Inland Empire [Blu-ray]

Product Information

Das Ausmaß an Rückgriffen und Überschlägen von Film zu Film zu Film zu Film zu Film ist dabei so undurchsichtig, dass man sich eine Zeichnung anlegen müsste um die unterschiedlichen Handlungsstränge und -ebenen, die derweil noch aggressiv ineinandergreifen aufzuschlüsseln. That being said, this new disc is provides us with the very best picture quality that is possible to extract from DV.

The plot itself, highly confusing actually, sometimes feels nothing else but an excuse for Lynch's pleasure to showcase his most loved elements; double identities, dancing women, stroboscopic lights, scary glares, smoke and anything included in his Manual of the Weird, but is indeed a great example of self-celebrative cinema; a resume of Lynch's journey through filmmaking; not pretentious at all but a dazzling and unexpected essay of its own. Adding to her confusion is the revelation that the current film is a remake of a doomed Polish production that was never finished due to an unspeakable tragedy. Though whatever process it has been put through has cleaned up a lot of the digital noise that has always been present to a degree, many other things have been left behind. Despite what I always assumed was Lynch’s aversion to special features, Criterion’s editions of his films have been packed with some great material that even manages to delve a little into the subject matter and themes of the films themselves.These two things would meet because, as he explains, he spent all this time building his site only to realize anyone could get through it in a few hours (if that), pushing him to make digital shorts to be hosted on the site. Over the course of the three hour running time you get used to it, of course, but it all feels part of the parcel of what Inland Empire represents, which is arguably David Lynch’s most obtuse, experimental and difficult feature.

It has a slightly different look than it did before while, yes, remaining the same lo-fi presentation. Also here (and ported over from the DVD) is Lynch’s 12-minute short film Ballerina, also filmed digitally. Inland Empire stars frequent Lynch collaborators Laura Dern and Justin Theroux, as well as Jeremy Irons, Karolina Gruszka and the late, great Harry Dean Stanton, and follows: Nikki (Dern), a once-celebrated actress who lands the lead role in a film by director Kingsley Stewart (Irons) alongside co-star Devon (Theroux). Truly, the movie shares DNA not with traditional narrative cinema but with the legacy of confrontational underground montage (plus an injection of Lynchian frisson) exemplified by Kenneth Anger (another LA mythologiser), Jack Smith, Gregory Markopoulos and Abigail Child. Neben der offensichtlichen Erkenntnis, dass ein Bild stets ein Bild ist und ein noch so natürlich abgebildetes Objekt eben nicht zu dem Objekt selbst wird.

This visual upgrade is worth investing, or re-investing, in alone, but this Studio Canal release also has a second disc of extras that make this a near-essential purchase for fans of the film and Lynch himself. When she finds herself falling for her co-star, she realises her life is starting to mimic the fictional film they’re shooting. Inland Empire’, directed by David Lynch (‘Mulholland Drive’, ‘The Elephant Man’, ‘The Straight Story’), tells the story of ‘a woman in trouble’.