Monday, December 03, 2007
(4:39 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
Inland Empire
I watched Inland Empire this afternoon, and even bracketting all of the obviously Lynchian elements, I could tell it was a Lynch film because when I left the house to go to the grocery store, the entire world felt ominous -- the grocery store was especially helpful, in that there was a strange hum in the chip aisle.I'm not sure what to say about this movie overall. In some ways, it is the most self-indulgent film ever made -- for instance, Lynch allows his fascination with beautiful women to get really out of hand, with one showing her breasts to the other women in the roving horde of beautiful women solely for the sake of showing off her breasts. (Shockingly, however, fans of Laura Dern's breasts must return to Wild at Heart.) I almost had to laugh when I saw the trademark David Lynch "mysterious red curtains," as well.
I just can't dismiss the film outright, and I don't think it's simply because of my high esteem for Lynch in general. Lost Highway and Mulholland Dr. were both really confusing on the first viewing, but a second viewing at least gave me some grasp of what was going on. A second viewing of Inland Empire might do that as well, and even though it now seems like it's the most radically disjointed Lynch film yet, I don't feel confident making such a pronouncement without watching it again -- but I think I'll need a year or so to gather up the energy to do so.
Beyond the fatigue issues, I feel kind of like I've intruded on Laura Dern, having spent three straight hours looking at her. She deserves a break.
