I've just done a one-hour trip to watch this
Wow! And I mean wow
What a phenomenal piece of cinema this is and I wonder: can you be so amazed by a movie without knowing what it is about? "Sit back, relax; you're on a David Lynch film", Laura Dern said on an interview. Her co-star Justin Theroux also explained that it had become a game for them to figure out what the movie was about while shooting: "I think that even David can't tell you", he added.
Cinema, making cinema, above all things, is an art; and David Lynch is one of cinema's greater artists. Ironic however, is that, if you watch his last film and you don't know who he is, you'll probably think it is the work of an amateur. "Inland Empire" is the work of a professional and, as Lynch himself puts it, "a story about a woman in trouble". That's all you need to know about the plot; then you have to watch carefully.
I met a man named Scott at the screening and he told me that the viewer only appreciates David Lynch's movies if they are seen in a movie theater. True, because you're experiencing the director's mind during three hours of pure cinematographic magic. And that's a mind that includes a large number of characters in the most twisted of stories, with the richest handling of digital camera you'll see in a long time.
Some audiences that watched the picture complained because they said the digital camera image didn't look good on the big screen. False, it looks beautiful. With the cheap camera in his hand, Lynch takes all the risks generating a lot of movement and shooting directly into the actor's faces. He goes from light to dark, he appears, disappears and reappears, he crafts the music and the sound design so well that it becomes another main character (you really have to watch that), turning an actual scene into some kind of music video; he goes through all the moods of cinema which are, in some ways, the moods of life.
His script, written whenever a new idea came to him in a period of two and half years, is more than ever a work of patience. During the whole film, after one character talks, the other stares intensely and waits at least five or ten seconds to answer; there are lots of insightful looks, there's a lot of contemplative silence that becomes dreamlike and consequently scary. The script has a lot of fear that can make you jump off your seat and it also has a slight subtle humor that works as a refreshing breeze of air when apparently no one can breathe. Lynch's total freedom becomes clear with his own editing, which we realize he controlled a lot, inserting his vision to the viewer in an even stronger way.
However, there's another driving force inside "Inland Empire"; and that's Laura Dern's fantastic performance. To say fantastic is to find one appropriate word that summarizes her tour-de-force portrayal. She's on screen in every scene, the camera is on her face all of the time and she doesn't look at it; not even once in three hours. Of course she's not supposed to look at the camera, but her work is so focused that she doesn't even turn her eyes at times; she seems to be somewhere else than in Lynch's set, somewhere beyond. She takes her character beyond every possible level and she does it almost entirely on her own, with few answers from the rest of the individuals. Maybe another word to describe her act is unforgettable.
And so is "Inland Empire", in the good or the bad way for anyone: an unforgettable experience and, as Scott said to me; a movie that will be playing itself in your head after five days Or even more. One more thing: don't even bother on trying to figure out the 'mystery' or the meaning of the plot and you'll be alright.
Cinema, making cinema, above all things, is an art; and David Lynch is one of cinema's greater artists. Ironic however, is that, if you watch his last film and you don't know who he is, you'll probably think it is the work of an amateur. "Inland Empire" is the work of a professional and, as Lynch himself puts it, "a story about a woman in trouble". That's all you need to know about the plot; then you have to watch carefully.
I met a man named Scott at the screening and he told me that the viewer only appreciates David Lynch's movies if they are seen in a movie theater. True, because you're experiencing the director's mind during three hours of pure cinematographic magic. And that's a mind that includes a large number of characters in the most twisted of stories, with the richest handling of digital camera you'll see in a long time.
Some audiences that watched the picture complained because they said the digital camera image didn't look good on the big screen. False, it looks beautiful. With the cheap camera in his hand, Lynch takes all the risks generating a lot of movement and shooting directly into the actor's faces. He goes from light to dark, he appears, disappears and reappears, he crafts the music and the sound design so well that it becomes another main character (you really have to watch that), turning an actual scene into some kind of music video; he goes through all the moods of cinema which are, in some ways, the moods of life.
His script, written whenever a new idea came to him in a period of two and half years, is more than ever a work of patience. During the whole film, after one character talks, the other stares intensely and waits at least five or ten seconds to answer; there are lots of insightful looks, there's a lot of contemplative silence that becomes dreamlike and consequently scary. The script has a lot of fear that can make you jump off your seat and it also has a slight subtle humor that works as a refreshing breeze of air when apparently no one can breathe. Lynch's total freedom becomes clear with his own editing, which we realize he controlled a lot, inserting his vision to the viewer in an even stronger way.
However, there's another driving force inside "Inland Empire"; and that's Laura Dern's fantastic performance. To say fantastic is to find one appropriate word that summarizes her tour-de-force portrayal. She's on screen in every scene, the camera is on her face all of the time and she doesn't look at it; not even once in three hours. Of course she's not supposed to look at the camera, but her work is so focused that she doesn't even turn her eyes at times; she seems to be somewhere else than in Lynch's set, somewhere beyond. She takes her character beyond every possible level and she does it almost entirely on her own, with few answers from the rest of the individuals. Maybe another word to describe her act is unforgettable.
And so is "Inland Empire", in the good or the bad way for anyone: an unforgettable experience and, as Scott said to me; a movie that will be playing itself in your head after five days Or even more. One more thing: don't even bother on trying to figure out the 'mystery' or the meaning of the plot and you'll be alright.