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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

David Lynch's INLAND EMPIRE

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The Natural Way

12:51 / 15.12.06

Well, Ben, I'd suggest that it's entirely that stuff that Lynch finds so scary. It comes out of dreams and nightmares, doesn't it? That's why it's so authentically terrifying. I don't know, I guess I'm just trying to point out that the same stuff that really freaks Lynch out is the same stuff that really freaks you out.

14:23 / 15.12.06

One of the reasons I think Lynch's horror is so effective is that it can never be fully apprehended - it's never tidy, it only ever makes sense up to the point where it doesn't. When things are fully knowable they can be reduced, categorized and potentially dealt with, making the threat significantly less scary.

06:51 / 17.12.06

Twas awesome indeed. Laura Dern made me care for her character(s) even though I lost track of who/where/when she was. It's an amazing performance.

10:50 / 18.12.06

Lynch is brilliant in tapping that abstract, primal flow.

for a while I've subscribed to the WRAPPED IN PLASTIC mag and there was an interesting bit - which may not be news to most prople now:

the B.O.B character wasn't in the script until Lynch caught Frank Silva [guess that was the name; he was a wardrobe guy or something] crouched there, in the mirror's reflection. and it looked so creepy he created the character.

back to IE, what was that with Lynch promoting the movie with a cow in the street? [it's on youtube, can't get the link now].

that's so very... him.

09:57 / 19.12.06

One of the reasons I think Lynch's horror is so effective is that it can never be fully apprehended - it's never tidy, it only ever makes sense up to the point where it doesn't. When things are fully knowable they can be reduced, categorized and potentially dealt with, making the threat significantly less scary.

YES.

This I think is the key to everything that succeeds in becoming genuinely frightening in film or literature. Also see; Lovecraft.

It's notable that the Lynch films that I find most effective in this regard are the ones which got savaged by the critics; Fire Walk With Me and Lost Highway.

So roll on Inland Empire, although from the descriptions earlier in this thread, I have doubts I'll even be able to sit it out; I can still barely stand to watch 'Fire Walk With Me' all the way through.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

10:15 / 19.12.06

Haven't seen Fire Walk With Me in ages, but I bought a copy a few days back and I think I'll watch it tomorrow. The first time I saw it I went with a friend who was a huge TP fan and her boyfriend, who'd never seen a single episode. The pub conversation after THAT one was entertaining to say the least.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

15:19 / 19.12.06

So roll on Inland Empire, although from the descriptions earlier in this thread, I have doubts I'll even be able to sit it out; I can still barely stand to watch 'Fire Walk With Me' all the way through.

The middle hour is unbearably terrifying. I was sitting at the end of the row of a sort of curved theater of seats so I was able to stretch out into the aisle. No joke, my head was the only thing left on the back of the seat. I had retreated to a nigh-trogloditic state in my horror.

It eases up slightly in the last hour, only to slam an ice pick into the back of your neck with the scariest four frames of film you'll ever see.

Whee!

17:16 / 19.12.06

This I think is the key to everything that succeeds in becoming genuinely frightening in film or literature

Couldn't agree more.

Interestingly, Lost Highway has been revisited by a lot critics post Mullholland Drive. I think it took a long time for people to get their heads round it, and by the time they had, Mullholland Drive had come along and inevitably got all the glory.

13:35 / 20.12.06

The middle hour is unbearably terrifying. I was sitting at the end of the row of a sort of curved theater of seats so I was able to stretch out into the aisle. No joke, my head was the only thing left on the back of the seat. I had retreated to a nigh-trogloditic state in my horror.

It eases up slightly in the last hour, only to slam an ice pick into the back of your neck with the scariest four frames of film you'll ever see.

Gulp...

maybe i'll wait till it comes out on video.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

18:42 / 20.12.06

I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT.

I was hoping to have a sort of Twin Peaks season one marathon tonight, but the guy who has my DVDs has left them at home. So I'm gonna watch Fire Walk With Me instead. I figure that way I can top-n-tail the experience (FWWM, the TP DVDs, then my old VHSs of Season Two, then FWWM again).

FUCK I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT

Did I mention I'm actually quite looking forward to this?

19:35 / 20.12.06

Sorry, I don't understand, has it been released in the UK? Did I miss something?

I hope I did.

20:46 / 20.12.06

David Lynch and Donovan are doing a US tour to promote his book on meditation/creation. I've signed up for the New York one. This one seems to be unaffiliated with Maharishi Institute, so it'll likely be less jargony and more interesting to listen to. Plus, Donovan performing should be pretty cool, you can't hate on 'Atlantis.'

