Bunny Rabbit Nightmare (Inland Empire (DVD))

Member Name: Zmugzy

Product:	Inland Empire (DVD)
Date:	21/08/09 (156 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sublime nerve jangling moments but still makes you smile

Disadvantages: Highly perplexing and drags in parts

Inland Empire, produced in 2006, was director David Lynch's first feature length film since Mulholland Drive in 2001 and is shot entirely in standard definition digital video. The cast comprises many Lynch regulars such as Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, and Grace Zabriskie. There are also contributions from Jeremy Irons, Diane Ladd, Nastassja Kinski, William H. Macy, Laura Harring, and Ben Harper. The DVD was rented and disappointingly there were no extras apart from a trailer. Nor is there the option of jumping to different chapters of the movie.

Nikki Grace (Laura Dern) is a film actress who's just landed a new role playing Susan Blue alongside Devon Berk (Justin Theroux) in a new film production called 'On High in Blue Tomorrows'. At least that's what the two lead actors are led to believe. Just before the shoot begins, their director Kingsley Stewart (Jeremy Irons) along with his weird sidekick Freddie Howard (Harry Dean Stanton), informs them that 'On High in Blue Tomorrows' is actually a remake of an old movie based on a Polish-Gypsy folk-tale. This older movie was abandoned halfway through due to the two leading actors being murdered in mysterious circumstances. Right on cue as this information is revealed strange things begin to happen on set and as the shooting of the scenes for the remake take place Nikki Grace's perceptions of time and space seem to become distorted as she is transported and transfigured through a series of parallel worlds.

Trying to explain what happens next is almost a futile task, but just to give you a vague idea I will try to describe it. On one level Lynch uses the concept of a movie within a movie to puzzle the audience so that we're never sure if we're witnessing a scene from 'On High in Blue Tomorrows' or merely a scene from 'Inland Empire'. To complicate matters further (and I'm guessing here) we also witness at various points not only what appear to be scenes from the original Polish movie but also scenes from the past that occur in Poland. Added to this are dreamlike sequences that appear to take place in modern day America. Laura Dern as Nikki Grace is central to most of these scenes and seems to take on numerous different guises within them. On other occasions one is never sure if events are happening within the fragmented mind of Nikki Grace.

There are plenty of weirdly wonderful or disturbingly sinister characters in this film, some of whom seem to have an important role - most notably Nikki Grace's jealous husband who appears in various guises throughout the film and the cluster of prostitutes that gather around Nikki in various claustrophobic settings. The anthropomorphic rabbits are no doubt the weirdest of the lot and defy explanation. Apparently these rabbit scenes were taken from an earlier short film produced in 2002 and released exclusively on Lynch's website

One important figure is 'The Lost Girl' (Karolina Gruszka) who at times appears as a petrified viewer watching all the events on a TV screen or alternatively appears as a tormented persecuted figure from the past. There is also the strange neighbour who visits Nikki's mansion in the opening scenes brilliantly played by Grace Zabriskie. There were impressive performances all round, the Polish actors (I'm assuming most of them were Polish) in particular were brilliant. But Laura Dern, as she has been so often in her many collaborations with the director, was outstanding in the central role. Her countless facial expressions of puzzlement, bewilderment and sheer horror were truly captivating and no doubt mirrored my own as I watched this film.

Despite the film's predominantly nightmarish quality Lynch still leaves room for his usual quirky humour and those bizarre episodes of perplexing dialogue usually issued from the lips of Harry Dean Stanton:
"Well... There is a vast network, right? An ocean of possibilities. I like dogs. I used to raise rabbits. I've always loved animals. Their nature. How they think. I have seen dogs reason their way out of problems. Watched them think through the trickiest situations. Do you have a couple of bucks I could borrow? I've got this damn landlord..."

Amidst all the confusion there are some beautifully shot scenes, particularly the dream-like night sequences in Poland. There is also some well crafted editing as Lynch twists the story one way and then the next in order to ratchet up the suspense and terror. The usual Lynchian symbols of dark narrow corridors, pink and green interiors, red curtains and flickering lights have never been used more effectively. In a previous review someone criticised the shaky camera work and the use of digital video, but I thought the use of DV hand held cameras fitted the film like a glove and in no way was my enjoyment spoilt. In fact I thought the hand-held close ups and wide angle lenses were superbly effective in the way they distorted the faces of the characters and created a sense of eerie claustrophobia.

Inland Empire might be considered a little lengthy at nearly three hours running time. There probably are some scenes that dragged, but personally I think the running time is only an issue because this is a very challenging film to watch - the plot is a complex puzzle that you're constantly trying to work out but which only gets more complicated as the story unfolds or rather... doesn't unfold. After nearly three hours, this is taxing on the brain to say the least. I guess the advice should be to go with the flow and not try to work out what's going on, but it's difficult not to.

Another reason why you might need a break half way through is that watching Inland Empire can be a nerve jangling experience. From beginning to end the film exudes an eerie threatening ambience - it keeps your nerves on edge for a long time. Some scenes certainly make you jump and more than once I got cold shivers up and down my right side. I confess I did watch the film alone in the dark - perhaps not recommended for those of a nervous disposition - but it's the only way you should watch this film in order to get the full effect.

My one major gripe was the audio quality of the movie. Through much of the dialogue characters are almost whispering to each other or mumbling out words in strange accents. There is Polish dialogue in some parts of the movie for which subtitles are used. Subtitles would have helped with some of the English speaking parts as well - without the use of the playback button I would have missed a good proportion of what was being said. However, in other ways Lynch does use the soundtrack to good effect whereby creepy quiet sequences are suddenly broken by loud music or screams.

In terms of atmosphere and emotional intensity the Inland Empire succeeds brilliantly. There is no doubt that Lynch has had the freedom to do what he likes without none of the constraints that were imposed on him during the making of such previous efforts like 'Fire Walk With Me'. In this respect the film reminds me of the experimental qualities present in Eraserhead. However, sometimes I think Lynch is asking too much from his audience and at times I wonder whether Lynch himself knows what the hell he's doing. Apparently Lynch shot the film without a complete screenplay and each day would hand out pages of new script to each actor. Maybe this is one reason why the film does somewhat lose its way at around the 2 hour mark. It is here perhaps where some of the scenes could have been shortened. On the other hand this lull sets up the film's sublime final 15 minutes. It was this concluding part of the film that I really appreciated more on the second viewing where various loose ends are tied up... sort of. No doubt some will struggle to cope, but for Lynch fans Inland Empire is definitely a 'must see'.

Summary: Lynch doing what he does best.