1175 Inland Empire

[Michael]

Holy shit, it's all clear to me now!

Actually, IE is about an actress's creative process and reaches some sort of enlightenment in the end, battling some demons along the "yellow brick road" and so forth. 8 1/2 (which Lynch claims as one of his favorites) deals with a filmmaker's creative process and also like Laura Dern, reaches the enlightenment - Guido looking out of the car window and Nikki looking at the shining light no longer flickering.
And following that, party time!

One of the things I love about IE is its ghostly tone, it really gets me thinking of it as a ghost story where ghosts meet in a dimension where there is no place, no time, etc. - the dimension called "enlightenment" perhaps.

[dadaistnun]

Talk of the Nation interview

[blindside8zao]

this movie was more comprehensible than Mulholland Drive for me (at least if my interpretations are accurate). I think many reactions to the supposedly incomprehensible narrative are more masked reactions to the new DV format and length.

[exte]

Talk of the Nation interview

What a great interview. I have to say I never really got into Lynch's interviews, or rather sought them out, as I have with other directors like Herzog, Cronenberg or von Trier, but he sounds great. I guess his blathering on the Eraserhead dvd turned me off big time, since it was so unfocused (or so I thought at the time...) Anyway, I hope to find many more of his soon...

[Michael]

this movie was more comprehensible than Mulholland Drive for me (at least if my interpretations are accurate). I think many reactions to the supposedly incomprehensible narrative are more masked reactions to the new DV format and length.

Really? Watching IE every time, it becomes a totally different story every time. At least for me. I watched it again last night and felt that my initial thoughts and interpretations of the film became worthless now because last nights viewing made the Lost Girl came out in the light more in my mind, forcing me to rethink everything.

But I think it's best to go by what Matt wrote:

Honestly, I have no idea what's going on in the film and I'm more than happy to keep it that way. Even in grad school for film studies, I resisted the "interpretation" of films. Now--especially when I'm not required to perform interpretation in any way, shape, or form (except for the rare instance of reviewing something)--I appreciate being able just to accept a film as it gives itself to me.

[Matt]

Thanks for that, Michael. I, too, thought I had Lost Highway and Mulholland Dr figured out the first time I watched them. Then I saw them again and realized I knew nothing. I wouldn't be surprised if Lynch, like Buñuel, intentionally threw in conflicting scenes just to thwart tidy interpretations of his films.

[blindside8zao]

I guess his blathering on the Eraserhead dvd turned me off big time, since it was so unfocused (or so I thought at the time...) Anyway, I hope to find many more of his soon...

I hope you're saying you've revised your opinion on his interviews. I think his "blathering" on Eraserhead is a beautiful (to use one of his favorite words) thing and I'd rather watch it than many movies. I'm glad they included those extras of him giving interviews. I'm really pleased with the second disc of this release, particularly the 80 minutes or so of deleted scenes.

It was really interesting to see how much more humor I felt like was mixed with sad trailer trash decadence in the talk that Dern has with the man upstairs with glasses. Many times I use to get angry with anyone who would laugh too much in certain of his scenes, as if they had oversimplified it to just weird humor.

[eez28]

this movie was more comprehensible than Mulholland Drive for me (at least if my interpretations are accurate).

I wish Lynch had made the tv calibration the first thing to click on the menu because I skipped it before my viewing so throughout the film I kept thinking damn this is really dark. I couldn't see crap, so I attributed it to the DV, mind you I still was intrigued by the film and it kept my attention throughout the entire 3 hours. So when it finished I did the calibration and played it again and was stunned at how much more beautiful it all was (should have been) and I preceded to watch the first half of it again. It was really cool fighting off sleep at 3am and having this film bounce around my head, now that I could see some of the things I missed the first time and also really focus on the dialogue and connect it to later parts of the film.

Back to the quote I posted, I have a feeling that IE is going to take a lot more work for me than MD. After a second viewing on MD it all clicked and it has been one of my favorites and I don't know if I'll ever figure out IE anytime soon, but I think I can live with that.

[blindside8zao]

I actually had a similar experience with my first viewing of Eraserhead, which was on VHS. The lighting was soo dark but I thought it was all a part of the film and it actually made for an interesting viewing experience. I imagine watching one of his color films that way would be different. I think it really made me appreciate the sound of Eraserhead.

[Magic Hate Ball]

I, too, thought I had Lost Highway and Mulholland Dr figured out the first time I watched them. Then I saw them again and realized I knew nothing. I wouldn't be surprised if Lynch, like Buñuel, intentionally threw in conflicting scenes just to thwart tidy interpretations of his films.

With Lost Highway, especially. That one's like a Rubix cube you think you get finished and then you turn it over and two single colors are swapped. I actually have a widescreen copy of that on my computer, I should watch it again. The first time I saw it, my friend had downloaded it and burnt it onto a DVD for me, but it was the pan-scan version with the top and bottom cut off so it looked like it was 2.35:1. It was really strange, but oddly satisfying that all you could see were some heads wandering around.

