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Posted: **Thu May 12, 2005 5:01 am**

"Strange, what love does." The role of a lifetime, a Hollywood mystery, a woman in trouble...David Lynch's first digitally shot feature makes visionary use of the medium to weave a vast meditation on the enigmas of time, identity, and cinema itself. Featuring a tour de force performance from Laura Dern as an actor on the edge, this labyrinthine Dream Factory nightmare tumbles down an endless series of unfathomably interconnected rabbit holes as it takes viewers on a hallucinatory odyssey into the deepest realms of the unconscious mind.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED TWO-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New HD digital master, made from the 4K restoration supervised by director David Lynch, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and uncompressed stereo soundtracks, newly remastered by Lynch and original rerecording mixers Dean Hurley and Ron Eng
• Two films from 2007, LYNCH (one) and LYNCH2, by blackANDwhite, the makers of David Lynch: The Art Life
• New conversation between actors Laura Dern and Kyle MacLachlan
• More Things That Happened, seventy-five minutes of extra scenes
• Ballerina, a 2007 short film by Lynch
• Reading by Lynch of excerpts from Room to Dream, his 2018 book with critic Kristine McKenna
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: Excerpts from Richard A. Barney's book David Lynch: Interviews

Posted: **Thu May 12, 2005 9:54 am**

Lynch invades an 'Empire'
Digital pic details a mystery

By ADAM DAWTREY

David Lynch is making a new movie with StudioCanal. In fact, he's already been shooting it under the radar for two years. Titled "INLAND EMPIRE" (in capitals, though Lynch doesn't explain why), it stars Laura Dern, along with Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, Jeremy Irons and a host of others Lynch won't specify. In fact, there's still very little the enigmatic Lynch is comfortable to reveal about the movie.

"It's about a woman in trouble, and it's a mystery, and that's about all I want to say about it," he comments diffidently.

The title refers to the bleak residential area on the edge of the desert near L.A. -- the antithesis of the tony locale of his last movie "Mulholland Drive."

Lynch has shot much of his latest film in Poland with local actors, after making friends with the organizers of the Camerimage festival in Lodz. He's now back shooting in and around Los Angeles.

Even at this relatively advanced stage of production, Lynch is cagey about when it will be finished. But it's understood that StudioCanal is aiming for a world preempreem at Cannes next year.

"Making a film is a beautiful mystery," Lynch says. "You go deep into the wood, and you don't want to come out of that wood, but the time is coming very soon when I will have to."

Lynch has financed the production to date from his own resources, with his wife and longtime artistic collaborator Mary Sweeney producing. The budget is unknown.

StudioCanal, which financed "Mulholland Drive""Mulholland Drive" and "The Straight Story," has come aboard "INLAND EMPIRE" to handle worldwide sales.

Digital convert

What Lynch will reveal -- and indeed, waxes lyrical about -- is the fact that he's shooting the movie on digital video.

"I started working in DV for my Web site, and I fell in love with the medium. It's unbelievable, the freedom and the incredible different possibilities it affords, in shooting and in post-production."

"For me, there's no way back to film. I'm done with it," Lynch says. "I love abstraction. Film is a beautiful medium, but it's very slow and you don't get a chance to try a lot of different things. With DV, you get those chances. And in post-production, if you can think it, you can do it."

DV has clearly given Lynch the freedom from having to clarify his intentions -- to financiers, or even to himself -- before he starts shooting.

"The explaining of things in words is always a huge problem," he confesses.

He characterizes the DV production process as a journey of "huge exploration" to discover what his film will be.

"I'm writing as I go," he says. "I believe in the unity of things. When you have one part, and then a second part that doesn't relate to that first part, it's very curious to find that they do relate after all. It's a most beautiful thing."

He also believes that it produces a different kind of performances from actors. "When you run out of film, you have to stop and reload, and during that time the heat sometimes goes off. But with this medium you can keep that heat, and it builds, and it's beautiful to see."

He says that Dern, in particular, has benefited from this freedom. "She's the most incredible actress. Some people get roles and do their thing, but some have a lot more inside and don't usually get the chance to show it."

As for the quality of the DV image, Lynch says, "It looks different. Some would say it looks bad. But it reminds me of early 35mm, that didn't have that tight grain. When you have a poor image, there's lots more room to dream."

"But I've done tests transferring DV to film, and there are all kinds of controls to dial in the look you want." --Adam Dawtrey, Variety

I'll seen anything that Lynch makes even if it's bad. Dark Horizons posted that Lynch has been shooting the film off and on for over 2 years now

Posted: **Thu May 12, 2005 1:11 pm**

I'm excited to hear that he's working with DV now. He's always taken a painterly approach to his movies and working on DV will allow him to manipulate and tweak his movies even more now than ever before. It should be interesting to see what he comes up with.

