Friday, August 10, 2007
Inland Empire
2006 Dir: David Lynch
Stars: Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons
IMDB
Before the film: I have a vague memory of reading a very bad review of this film, but it is still David Lynch. He can be slow to make his point in film and very hard to fathom, but this very thing makes seeing his films appealing. The audience is not spoon fed, but is left wondering. Perhaps his peak of Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet are behind him, but I am drawn in, in the hope of experiencing something at that level again.
Today has not been a good day for viewing. Many years ago film reviewers saw ‘Blue Velvet’ and generally canned it, it is now considered a classic. So I wonder if in years to come I will change my mind about this film. At 3 hours long, this film is about 3 hours too long. Ok that may be a little extreme, but about half the film should be consigned to the cutting room floor. A film to confuse the viewer, Laura Dern’s character is caught up in a gypsy curse associated with the film she is about to make. What is real, what is imagined, what is part of the film she is making? Who cares? Given the level of actors (although Derns’s work has been patchy in the past) in this film and the quality of the crew David Lynch would have had access to, I must assume that the student level quality of the film is deliberate. Lighting, camerawork, acting, dialogue, theme and editing all seemed part of a student film where being all mysterious is meant to be clever.
Why See It? Give me some time to think about this, ah, because you need sleep, or you want to see all of David Lynch’s films.
Stars: Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons
IMDB
Before the film: I have a vague memory of reading a very bad review of this film, but it is still David Lynch. He can be slow to make his point in film and very hard to fathom, but this very thing makes seeing his films appealing. The audience is not spoon fed, but is left wondering. Perhaps his peak of Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet are behind him, but I am drawn in, in the hope of experiencing something at that level again.
Today has not been a good day for viewing. Many years ago film reviewers saw ‘Blue Velvet’ and generally canned it, it is now considered a classic. So I wonder if in years to come I will change my mind about this film. At 3 hours long, this film is about 3 hours too long. Ok that may be a little extreme, but about half the film should be consigned to the cutting room floor. A film to confuse the viewer, Laura Dern’s character is caught up in a gypsy curse associated with the film she is about to make. What is real, what is imagined, what is part of the film she is making? Who cares? Given the level of actors (although Derns’s work has been patchy in the past) in this film and the quality of the crew David Lynch would have had access to, I must assume that the student level quality of the film is deliberate. Lighting, camerawork, acting, dialogue, theme and editing all seemed part of a student film where being all mysterious is meant to be clever.
Why See It? Give me some time to think about this, ah, because you need sleep, or you want to see all of David Lynch’s films.
# posted by Dave @ 08:55 