[rs98762001]

LA folks: another Lynch public appearance, signing INLAND EMPIRE DVDs, tonight at 7pm at Barnes & Noble at the Grove.

[lord_clyde]

LA folks: another Lynch public appearance, signing INLAND EMPIRE DVDs, tonight at 7pm at Barnes & Noble at the Grove.

Just tell me when he's coming to SLC! I can dream, can't I?

[exte]

I saw this on dvd yesterday, and like others I skipped past the calibration settings without realizing it. Anyway, I really thought the film looked beautiful (which really shocked me). I loved the way Lynch shot it with so many dark shadows and his use of light (though not the flashlights, perhaps). The title, as someone else said, was really gorgeous. I thought the only parts that looked like DV, with my normal tv settings, was when a light source was clearly visible in the frame. That, and when they are outside in plain daylight, as well as his extreme closeups... Oddly, and maybe it's because I didn't properly calibrate, I thought the film looked better on my tv than when I saw it projected in the theater. Lynch's book is great, albeit short. I find his way of thinking inspiring, the more I read it.

[Roger_Thornhill]

Lynch sure loves the PD150, I wonder if he's going to use that on his next film or go the HD route?

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

This is enthralling as fuck! Two hours passed and I barely noticed it! I love the look of this movie. I think I have a new favorite Lynch.
After all those deleted scenes, I'm curious as to how Lynch crafts his narrative. How do you go from one part of some sense to a total mindfuck the next? He seems to work intuitively anyway for where everything goes, but here it confounds me. I guess it'll be mandatory repeated viewings now. This movie has so bewitched me. I can only imagine how it played in the theatre.
By the way, do not forget to calibrate. It makes a real difference. I did so and it really brought out the beauty of everything.

[Floyd]

I was taken in by this latest Lynch project. I sat watching it alone starting a 1 AM and sat there sitting up with a blanket clinched for a lot of it. It seemed to me as I have used cameras similar to this that his work with light is very important to try and grasp as he makes it look so good in some places with this very consumer camera.

I would assume he shot the earlier stuff when he first began he had light blow outs from behind and lamps turned on everywhere because he knew he felt he needed lots of light (which is correct usually). To see basically how he progresses in understanding his tool to make this very accomplished work by using the light strength/weaknesses capabilities of the camera to his advantage throughout INLAND EMPIRE was very fascinating to see. I haven't seen anything before where it is very evident where there is such a constant refining of abilities over a whole length of time like this. Really beautiful.

[Solaris]

Lynch has announced that the soundtrack will be released within a few weeks.

[MichaelB]

I wouldn't be surprised if Lynch, like Buñuel, intentionally threw in conflicting scenes just to thwart tidy interpretations of his films.

This is absolutely correct - he and co-writer Barry Gifford deliberately made sure that Lost Highway makes no rational sense.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Solaris, do you know what is that song near the end that plays before Nina Simone? I'm quite intrigued by it.
Anyway, I'm trying to make sense of that dance routine over the credits. Any insight anyone?

[Michael]

Anyway, I'm trying to make sense of that dance routine over the credits. Any insight anyone?

It's a reward for the viewers. Give them a release after spending a long hard journey. The monkey dancing in the strobe light.. did it make you smile? It did for me. Anything to get the whores back to dancing and Nina Simone, I'm okay with it. It's just some good fun.

[Matt]

Not a huge insight, but you get to see a couple of characters who were only mentioned in the film, plus Nastassja Kinski, whose part was cut out of the film.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Well, I smiled when I saw that blonde and her monkey and then especially the brunette in the next shot! But when I saw the lady and her monkey I recalled the story earlier in the film and wondered if something would happen next. It's David Lynch for goodness sake! I guess I was reading too much into it so thank you. That Simone number was quite a closer, though. I was hoping that the girls who did the locomotion would be back. Is it true they were Suicide Girls?

[Michael]

I was hoping that the girls who did the locomotion would be back. Is it true they were Suicide Girls?

Oh I thought they were the locomotion whores. I didn't pay close attention to their faces but more to their dresses, shoes, the dancing, etc.

[Oedipax]

Solaris, do you know what is that song near the end that plays before Nina Simone? I'm quite intrigued by it.
Anyway, I'm trying to make sense of that dance routine over the credits. Any insight anyone?

It's called "Polish Poem," by David Lynch and Chrysta Bell.

[TomReagan]

Well, I'll be damned – this is, quite possibly, the first film that I found to be somber and thrilling at the same time. That's quite a feat, similar to the dénouement of Mulholland Drive writ large and far murkier. Although I find MD to be damn near perfect in every regard – especially the last hour or so – IE actually throttled me in a way that MD only hinted at. I'll have to check the times again on the DVD, but from about 40 minutes in through to the “Locomotionâ€