INLAND EMPIRE (Lynch, 2006)

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Oh, I will. I'm going to watch it tonight. Just wanted to watch the first 5 minutes or so in order to get a grasp on what I'll be getting myself into LOL



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Hey Sedai, I bought IE for 8.99 today. :D

Someone bought a copy earlier in the day, watched it, hated it (Said they didn't get it) sold it to a local CD Warehouse while I was at the store and bought it right then and there.



A system of cells interlinked
I had plans last night, so Inland Empire wasn't in the cards...until my company left... then I popped it in... It was damn late and I was damn tired, but I liked the 1.5 hours I did see before I passed out... Very cool stuff, and, not quite as obtuse as I had heard.

I am sure that will change in the next 1.5 hours...



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I got two hours into it and I'm only able to put together bits and pieces of the story so far.

The rest I can't possibly understand. It all seems so random where as MD didn't jump around so much.

The Chicago Sun Times review was right about it though "You're still watching it hours after it's over"



A system of cells interlinked
I can't get it out of my head. Still, I loved the vibe of the film, and the experimental/bizarre stuff they have interspersed throughout is awesome! The way they guy can manipulate mood is incredible.



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Sedai, we need a discussion thread when we're done watching this. I have to get this all sorted out.

I only have a few theories about a few parts here and there.



A system of cells interlinked
I am thinking it isn't really something that is sortable. It seems like crazy cinematic poetry to me, and it hit just the right spot while I was buzzing late at night... Quite painterly, as well..



A system of cells interlinked
Just read this...

"a phantasmagoric nightmare sprung to life. It defies description, burrowing to corners of the human psyche so dark and unsparing that many people (read: Lynch's non-supporters) won't want to go there"



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Well, I've talked to someone and he said he wouldn't tell me until I asked him for the answer, but he said if you look for it really hard, you'll see just as defined a plot line as Mulholland Dr. had. He said everything is there for a reason and everything can be explained like in MD.

Plus, Lynch said he was randomly shooting some stuff with Laura Dern when he started to find ways to connect it all. He says it has a meaning, so I need to figure out what it is.

If this is a movie that doesn't have a rhyme or reason, I'll be bummed. Randomly thrown together scenes isn't something I want out of a Lynch movie. I want to unlock a mystery to what I just saw.



A system of cells interlinked
Bump


I am loving what I have seen so far (about 1.5 hours), and many typical Lynchisms have already bubbled to the surface. Identity, duality in the film industry and acting in general, false realities, the current state of mass entertainment, adultery, the Hollywood dream machine, and on and on...

I can't wait to really sink my teeth into this one!
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



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Someone told me they thought it was a modern day homage to Sunset Blvd. An actress past her prime who is going completely insane.

Couple thoughts of my own to this point.

* Some of what we are seeing is an actress playing a role. I think her conversations with the therapist guy is a movie. If you'll look next to the guy, they focus in at one point on the letter A, and then some others next to it that are faded. When Laura Dern showed up on set and saw herself and Justin Theroux, she entered through an alley. Outside the alley, there were markings on the wall of the studio that said something like "A zzz" or something. I think it might be a studio set type marking, and that makes me think the markings might be the same in the therapy place, which would mean movie. Follow me?

* The girls in the hotel room or whatever, are extensions of Laura Dern's self. I think she's going crazy. If you'll remember when they were all discussing a relationship and saying things like "I saw it coming" or "I really thought you guys would last" the girls all seem to have different opinions, but are all depressed. I think this must be Laura Dern's character at war with her own thoughts and heart. It's parts of her offering her opinions.

* The creepy polish lady at the beginning told the story of a girl who went to play at the marketplace, but by this, she played in the alley. That made no sense to me, but Laura Dern did go shopping at the market later, and parked in the alley because there were always spaces. It's also where she stumbled on to the set.

* I think the creepy lady at the beginning may be a movie. When they show that girl crying in front of a TV at the beginning, the TV is rewinding. It shows the rabbit show and in rewind, shows the creepy polish lady walking up the steps of Laura Dern's house which we would see in real time only moments later. Makes me think the girl was watching a movie that Dern had been in possibly.

I really don't have anything else. What about you, Sedai?



A system of cells interlinked
I want to finish it before commenting TOO much on it, but knowing Lynch, who likes to make his audience experience psychosis with his characters, I have a feeling we are in that space again with him here...

Quite the impressionist work, I am trying to stay as far away as I can from the minutae of the film right now, and I am just trying to absorb the more global concepts, which seem pretty clear to me at this point. Again, I don't see an A-B-C progression here, so I am not going to attempt to attach one to the film until it begins to emerge, if it ever does.

This is unfettered Lynch, and it shows, at least in the segments I have viewed so far... It's coming across as pure surrealist vision at this point.

Bravo!



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Just finished it. There is definitely something there, but I don't know what. I'm sure it makes sense, but there's too much stuff confusing me right now.



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OK, my mind is scrambling right now.

This is my best, flawed guess at this moment. There's still plenty of holes with my theory that I need to work out, but here's the gist of it.

* The girl crying in the hotel room is the original Sue from the project that was shut down.

* Laura Dern is an actress looking to get back on top. Her name is Nikki.

* The movie is cursed and Nikki begins to sink into the role...literally. She sleeps with Billy like the role requires, but she thinks it's real.

* When they're sleeping together, Nikki begins to remember something that happens tomorrow. She is trying to fight being taken over by the role and says over and over again that it's Nikki and not Sue, but Billy keeps laughing it off.

* The next day, her vision comes true. She walks through the back door and is busted, she runs away so that no one can see her there. Her husband, who she spots in the back, isn't really there. It's her mind playing tricks on her and her complete fear of being found out.

* From this time out, Nikki is Sue. The house that she's trapped in with the hookers, is her subconscious. Nikki is stuck in there while Sue lives her life, and her life is the role at this point. The hookers are parts of herself at war. Trying to figure things out.

That's all I have right now. I'll try and hammer this out more later, because I know there are flaws in my theory, but I think I'm getting close.



A system of cells interlinked
I will need a bit of time to digest all this. I will say one thing. There were some seriously creepy and messed up scenes in the film. The murder was tough to sit through...Realistic, grim, and very sad.



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I think the creepiest part was when Laura Dern was slowly walking down a pathway with a spotlight on her and then picks up speed and a loud crash plays. It just freaked me out.