inri222

35mm screening in NYC for anyone interested.

https://www.filmlinc.org/films/inland-empire/

Jack Straw

And...never to be heard from again. Not surprised

I was flirting with picking this up, but if Lynch fans are saying that THIS is just too weird for them, then I will fucking HATE IT!

Nick Danger

I finally saw Inland Empire. I didn't like it.

Years ago, I read an interview with an author in the Paris Review. He described his novel not as plotless, but as having a plot that was barely there, a snail trail of a plot. He was surprised when he received letters from a couple of readers who had actually figured out what he was thinking. He didn't expect that anyone at all would get it.

I think David Lynch would be similarly surprised if he got a letter from a fan who got out of the movie what he put into it.

TheDude

I'm a big Lynch fan from way back, and have seen Inland Empire twice: Once in the theater when it had a limited release in my area back in Spring 2007, and last year on DVD.

And, even after a second viewing - IE is definitely Lynch's densest & most incomprehensible movie. Essentially, the whole film just seemed like one big mind-f$#%, without any kind of rhyme or reason to connect anything together.

The only things I really "got" from this was the following:

The Laura Dern & Justin Theroux characters were an actress/actor on a film set, and off the set they were having an affair. LD's husband (in "real life") warned off the JT character from seeing his wife.

There were a couple of scenes that appeared to take place in Poland?!

There was a Hollywood street scene that showed the LD character getting stabbed by a fellow?! prostitute, and then slowly dying on the street - however, this didn't "really" happen & was actually part of a film, given that at the end of the scene, you saw a film crew panning back from the scene & LD slowly stirring. It also seems that the character LD was playing here was not the same character she was playing in the scenes she had with JT.

The final scene was the most bizarre - it took place in the front room of an old house, with women just walking around in a daze. Was this supposed to be hell?! Purgatory?!

The film had several seemingly unconnected dance sequences - including the final scene in the film.

That all being said, as with much of Lynch's work I found this a fascinating viewing experience. IE definitely requires a lot of patience to get through, and there's no real pay-off at the end which "explains" the story. However, it's still an interesting film & I see it as one long stream of consciousness story. Also cool to see Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, and Grace Zabriskie in the film - given than they had all been in previous DL productions.

Supermallet

I think you’re being extremely generous to a film that feels like Lynch vomited and called it art.

inri222

I loved it, one of the best films of 2006.

Greg MacGuffin

I hated it the first time I saw it in the theater. Had to watch it again for a class several years later and was really dreading it but after the second (and subsequent) viewings I have really grown to love it. It's a movie that rewards repeat viewings if you have the patience for it.

dex14