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INLAND EMPIRE.
StanleyPain 03/21/07, 13:43 | 
0 | Saw it last night at a local screening. I would imagine it's not in too many theaters, small or otherwise.
Has anyone else seen it?
My thoughts:
From an artistic standpoint the film is quite masterful in that it unrelentingly translates Lynch's penchant for making lengthy nightmares. And the film is basically one huge nightmare.
However, I think that he got way too self-induglent on this one. It makes NO sense, and I don't mean that in a cute "Oh, it's David Lynch" kind of way. At least Mulholland Drive was something you could figure out and piece together, even if it took repeated viewings.
This one I was only able to "get" MAYBE 10% of what the hell was going on. Lynch claims there's an actual mystery/story behind it that just has to be figured out, but I don't think any non-Lynch human is capable of figuring it out.
It's also too long. The movie is perfect for about an hour and a half. Lynch should have tightened it at used another 30-40 minutes to get things moving back in the right direction and end it. instead, it goes on for another hour and a half and becomes very challenging (and, note, I have no problem with long artsy films). The boredom in the theater was palpable. To my astonishment, I read somewhere that the Cannes version ran a mind-boggling 190-something minutes, during which people HAD to have walked out, yes?
So...one part of me can't forget the movie. How unrelentingly creepy, dark, and just plain pounding it is on your nerves and senses. But one part of me has to be kind of skeptical that it's much of a film. So...I guess maybe in that sense Lynch triumphed in making not a great film, but a unique experience for the senses.
I liked it, but I can't imagine sitting through it again in one sitting and despite being a huge Lynch fan, I can't really side with the reviewers praising this as some sort of career masterpiece. It builds on many themes and aspects of Lynch's previous work, but I frankly think it's too disjointed and ongoing to really qualify as "the work his life has been leading up to" kind of thing.
Discuss.
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