Posted: **Thu May 12, 2005 4:36 pm**

Wow, I'd really been wondering what he's been up to lately. I can't wait for this!

Also glad to see him move to DV. The extra room for experimentation is really fitting for Lynch.

Posted: **Thu May 12, 2005 7:59 pm**

I'm definitely going to see this when it comes out. Even if I hate it I will still want to support Mr. Lynch by trying to put the money he spent on the film back in his pocket.

Posted: **Fri May 13, 2005 9:33 am**

Ok I though that the film was going to be shown at Cannes next year, but then there is this from the IMDB:

Eccentric movie-maker David Lynch is so keen to keep the details of his new movie under wraps at the Cannes Film Festival, he has insisted that all posters remain covered until the film airs. The Twin Peaks director has corralled a group of his regular actors, like Laura Dern and Harry Dean Stanton, and teamed them up with Jeremy Irons for the mysterious thriller, reportedly called Inland Empire. The film will be unveiled at Cannes later this week, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lynch reveals, "It's about a woman in trouble, and it's a mystery, and that's about all I want to say about it."

So does this mean that the film is done or that he is showing what he has filmed or far?

Posted: **Fri May 13, 2005 1:45 pm**

I'm sure none of us know here. But I'm also sure that we will soon found out.

I have to say that I'm intrigued. Lynch is one of the few directors whose films still have an effect on me after all these years. And each new one is always an event in my filmgoing life. Let's see what he has cooked up this time.

As a side note, it was pretty clever of him to have the posters covered until the day he unveils it or part of it to the world (he knows all to well of the power of internet these days!).

Posted: **Fri May 13, 2005 6:09 pm**

David Lynch and Jeremy Irons? In DV? This should be interesting...

Posted: **Sat May 14, 2005 12:40 am**

"For me, there's no way back to film. I'm done with it," Lynch says.

No matter what mysteries and riches are ahead Lynch and his beautiful canvas, I can't help but feel like I've lost a close friend. Lynch without film grain, those velvety blacks and deep, deep reds....I need my blanket.

Posted: **Sat May 14, 2005 3:13 am**

arturo wrote:"Making a film is a beautiful mystery," Lynch says.

mystery is at the center of all art, and david lynch is my hero.

<---and note my location.

Posted: **Sat May 14, 2005 4:54 am**

devlinnn wrote:
"For me, there's no way back to film. I'm done with it," Lynch says.
No matter what mysteries and riches are ahead Lynch and his beautiful canvas, I can't help but feel like I've lost a close friend. Lynch without film grain, those velvety blacks and deep, deep reds....I need my blanket.

Indeed. Part of the fun of Lynch's films is the lighting and how gorgeous the images are (particularly Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Elephant Man). I can't say I'm a fan of feature films shot on DV, though I do think it's an interesting challenge for Lynch (and I'm as excited about seeing the results as anybody is here). With that said, I hope he changes his mind about never coming back to film (for me, lighting on DV isn't nearly as good as on film, and as a master of lighting, it would be a shame if Lynch completely abandoned film). I look forward to reading more about it.

Posted: **Sat May 14, 2005 7:30 am**

I'm glad Lynch is switching to DV. Beautiful images can be achieved with this technology. It's certainly harder than with film, but a part of that is probably due to the fact that the industry doesn't have a century of cinematographic experience in this medium. But Lynch has a painterly eye (literally of course), and I have confidence in his ability to keep making beautiful works on a digital canvas. It'll make his movies cost less, and in my opinion, anything that makes movie making less expensive also makes it more honest.

Posted: **Sat May 14, 2005 1:22 pm**

I think his point is that the more money you have wrapped up in a project, the more nervous the investors get and the more they want to "see" their money on-screen and the more they want you to play it safe and keep things commercial. Correct me if I'm wrong, solaris.

Posted: **Sat May 14, 2005 9:37 pm**

Yeah, that's pretty much what I meant. Because Lynch had to go to studios for funding on Blue Velvet, he had to cut it down to two hours; he did the cutting, so what we have on DVD is his "director's cut," but the fact remains that he wanted a longer Blue Velvet originally. Unless a filmmaker is somehow independently wealthy and is able to fund his projects by himself (or, in the case of someone like Brakhage, makes the kinds of films that can be made for just the cost of the materials), money makes the artist indebted to someone, be it a studio or an investor. The more an artist is able to take the cost of a film out of the equation, the less potential there is for interference.

