1175 Inland Empire

[chizbooga]

i feel like meditation or something must have turned david lynch into some sort of enlightened self-indulgent simpleton. it's like he has no discipline whatsoever anymore and is just content to make a 'movie' that is like a guided tour of an art gallery going from one little driblet from his mind to the next in random order.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

i feel like meditation or something must have turned david lynch into some sort of enlightened self-indulgent simpleton. it's like he has no discipline whatsoever anymore and is just content to make a 'movie' that is like a guided tour of an art gallery going from one little driblet from his mind to the next in random order.

Who was it said 'opinions are like arseholes.... everyone's got one'.

[Mr Sausage]

i feel like meditation or something must have turned david lynch into some sort of enlightened self-indulgent simpleton. it's like he has no discipline whatsoever anymore and is just content to make a 'movie' that is like a guided tour of an art gallery going from one little driblet from his mind to the next in random order.

Who was it said 'opinions are like arseholes.... everyone's got one'.

Except colostomy patients.

[miless]

Except colostomy patients.

yeah, they have ass-holes

[Mr Sausage]

Except colostomy patients.

yeah, they have ass-holes

It gets sown up to prevent problems.

And yes, I am well aware of how ridiculous this conversation is about to gete.

[Magic Hate Ball]

Today I realised that most of the things in this movie sound ridiculous or incredibly dull when discussed out of context. "A bunch of lesbians dance and sing The Locomotion and then disappear" sounds really stupid, but in the movie it's almost terrifying.

Who was it said 'opinions are like arseholes.... everyone's got one'.

I thought it was "Opinions are like onions". Are you suggesting I put an onion up my asshole?

[miless]

I thought it was "Opinions are like onions".

what, they make you cry when you cut them?

[eez28]

I thought it was "Opinions are like onions".

what, they make you cry when you cut them?

No, they have layers.

[Magic Hate Ball]

I thought it was "Opinions are like onions".

what, they make you cry when you cut them?

No, they have layers.

You're both wrong.

They give you bad breath.

[Lou Ming]

Well, lemme see if I can help get this back on track...

First off, from what I've read Mr. Lynch wasn't making a statement by using consumer grade digital video. He was creating content for his website (which hardly demands hi-def). As he shot more and more material he got ideas, and he ran with them and soon had something much bigger on his hands than just an online series. Although truthfully, it could easily remained that. But as he had with the cancelled Mulholland Drive pilot footage, he seized an opportunity that any creative person would and tried to make something more than what he had.

I never saw Inland Empire in the theatre, although I watched it several times on DVD. It's flawed in ways that Mulholland drive is not, it's also experimental in way that Mulholland drive is not, although these to aspects do not directly correspond to one another.

It's my considered opinion that the relative quality of the digital image, with the inherent immediacy of the format, spurred on an undiluted creative flow, one that continues with the "dreamlogic" of his best films. It is an indulgent piece by an artist who was in the mood to be indulgent. It's themes are consistent with the previously established concerns of Lynch the filmmaker and its esthetic compromises are nowhere to be found.

Now I'm of the opinion that unfettered creativity is often off-putting to most people, with the exception of the artist and his biggest fan/apologists. Since I'm in that category, I say Inland Empire is a wonderful experiment and bodes well for the next "film" project to come from Mr. Lynch. The simple addition of a script at the start of shooting (even thugh he's sure to rewrite along the way, as is his wont) will ensure an even more cohesive product.

Well, that's what I think, anyway...

[Macintosh]

Thought i should point out to everyone reading in the greater Los Angeles area that the Nu-Art theater is showing a brand new 35-mm print of Eraserhead tonight at Midnight. Hope to see any fellow .org members there.

[Nothing]

oh dear.

[exte]

oh dear.

David Lynch posted a response on Youtube!

dlynchfoundation (7 hours ago)

David Lynch here. (Part 1) I don't want to have anything to do with Hitler. We all know he was not a good person who did terrible things.

I want to support Invincible Universities to develop the full potential of the student—enlightenment—and to have students meditating together in a group to enliven and radiate the unified field—the field of peace—into the atmosphere, into the collective consciousness of every nation.

Have to say after watching both clips that Lynch sounds like a quack almost all throughout...

[Macintosh]

"When I was a kid my parents bought me a little plastic tape recorder thing. It had a microphone on it. You put a tape in and you could record your own voice on to a cassette. When I first got it I only used it to play tapes, but one day I discovered the mic. and tried talking into it. When I played the sound back I was horrified at the result. It sounded like someone else, and I hated it. I didn't try it again for a long time because I heated the sound of my own voice coming back at me through this machine.

Inland Empire is about the voice on the other end of that microphone. It's about the hate and confusion of that voice, self discovery through an alternate medium. Like our perception of ourself as apposed to the perception of us by those around us, and our perception of that perseption. Acting can be a form of self distortion. You here of the story's of actors taking there character home with them, those characters becoming them, or them becoming there characters. Actresses always complain of no good roles for women, they feel like whores for Hollywood, hence the sub-plot of the eastern European prostitute."

[Cde.]

Where can I find that interview?

Assuming, of course, that is an interview transcript.

[Oedipax]

Where can I find that interview?

Assuming, of course, that is an interview transcript.

Doubt very much it's an interview, at least one with Lynch. I can't imagine him talking about the film in such a straightforward, explanatory manner. "A woman in trouble" is the most he felt comfortable saying

[Cde.]

Where can I find that interview?

Assuming, of course, that is an interview transcript.

