RE:

Follow @empiremagazine

Forum Home

Register for Free!

Log In

Moderator Tickets

FAQ

Users Online

RE:	Logged in as: Guest

Printable Version

All Forums >> [Film Forums] >> Film Reviews >> RE:

Page: << < prev 1 2 [3]

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

RE: - 13/3/2009 8:13:51 AM

Bulletproof_Monk

Posts: 681
Joined: 4/10/2005

I saw this again yesterday and it works better if you don't think too hard about what it actually means and just go with it.

The abstract second hour could have done with some pruning (did this really NEED to be a three hour movie?) but it remains recommended viewing for Laura Dern's incredible performance and some of the best scares outside of a horror movie (two words, 'clown face'.)

_____________________________

CHAOS REIGNS!

Hey, I know a joke! A squirrel walks up to a tree and says, "I forgot to store acorns for the winter and now I am dead." Ha! It is funny because the squirrel gets dead.

(in reply to willchadwick)

Post #: 61

RE: Strange But True - 13/3/2009 7:08:04 PM

jobloffski

Posts: 1836
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: elsewhere

I'm pretty sure the Dern Character doesn't even exist, except as the inner fantasy life of the impoverished polish woman, imagining her idealised life. But her real life falls apart, so starts destroying the fantasy hollywood life, with us mainly seeing the story from the POV of the fantasy self of the real main character.

Would explain why Nikki Grace ends up having absolutely no idea who she is, I suppose, and why the hell Polish people start appearing all over the shop in her life!

Great use of the rabbits, as symbols of the domestic drudgery of the polish woman (at one point the shot of her and a couple of others crossfades right into a shot of the rabbits in same places in the frame), and the rabbits also reflect the Alice in Wonderland reference points (Alice after all does follow a rabbit into Wonderland).

Er, or something!!

My two moods while watching various parts of IE:

Incidentally, did you notice the 'clown face' was an altered still from the happiest moment of Nikki Grace's life, when she believed her life was gonna get better due to getting a part in a potential 'starmaker' of a film? I mention this cos in Mullholland Drive Lynch did something similar, by having the happiest moment of Diane's life being winning the Jitterbug contest, and her moment of greatest despair involving a perversion of imagery from that high point in her life. Sorry to gabble on, but pretty sure that's significant in Lynchworld, with the moment of greatest hope in a person's life becoming twisted and disturbing, if that hope doesn't bear fruit.

Enuff guff, suffice to say, Inland Empire blew me away.

< Message edited by jobloffski -- 13/3/2009 7:15:28 PM >

_____________________________

Yes, dreamers dream and doers do. But if dreamers DON'T dream, doers don't have anything TO do. Everything that is only here because people exist, only exists because someone thought of it., or in other words, dreamed it.

(in reply to jonny unitus)

Post #: 62

RE: Strange But True - 2/9/2009 4:05:58 PM

Jasper_29

Posts: 294
Joined: 22/8/2009

Inland Empire is about a Polish woman who feels guilty after having an affair. We're shown the whilrwind of emotions felt by this woman as she confronts her inner demons.

On the one hand she feels it could happen to anyone (maybe even to her favorite actress?), on the other hand she wonders what would happen if her husband found out, and another part of her feels she's a total prostitute.

These are the things going through her head watching tv right before her husband and son come home.

Maybe this is a severe over-simplification though...

_____________________________

"Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man..."

(in reply to jobloffski)

Post #: 63

Just, Just Wrong - 26/9/2009 5:38:50 PM

Ethanial

Posts: 2923
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Perpendicular Universe London

It's not that I 'don't get it' but a 3 hour runtime is far more painful than anything possible in this student art project with blatantly sign posted 'meanings' and 'metaphors', with some really awful, dull, stupid moments, acting that's pushing credibility for any of the past work, and lots of attempts at mood setting that fails to offer anything in the way of decent, interesting arthouse work, this isn't film, this is a cheapo student project that is made by some smug self ware gits who need a good thumping on the head, only known as David Lynch.

(in reply to Empire Admin)

Post #: 64

RE: Just, Just Wrong - 1/10/2009 10:05:09 AM

brad25m

Posts: 7
Joined: 22/9/2009

Ignore the above post.