Posted: **Mon May 16, 2005 5:22 pm**

THX1378 wrote:Ok I though that the film was going to be shown at Cannes next year, but then there is this from the IMDB
Eccentric movie-maker David Lynch is so keen to keep the details of his new movie under wraps at the Cannes Film Festival, he has insisted that all posters remain covered until the film airs. The Twin Peaks director has corralled a group of his regular actors, like Laura Dern and Harry Dean Stanton, and teamed them up with Jeremy Irons for the mysterious thriller, reportedly called Inland Empire. The film will be unveiled at Cannes later this week, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lynch reveals, "It's about a woman in trouble, and it's a mystery, and that's about all I want to say about it."
So does this mean that the film is done or that he is showing what he has filmed or far?

This blurb, combined w/ the Variety article, makes it sound to me like Lynch is at Cannes to hype a film that is still in production. He is debuting just the poster and probably hoping to either attract investors with enough money for him to finish the film or distributors interested in distributing the film when it is done.

Posted: **Mon May 16, 2005 5:31 pm**

BWilson wrote:This blurb, combined w/ the Variety article, makes it sound to me like Lynch is at Cannes to hype a film that is still in production. He is debuting just the poster and probably hoping to either attract investors with enough money for him to finish the film or distributors interested in distributing the film when it is done.

That's exactly what's happening. He already pulled in a few new international investors. Seems like a lot of filmmakers are pulling in just enough at Cannes to either start or finish a feature.

Posted: **Tue May 17, 2005 10:18 am**

Just the way that it sounded on IMDB that the film will be unveiled at Cannes seemed like they were going to show a early cut of the film or that they were going to show what Lynch had filmed so far. Any which way I'm glad that next year sometime will see something new from Lynch.

Posted: **Sun May 22, 2005 4:48 pm**

Well, any news from the Festival yet? I want to see that poster for the new film very badly or did something went teribly wrong? I can't find anything online about it.

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2005 1:04 pm**

Annie Mall wrote:Well, any news from the Festival yet? I want to see that poster for the new film very badly or did something went teribly wrong? I can't find anything online about it.

I read that the clip showed actors walking around with rabbit masks on their heads. This sounds familiar -- footage similar to this aired on Lynch's official website awhile ago.

Posted: **Mon May 23, 2005 5:30 pm**

Fletch F. Fletch wrote:
Annie Mall wrote:Well, any news from the Festival yet? I want to see that poster for the new film very badly or did something went teribly wrong? I can't find anything online about it.
I read that the clip showed actors walking around with rabbit masks on their heads. This sounds familiar -- footage similar to this aired on Lynch's official website awhile ago.

Lynch shot a series of eight shorts entitled Rabbits, which was some sort of strange sit-com influenced work, and put them on his website. They, of all things, feature the two ladies from Mulholland Drive, albeit disguised under rabbit costumes. You can check out its IMDB profile and learn more.

Posted: **Wed May 25, 2005 2:56 pm**

Mr_sausage wrote:Lynch shot a series of eight shorts entitled Rabbits, which was some sort of strange sit-com influenced work, and put them on his website. They, of all things, feature the two ladies from Mulholland Drive, albeit disguised under rabbit costumes. You can check out it's IMDB profile and learn more.

Yeah, here's a still:

Posted: **Wed May 25, 2005 4:02 pm**

Donnie Darko in Lynchland?

Posted: **Fri May 27, 2005 6:25 am**

This is getting completely off-topic, but I think Intolerable Cruelty is utterly hilarious, one of the best comedies in recent memory. In my opinion, Clooney is a painfully undervalued comic genius -- almost at Cary Grant level.

Now back to the tide of Inland Empire updates!

Posted: **Fri May 27, 2005 9:34 am**

This is getting completely off-topic

Yes...and no. The reason so many of us are excited about a whisper of a new Lynch work is the fact that he is one of the few filmmakers still working that we can still trust to deliver a personal vision on screen. Not sure what Kenji means by 'up to snuff', but at least with Lynch you know it is his work, and his work alone. No need for 'Director's Cut' (Dune excepted, naturally) as seems to be the norm with so many of the 'great' directors today.

It might be worth discussing in another topic our own thoughts as to the working directors we continue to have faith in, and who over recent years have lost us, and the whys and whatnots.

Posted: **Mon May 30, 2005 1:21 am**

Who's expecting the new Lynch film to be better/worse than Mulholland Drive? I'm holding out hope that it'll be his best movie since Lost Highway.

Grant and Clooney? Well, if you watch His Girl Friday, one can certainly see similarities between the two. Let's hope that the Coens don't remake it.

However, as a Grant partisan, I must say that Grant is suaver and funnier than Clooney. Oh, and being British didn't hurt.

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1175 Inland Empire

1175 Inland Empire