22:20 / 20.12.06

I'm so so excited about this. I agree with everyone about how Lynch so effectively creates nightmare terrors. One of the scariest moments in Lost Highway is where the lead protaganist goes down that dark hallway, into the room that shouldn't be there and sees his own reflection. It scared the hell out of me, and reminded me of the 'texture' of some of my own dreams.

I. so. can't. wait!!!!

02:14 / 21.12.06

I saw it again a couple of nights ago and loved it even more. It's a bit less abstract than I had initially thought, it's certainly still out there, but I feel like a few more viewings will give a fairly clear picture of what Lynch is doing. It's one of the most consistently exciting films I've ever seen, because you're never sure exactly what will come next. I was telling someone about the film and saying that the first viewing has a lot of merit because of the surprise, and he said "There's a surprise?," implying the movie has a twist. But, thinking about it, there's a twist with practically every scene, and it's thrilling to experience.

I wrote some more about it after seeing it again. Now that some people have actually seen the film, anyone want to delve into spoilers, perhaps in a seperate thread? There's a lot to discuss.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

07:23 / 21.12.06

Separate thread, please- we don't have it in the UK yet.

13:39 / 21.12.06

It's also not out in Canada. I'm sad that some people have seen it twice and I haven't even been able to go at all.

14:09 / 21.12.06

It's not in my neck of the woods either, though the thread prompted me to write a local indy theatre venue about the film and send them any distribution information that I could find. They got back to me and said they'd take a look, which is kind of cool.

I need more Lynch, dammit!

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

09:37 / 06.01.07

According to Wikipedia the UK release date's March 9th.

WOOHOO!!!

10:26 / 06.01.07

I'm so so excited about this. I agree with everyone about how Lynch so effectively creates nightmare terrors.

As long as we're talking about favorite Lynchian moments of terror, one of my favorites is actually from Wild at Heart. Namely, the Sherilyn Fenn, Accident Victim scene. What. The fuck. Was that.

From the same movie, not quite so nightmarish in that way but utterly disturbing in a totally different way - Bobby Peru and Lula alone in the hotel room. The "Is your pussy wet? Say 'fuck me'" scene. I felt violated just watching it.

18:02 / 07.01.07

not to mention the vomit scene, the flashbacks with the old guy running throuw the house burning and the cousin Crispin Alien Glove sequence.

WILD AT HEART is one of my favourite Lynches. I love how he mashed WIZARD OF OZ mythology with a white trash road movie. like a Vertigo comic, it is.

but I digress. INLAND EMPIRE, where are you?

13:44 / 12.01.07

Will anyone be attending David Lynch's lecture at the Lincoln Centre in New York (friday Jan. 12)? Highlights please!

16:38 / 14.01.07

I was there, and it was pretty good. First, Justin Theroux asked Lynch a bunch of questions from the audience, that were written down on cards as they came in. He didn't say anything too new or groundbreaking, most of it was stuff from his book, and he was promoting that to people.

The best new material was an odd, funny story about how Lynch discovered masturbation. As he said it, in the fourth or fifth grade, some friends told him that you get a really good feeling if you rub a certain part of your body, and the more you do it, the better it gets. He was very skeptical, but decided to try it, he didn't get anything, but then the feeling starting rising, and it all hit him. The reason for telling this story was to say that the feeling you get from TM can actually top the orgasm because it never ends.

But, if you read the book, you'll probably get most of the info. I bought the book there and have read most of it. It's a very quick read, but it's got a lot of good stuff in there. I think Lynch on Lynch is a better resource on the whole, but this is a good addition.

And Donovan played as well. He was entertaining enough, though the audience eroded as his set went on. I was disappointed that he didn't play Atlantis, as that's the only song of his I'm really familiar with.

16:48 / 14.01.07

Could you talk more about the book please, Patrick? I want to figure out if it's worth buying or not. How Lynchian is it? How original?

It's funny you mention Lynch on Lynch - I read that recently, and if I recall correctly, he doesn't mention TM at all. Also, I distincyly remember a number of passages where he rejects analysis of his work - you wouldn't think he want to expose its creative roots in such a manner.

17:14 / 14.01.07

A possible answer here:

One of the things I liked about TM was that you learn this technique; you add it to your life and go about your business. You don’t join up with anything. And also this is a funny world. When people hear, oh you’re a meditator, oh, you’re with Maharishi, they start looking at your films that way. I just wanted to keep it quiet.

