motion, but situated in the spaces. With Kieslowski, he literally splits these in the writer's mind by having his writing partner handle the noir bits, the controlling fate, and he handling the independently sprouting human seeds within. Lynch handles both sides by imposing schizophrenia.
But its Polish in other ways too. The actor as Golem. The environment as interleaved worlds, each creating the others by being. Its a Kabbalistic concept. Both are characteristically Polish, usually associated with Polish Jews, but more deeply Polish. You can see how Lynch understands this because he quotes "The Saragossa Manuscript," a Polish film about interweaving of kabbalistic worlds and the causal confusion that it brings.
The second thing is how he exploits this merger of folded narrative -- where actors write new worlds; layered emanations where worlds spawn others -- not parallel but linked in generative fate; geometric cosmology in which each act creates symmetries we encounter elsewhere.
He does all this by elaborating on the symmetries of cause. Ordinarily something causes something else, never backwards. Here it IS backwards, forwards, sideways -- all the eight dimensions that an advanced student of the Maharishi knows... causal symmetries that have a geometry that doesn't quite merge with the geometry of causality. Oddly, the story does make sense if you simply relax the causality a bit -- its much more accessible than the "Twin Peaks" meander.
I guess I should say that this is after the manner of the structure of "Finnegans Wake." Its not as elaborate of course. It didn't take 17 years and the deliberate intent of conflating all metaphors. But it is placed in a dream logic, a softening of the walls and hinges of what we make up as the logic of real life. Its Joycean through and through and not -- as some would say -- "surreal" as if anything not real is bent reality.
I know of a few filmmakers who can work with these notions: Medem, Greenaway, Madden, Ruiz. This is the most delicate and focused I've seen in a long, long while. You really must spend time with it. You must.
Here's a serious piece of advice though. See Lynch's "Rabbits" episodes first, separately, ideally a week or so ahead. Take them in as a standalone piece, a remarkable piece of film. Some of it is in this film, excerpted, extended, reshot and literally entered by all the Dern characters. But you'd be better having that anchor before starting this tempestvoyage.
Ted's Evaluation -- 4 of 3: Every cineliterate person should experience this.