Inland Empire

INLAND EMPIRE (Blu-ray)

Release Date: April 19th, 2010
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 172 minutes

Director: David Lynch

Cast: Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, Peter J. Lucas, Alexander Gruszynski, Jan Hencz, Krzysztof Majchrzak, Grace Zabriskie, Diane Ladd, Julia Ormond, Ian Abercrombie

Special Appearances by: Nastassja Kinski, Laura Harring,
Scott Coffey and Naomi Watts

With its fragmented storylines, glimpses into bizarre rabbit inhabited worlds, haunting soundtrack and gritty atmosphere enhanced by Lynch’s decision to shoot in digital, Inland Empire is a puzzle piece of a film.

Laura Dern, no stranger to the world of David Lynch, having previously starred in Blue Velvet (1986) and Wild At Heart (1990), has dual roles here. As Niki Grace, she is an actress who has just secured a role in a new movie alongside Devon Berk (Justin Theroux), to be directed by Kingsley Stewart (Jeremy Irons). As they begin rehearsals, Kingsley informs his cast that the movie is a remake of a German film based on a Polish story, 47; never completed because the lead actors were killed during the making and the story was said to be cursed.

Things then seem to shift and identities start to become blurred. As Niki and Devon embark on an affair behind her jealous husband’s back, we then switch to Sue and Billy (Dern and Theroux again) as lovers having an affair. Mixed in with this we also have the story of a “Lost Girl” who sits in a room in a house, unable to leave. She stares out at the television set with tears on her face. We are also taken to Eastern Europe. Through the snow covered streets and bleak landscape we hear a story of girls taken from their homes, a travelling circus and a character known as “The Phantom” who tricks his audience.

And the rabbits, let’s also not forget to mention the rabbits! They inhabit a green room and are viewed through the television of the Lost Girl, as if they are in a sit-com, but the dialogue spoken by one of the rabbits is always met with laughter from the invisible audience, but the lines are never funny. All together these “worlds within worlds” make for a compelling 3 hours where time is non-existent and reality is only as good as your point of view.

Inland Empire is a movie which needs to be viewed not from the angle that it has to be deciphered, but from the angle that it must retain some of its mystery. It’s like a dreamer waking from a dream with the feeling he has dreamt, but as soon as he tries to recall it or understand it immediately escapes his grasp. All that is left is the knowledge of at least you have experienced a dream, despite not knowing what it is or what it means. Grab too quickly and it’s gone.

Patrick Samuel

The founder of Static Mass Emporium and one of its Editors in Chief is a composer and music producer with a philosophy degree. Static Mass is where he lives his passion for film and writing about it. A fan of film classics, documentaries and World Cinema, Patrick prefers films with an impeccable way of storytelling that reflect on the human condition.

You can find his music on Soundcloud .

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