INLAND EMPIRE blew me away. 3 hours does seem a lot, and there are some scenes that I dont know the significane of yet (the barbeque in the backyard, for one), but this is a great movie by arguably the most important director working today. The use of digital video is a double edged sword - the stunning cinematography of some of his other films is dropped for a much more free expression on film. Some will be bothered by the less savoury aesthetic, others will like the frightening close up realism it offers. If you don't see it as a coherent work, there are still some great scenes, like the aforementioned clown face, the tie-ins with Rabbits, and the discussion between the homeless women towards the end. I really liked the movie. A longer, grittier and less coherent Mulholland Drive, so if you are one of those people who couldn't stand Mulholland Dr, avoid this like the plague. If u loved Muholland Dr, like i did, chances are you will enjoy this as well, as thematically and stylistically there are some great similarities. I would suggest becoming familiar with other films in Lynch's oeuvre before seeing this

(in reply to Ethanial)

Post #: 65

??????????? - 12/1/2010 8:20:57 AM

jerkyjudas

Posts: 81
Joined: 4/10/2005

not sure what to say really, not sure if i liked it, not sure , not sure. didn't want it to end where it did. prefered mullholland drive but this film was good - makes me wanna watch eraserhead again. yeh i did like it, would i watch it again ? hmmn yeh i think so - very vague this innit - well thats how this film made me feel. i love david lynch films it's just this one had no real structure i thought it coulda gone on forever !

(in reply to Empire Admin)

Post #: 66

....It's a uh?....A uh....yeah it's a masterpiece - 16/5/2010 6:51:31 AM

monkeyhumour

Posts: 254
Joined: 12/2/2006

I really crazy masterpiece

The loco-motion scene is worth the watch and money alone

(in reply to Empire Admin)

Post #: 67

....It's a uh?....A uh....yeah it's a masterpiece - 16/5/2010 6:51:33 AM

monkeyhumour

Posts: 254
Joined: 12/2/2006

I really crazy masterpiece

The loco-motion scene is worth the watch and money alone

(in reply to Empire Admin)

Post #: 68

- 14/1/2011 7:32:25 AM

magnoliaforever

Posts: 2
Joined: 10/12/2010

Classic Lynch. His imaginative mind tells a sprawling story of a woman struggling to cope with identity as she slips into the cursed role in a remake of a Polish film. His imagery is to be puzzled over forever, and simply demands repeat viewings. Watch it more than once... eventually you'll understand.

(in reply to Empire Admin)

Post #: 69

Rabbitpeople!! - 20/12/2011 1:46:17 PM

twinpeaks4eva

Posts: 28
Joined: 19/12/2011

As the sister film to Mulholland Drive, this works rather well, and although for many who are looking for the glossy, opulent glamour of that masterpiece will be bewildered once they see the unsettling, dizzying handheld close-ups and gritty visuals here, but nevertheless, once you give it a chance and let it wash over you, there's no denying it's power. Grainy as the camera feels at first, you are soon immersed in Lynch's own Alice In Wonderland, whereby nothing makes sense, but you can't help trying to work it out in any way possible. There's no heartbreak or tragedy as in Mulholland Drive, but then we don't look at the exterior cruel sinister Hollywood, this is more about the perils of performance art and the divide between Los Angeles and Poland, which is represented by Nikki Grace and her husband, her descent into the deadly role she so desires and the line between acting and reality. As we come away from the film, we are not sure what we have seen, and Lynch does not offer anything in the way of an explanation, but throwing conventional narrative out of the window is what Lynch does best, and this masterpiece never puts a foot wrong no matter how easy it is to dismiss it as confusing and muddled.

(in reply to Empire Admin)

Post #: 70

RE: Rabbitpeople!! - 11/1/2013 12:01:26 AM

Coyleone

Posts: 480
Joined: 13/10/2008

INLAND EMPIRE

Inland Empire is a strange, hypnotic, fascinating, labyrinthine, engrossing, soothing, compelling, complex, mind bending masterpiece of a film. I admit, a few scenes went over my head, and I failed to grasp their meaning, but that doesn't matter. There are so many themes to pick up on here, themes ranging from marriage, relationships, hope, death, life and the strength of women and their ability to endure and overcome horrible situations or events. It's confusing, yes, but the longer it goes on the better and more clear it becomes, even if parts still leave a lot to think about, and certain scenes some people may never understand no matter how many times they watch it, but that's all a part of it's magic and it's mystery. It's disturbing, horrifying, weird, unsettling and ominous, but it ends up being one of the most calming and strangely uplifting things I've ever watched. This is technically, visually and thematically one of the most amazing and stunning films ever made all the way until the credits finish rolling. I can not wait to experience it all again. Not sure what else to say right now since I'm still processing it, but this is more than a film, it's simply a piece of art.

10/10

(in reply to twinpeaks4eva)

Post #: 71