Inland Empire (2006)

Synopsis: With INLAND EMPIRE, David Lynch--creator of such mind-bending works as ERASERHEAD and LOST HIGHWAY--delivers his most avant-garde, abstract, and impenetrable vision yet. A three-hour fever nightmare of a motion picture, INLAND EMPIRE takes the basic structure of Lynch's 2001... With INLAND EMPIRE, David Lynch--creator of such mind-bending works as ERASERHEAD and LOST HIGHWAY--delivers his most avant-garde, abstract, and impenetrable vision yet. A three-hour fever nightmare of a motion picture, INLAND EMPIRE takes the basic structure of Lynch's 2001 masterpiece, MULHOLLAND DRIVE, and spins it even further out of control. A blonde actress (Laura Dern) is preparing for her biggest role yet, but when she finds herself falling for her co-star (Justin Theroux), she realizes that her life is beginning to mimic the fictional film that they're shooting. Adding to her confusion is the revelation that the current film is a remake of a doomed Polish production, 47, which was never finished due to an unspeakable tragedy. And that's the only the beginning. Soon, a seemingly endless onslaught of indescribably bizarre situations flashes across the screen: a sitcom featuring humans in bunny suits, a parallel story set in a wintry Poland, a houseful of dancing streetwalkers, screwdrivers in stomachs, menacing Polish carnies, and much, much more. By the time the film's electrifying closing-credit sequence arrives, even diehard Lynch fans will be gasping for air. What most glaringly differentiates INLAND EMPIRE from Lynch's previous work is the format on which it was shot. This is the first time that he has chosen to shoot on digital video, as opposed to film, and while the decision is jarring at first, the grainy imagery nonetheless casts a creepy, haunting spell. Laura Dern's multi-fractured performance is downright heroic. She gives the film the human grounding that it so desperately needs. Not for the fragile or timid, INLAND EMPIRE is a full-blown assault to the senses. [More]