Gateway Cinephiles

Filim Diary: Inland Empire

2006
Director: David Lynch
Viewed: November 16, 2007
Format: DVD - Absurda / Rhino (2007)

While I can appreciate how some Lynch aficionados might have found this film aimless or just tedious, I have the same impression I had after my first viewing of Mulholland Drive: the sense of a compelling, almost biblical story, despite my difficulty in grasping it or conveying it. Unlike the unfinished plot threads in Mulholland Drive–likely relics of the miscarried television series–I didn’t get the sense of much that was extraneous or unresolved here. And like most Lynch films, Inland Empire has an oppressive nightmare sensibility to which I instinctively respond. This film will definitely require multiple viewings and conversations with other fans before I can digest it completely.