Viewers who have seen Mulholland Dr. will know what to expect from INLAND EMPIRE; the styles are very similar and David Lynch seems to be comfortable in telling us his stories in this unusual manner. Overall, INLAND EMPIRE feels much darker than Lynch's previous film, with most of his trademark dark humor being not in the story itself this time, but rather in the way the story is presented to the viewer. Lynch toys with the viewer...once again, we have a movie within a movie and actors who become indistinguishable from the roles they play. As we watch this film, we're never sure if we're watching the movie or THE MOVIE, or if we're seeing the actress or THE ACTRESS. It really doesn't matter, and that's Lynch's entire point...in this film, the movie is the same as THE MOVIE, etc...what's real and what's not is irrelevant; the dream world, the fantasy world--what exists in the mind is as real as everything else, and the different realities blur until they are the same reality. Expectations of logical threads and resolutions are doomed to failure, as these 'normal' devices are not used in Lynch's recent films. Lynch tells us everything we need to know, and overanalysis is pointless. Viewers who spend great amounts of time 'figuring it all out' with 'the clues' are snipe-hunting, and that's part of Lynch's joke on us as well. It is what it is, and nothing more.
The use of DV instead of film contributes to the dark feeling of the film. At times, it seems that certain effects are overused; the medium of digital video is relatively new, and Lynch had a great time experimenting with it. But I wonder that, as Lynch later perfects his skills with it, that he won't look back at INLAND EMPIRE and wish he had processed a few scenes in a different way.
Once again, the sound design is brilliant. Lynch definitely believes that the sound/music is as important as the visuals themselves, and digital sound editing has opened up a new world for us to explore as well. We have subliminal sounds that hiss underneath the layers and great booming hits that rattle the subwoofer.
Overall, I liked INLAND EMPIRE very much, but it just wasn't as much fun as Mulholland Dr. The DVD is very well done, especially the sound (with 2 5.1 options), and the bonus disc has some great stuff. As usual, there are no chapter menus for the film, though chapter stops do actually exist in the film itself. Ultimately, we have a brilliant and astonishing film that's not meant for everyone, and that's the way David Lynch intended it to be.