Doubt very much it's an interview, at least one with Lynch. I can't imagine him talking about the film in such a straightforward, explanatory manner. "A woman in trouble" is the most he felt comfortable saying

I know, but I thought Lynch might have slipped up and given some sort of an explanation of what he thought the film was about. It sounds just like some of the Lynchian interviews I've heard.

But you're right, it was probably too much to hope that Lynch would give such a clear cut explanation.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

I just learned of this today, but Amazon has the soundtrack to the movie. Little Eva and Nina Simone are included as well all of the instrumental cuts.

[Michael]

I've wandered into INLAND EMPIRE at least 15 times already and every time it felt less "too long" and less "frustrating". Every flaw becomes flawless. Everything in the film seems to congeal more and more every trip. Even it makes more sense that Laura Dern calls the bunnies. Or her receiving the recorded applause in the blinding light. Whether I've submitted to the gorgeous madness of the film, perceiving the whole empire as a normal world now... I don't know. INLAND EMPIRE is thoroughly a masterpiece, the greatest thing to ever come out of cinema in ten or twenty years. Maybe ever.

[Mr Sausage]

I've wandered into INLAND EMPIRE at least 15 times already and every time it felt less "too long" and less "frustrating". Every flaw becomes flawless. Everything in the film seems to congeal more and more every trip. Even it makes more sense that Laura Dern calls the bunnies. Or her receiving the recorded applause in the blinding light. Whether I've submitted to the gorgeous madness of the film, perceiving the whole empire as a normal world now... I don't know. INLAND EMPIRE is thoroughly a masterpiece, the greatest thing to ever come out of cinema in ten or twenty years. Maybe ever.

I was laying in bed last night and I discovered, definitively, that this is a great movie. Its texture was so vivid I could almost feel it. I don't know how he did it, but Lynch managed to make common household DV into a strange, rich surface. And how many other films would have a character burn a hole through a piece of frabric (veil) and slip through it into another dimension? Lynch earns the pure joy and relief of the final moments of the narrative with a vengence, and then caps everything off with a cheerful bit of energy and dance. The audience needs it, too, just as badly as Laura Palmer needed the angel image at Fire, Walk With Me's end.

Far from fifteen times, I've only seen it twice, and while I admired it greatly the first time, my admiration grows every time I think on it.

[luridedith]

I've wandered into INLAND EMPIRE at least 15 times already and every time it felt less "too long" and less "frustrating". Every flaw becomes flawless. Everything in the film seems to congeal more and more every trip. Even it makes more sense that Laura Dern calls the bunnies. Or her receiving the recorded applause in the blinding light. Whether I've submitted to the gorgeous madness of the film, perceiving the whole empire as a normal world now... I don't know. INLAND EMPIRE is thoroughly a masterpiece, the greatest thing to ever come out of cinema in ten or twenty years. Maybe ever.

I completely agree with you, although I absolutely loved IE immediately. I tend to be embarrassingly melodramatic when praising something and gush way too much but seriously this is my favourite movie of all time. I had never felt completely transfixed and involved in the world of a film as I had when I first watched it in the cinema. Its a film thats both hilarious and terrifying. While I can sort of understand criticisms of its length and lack of linear narrative (some people just will not ever enjoy something that isn't immediately coherent), I just don't get how a couple of people could not enjoy it on ANY level.

Its got so much humour about itself and a willingness to entertain (see the Nina Simone finale) that many avant-garde films of its kind lack so the "bad student film" criticism doesn't make sense to me. The people who say that obviously haven't seen enough student films or sat through so many god awful digital video experiments. There's so much skill and cleverness in IE that too many people dismiss.

[cgray]

Michael (or anybody else that wants to respond) -- in your 15 ventures with the film, how often do you view the "Other Things That Happened" feature? Do any of those scenes form part of your sum understanding of the film, or you're viewing the director cut (the film proper) by itself? Just curious.

[Michael]

Michael (or anybody else that wants to respond) -- in your 15 ventures with the film, how often do you view the "Other Things That Happened" feature? Do any of those scenes form part of your sum understanding of the film, or you're viewing the director cut (the film proper) by itself? Just curious.

I fast-forwarded through OTTH once. Maybe that sounds strange to you but I have no interest in exploring that. IE, the film itself, is one big beautiful bubble and seeing any part of OTTH would pop that bubble, at least for me. IE's rich, rare magic would be ruined. To attempt to understand IE better is missing out so much on the enthereal mystery of the film.

[Robin Davies]

I don't think OTTH will help you understand IE better: it just raises even more questions! Some of OTTH leaves me cold (like the extra stuff with the street girls) but the scene where lost girl is buying a watch from the phantom is mesmerising.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Michael (or anybody else that wants to respond) -- in your 15 ventures with the film, how often do you view the "Other Things That Happened" feature? Do any of those scenes form part of your sum understanding of the film, or you're viewing the director cut (the film proper) by itself? Just curious.

I fast-forwarded through OTTH once. Maybe that sounds strange to you but I have no interest in exploring that. IE, the film itself, is one big beautiful bubble and seeing any part of OTTH would pop that bubble, at least for me. IE's rich, rare magic would be ruined. To attempt to understand IE better is missing out so much on the enthereal mystery of the film.

OTTH won't destroy the magic at all. Just give it another shot. It may just surprise you to see how conventional Lynch can be when he wants to. I'm glad it was cut, but it has its moments. I love the very last shot, for example. I must get a screen capture of it to put on my desktop. Btw, how did you get through it fifteen times? I'm always tired after it. It's like waking up from the strangest dream or finishing a great red. You have to stay a minute and reorient yourself.