Inland Empire Review

        It seemed not that long ago in May that I watched Eraserhead. Not knowing what I was going to see with marathoning a season’s worth of films by David Lynch. Of course, I missed out on two films of his that would’ve been a definitive look into the director. Through limited funds and patience, I’ve finally crossed over the bridge with his final feature film. Mind you, while this is the last film he made theatrically speaking, he did other works in other media. Such as delivering the third season to his beloved series Twin Peaks. For his final film, it’s an interesting one in a sense where you feel that it’s taking you down a road that only leads you into another direction. 

1. The Rabbit Hole 

        This isn’t the first time that I have watched Inland Empire. Late last year was when I watched the film as my local film club was presenting it. I will admit that it’s embarrassing on my end to leave the movie around the 30-minute mark. No film should be left, and I always try to soldier on and ignore my gluteus maximus’ muscle to leave. With that one, it wasn’t because the movie is awful or had bits of unpleasantness to it. More so with how it looked, the overall sense of plot and just where it was going made me want to position my feet slowly into walking mode. 

        Just now is when I finally got the courage to watch it once more and take it all in. I had the luxury of inviting a friend to sit down and watch along with me and let me tell you. The movie is anything but conventional in a story-sense. And it’s one of those things where you have to actually pay attention since there’s multiple callbacks to prior scenes and subtle references that are brought up as the film goes along. To describe the film’s plot is a challenge in and of itself. I will be willing to sit down and listen to anyone succinctly describe the plot. I’d buy them a case of beer if anyone is up to it. 

        To my knowledge, I’ll try to at least describe just the point to the plot. It’s three hours and it’s not a slog in a least bit. Just one of those where it becomes interesting since it’s a very unconventional film that has a flow to it where you have no idea where it’s going to go. So we follow this actress Nikki, she’s given a part to be in a film where it hasn’t been finished in its country of origin. With the role, she goes into the character deep alongside her co-actor. From there, well it’s kind of complicated. 

        This is both the film’s biggest highlight and the detriment. We see Laura Dern’s actor go through this imagined version of method acting where she becomes the character. And by that, it’s like she’s transported to this other plane of existence where it’s transcending time and space. It’s a David Lynch film alright. It’s a highlight since we see her act out her parts where she is her main character and the character in the film. The caveat is we don’t know which is which. There’s never a discerning look in the film where we see the film and the movie being shot. Compounding it is how the film looks when viewing it. 

        Right from the start, we see that the film was shot in a basic Sony camcorder. Prior films was when Lynch would shoot his movies with film stock, this is experimental in a sense where he can shoot how he wants without the limit of the reels. At the time, it sort of turned me off since it has that amateur look to it. You can see the shadows of someone holding the camera in some instances. Judge me for being conceited since I didn’t give this film a shot initially, I think it works since it would’ve been too easy to tell which Nikki is acting and when she’s in the other plane. 

        For as unsettling as the film is, I feel that with the story being presented it makes it feel uneasy to approach it. Like, it’s a fine line between being a thriller, psychological horror to an acid trip. All of it weaves and flows as we’re following Laura Dern’s character descending into madness since the script that she’s acting in is cursed. I was for it, until it stopped making sense. It is one of those films that Lynch was making that has vibes written all over it. Take it from me, I like to have stories being told from A to B. This one is one of those rare films where you must watch multiple times to get it. 

        With vibes being a source of contention for me, I feel that the film is a very esoteric art film. Where plot and story is established, but as soon as the weird starts to kick off. The former is immediately tossed out the window and stomped repeatedly on the concrete sidewalk. Most of the highlights as I mentioned is watching the crazy being amped up. I’ll give it that as well since it got me interested with Nikki and how she was going to be affected by the curse and get herself out of it. I’m glad that there’s not a villain in a traditional sense but this malevolent force that is causing the weirdness to happen. A callback from Twin Peaks, and many other references to past works that Lynch managed to get in this one. 

        With everything that I’ve typed down, you can assume that I don’t like weird, or just not vibing to the movie as originally intended. Be it as it may, I feel that I can appreciate the director for being unconventional with his approach. Like, I don’t want to turn my brain off to just “get” the film. I feel better knowing that my time is invested with watching a character overcome something than just going with the abstract imagery. What excels with me is when Lynch does his motifs subtly. When he has total reign where he is a maestro is when he loses me. This is the one film where any Lynch aficionado would spent their lives deciphering the inner meaning of it. 

2. David Lynch

        Eight films is what it took to not personally talk about the director. Sure, I talked about his past, inspirations and method to his madness. Having watched a good chunk of his films made me appreciate him more as an artist. He went to do what he wanted with no studio head breathing down on him. To me, he’s the inspiration for any filmmaker that has the talent to be an artist and a filmmaker. He did paintings prior to picking up the camera and directing. He’s unconventional, but only when people see out of context clips of him in any interview or video. 

        The man is complex since he interprets things that only he could. No one could interpret what Eraserhead means without knowing that it’s about parenthood, and how it’s possibly about his moment becoming a father. I say possibly because he was not one to indulge any interviewer or anyone about what his films mean when someone is trying to understand it. There’s ways to go about it, but only Lynch is the one that can be cheeky enough to get away with it. Any other director can make films that are generally weird as his but aren’t talent enough to utilize everything to be weird. 

        With his interpretations in his films, the key thing that I think is important is seeing the muck/grime underneath to supposed clean thing. Meaning that, while everything looks nice and dandy from the outside. There’s something that is the true face of the subject in his films. I’ve only noticed it in his films like Blue Velvet and afterwards. I feel that he was pushing the envelope to make people uncomfortable by showing the true face of something that is not what they think is representative of the status quo. He’s an artist alright, and it’s always bold to go against the grain that has become the MO for any filmmaker to just have a career. 

3. Legacy

        So what else can be said about this film and it’s director? To me, I remember the very first time that I was exposed to him. It was in the Steven Spielberg film The Fabelmans where he portrayed John Ford in the final moments of the movie. Just when his face appeared is when I heard chattering in the audience asking if it was him. From there, I saw a montage of his behind the scenes and other interviews which gave me an unconventional look to him. I guess you can say that I was ignorant since I didn’t sat down and watch his films earlier. 

        His death surprised me, and I felt it was an obligation to at least dedicate a season’s worth of his films to expose to anyone who is interested or to get an idea of who the man was. While I bungled it, I didn’t anticipate my personal life affecting my viewing schedule. Rest assured that I will finish out his remaining two films. I feel that for any film buff or anyone that is interested in the medium and what to experiment, this is the director that delivers on such the endeavor. New filmmakers should embrace his approach but be smart and disciplined on how to balance between the normal and the absurd. 

4. Overall

        Inland Empire is one of the most divisive films that I’ve seen. For Lynch fans, it’s one of the essential viewings to marathon.