Link

19:23 / 15.01.07

Eggs, the book is kind of like a coffee table book, not because it has pictures, but because it's just a bunch of short chapters, 1-2 pages each, with Lynch talking about various aspects of TM, his filmmaking process and the films themselves. If you've read Lynch on Lynch, this retreads a lot of that material, but adds the new spin of actively promoting TM.

The book is different from Lynch on Lynch because he gives more practical advice on filmmaking and creative projects. He talks about every step of the process, giving his general thoughts on rehearsal, casting, lighting, etc. It's not much content for $20, but it is a good read. If you're a fan, you've probably heard a lot of the content before, but there is some interesting new stuff.

Here's a sample, the chapter on drugs:

"We all want expanded consciousness and bliss. It's a natural, human desire. And a lot of people look for it in drugs. But the rpoblem is that the body, the physiology, takes a hard hit on drugs. Drugs injure the nervous system, so they just make it harder to get those experiences on your own.
I have smoked marijuana, but I no longer do. I went to art school in the 1960s, so you can imagine what was going on. Yet my friends were the ones who said "No, no, no, David, don't you take those drugs." I was pretty lucky."

21:29 / 15.01.07

Cheers, Patrick.

If that's the whole chapter, I definitely won't be buying it. Seems a bit lightweight. One to try before I buy, I think. I read a few interviews with Lynch yesterday and his comments about TM seem so, um, unLynchian.

19:20 / 19.01.07

I wrote some more about it after seeing it again. Now that some people have actually seen the film, anyone want to delve into spoilers, perhaps in a seperate thread? There's a lot to discuss.

I finally saw it last night. I would very much like to get into a thread on it.

00:29 / 26.01.07

Should it be this one, or do you want to start up a seperate spoilers thread? Bring on the discussion either way.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

15:44 / 28.02.07

(a bit off-topic, but this thread seems like the place people would look) I watched Fire Walk With Me again last night for the first time in years, and it had never occurred to me before what a character piece it actually is, aside from all the spooky goings-on. The real beauty, and tragedy, in that movie, for me anyway, come from Laura's relationship with Donna. The nightclub scene is key here- she wants to bring Donna into her world (and Donna wants to go where her friend goes). But when she's confronted with the reality of seeing Donna there, she has to save her. THAT's the dichotomy of friendship, right there, and THAT's what stayed with me after this viewing.

17:50 / 28.02.07

The reason I think Fire Walk With Me is Lynch's best film is because it's the perfect merger of surrealistic imagery and concepts with a really strong emotional investment in a character. While I love Inland Empire and Mulholland Dr., their narrative structures prevent engagement with the characters on a level as deep as I feel with Laura. In the Club Silencio scene, I'm moved more on a subconscious collective human experience level, during the angel scene at the end of FWWM, I get that, but I'm also deeply affected by what is happening to Laura and the peace that she is finding.

And that nightclub scene is fantastic, and at the core of Laura's dilemma. She is trying to avoid being like BOB, bring darkness to innocent people. However, a part of her is already influenced by him, hence her initial willingness to draw Donna into the darkness. But, when she sees her drugged and on the verge of being raped, she snaps out of that and the 'good' Laura resurfaces. This is an example of another brilliant thing about the film, the way that the whole BOB thing works simultaneously as a supernatural occurrence and as a metaphor for the cycle of victimization created by child abuse.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

16:08 / 09.03.07

Within the next two hours, I'll be watching Inland Empire. I'm shivering with anticipation and also anxious.

Pray for me.

16:33 / 09.03.07

it hardly needs to be said, but make sure to stick around for the end credits. if i could, i would watch those credits every morning for the rest of my life. so much of the happy-making.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

22:18 / 09.03.07

Wow. Just... fucking... WOW.

Does someone whose brain's slightly less fried than mine want to start a spoilerific discussion thread? I want to talk about this movie, but I just don't know where to begin.

JUST FUCKING WOW.

Twig the Wonder Kid

14:21 / 11.03.07

Stoat, I'm with you. I couldn't talk anyone into seeing this with me so had to see it on my own, and now I ... need ... to discuss ...

My thoughts on it are here

PatrickMM, you are right that Fire Walk With Me is Lynch's masterpiece. There are so many layers to that film, but all the critics saw was 'it's not like the TV show', as if they were expecting it to be like Holiday on The Buses.

On the other hand the critics went mad for Mulholland Drive, which I have to say was pretty mediocre with retrospect.

15:55 / 11.03.07

Which I don't agree with at all. I'm not sure Lynch is capable of being mediocre (except within his own oeuvre).

Stoats, thanks for the super-enthusiastic review. Sometimes we need a bit of "that was teh awesome!!111!". Lots of Barbelith commentary seems to miss out teh enjoyment.

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