The fruits of Lynch's last 4 years or so is almost here!
<a href ="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460829/"><i>INLAND EMPIRE</i></a> hits the NYC film festival in late September, hopefully a wider North American release this fall.
Screen shots below: (Laura Dern! Harry Dean Stanton!)
<img src="http://www.dugpa.com/pics/ie1.jpg">
<img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4361/3628/1600/ie.jpg">
<img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4361/3628/1600/ie%20(4).jpg">
whoa. they're back.
<i>"A nightmare vision of the dream factory, “Inland Empire†belongs to the lineage of Hollywood bloody valentines that runs from “Sunset Boulevard†to “Mulholland Drive.†In one scene a character, stabbed in the gut with a screwdriver, runs down Hollywood Boulevard, leaving a gory trail on the Walk of Fame. Like “Mulholland Drive,†the film is at once a tribute to actors, especially those chewed up and spit out by the industry, and a study of the metaphysics of their craft."</i>
<i><b>Seeking to explore new methods of distribution, David Lynch has secured the rights for the US and Canada to his first digital video feature, INLAND EMPIRE.
Reaching an agreement with Studio Canal, Lynch proclaims, "It's a whole new world out there, even when it comes to distribution." The film's producer Mary Sweeney concurs stating, "David's decision to explore a new model of distribution is consistent with the fearless way in which he made 'INLAND EMPIRE.'"</i></b>
sounds like Twin Peaks season 2 might fianlly be coming to DVD,too, which is always a nice.
But my legal counsel has advised me not to describe the scene on RSD in case under-age pages are lurking.
i know the scene you mean. heh.
The place is an old style theater complete with balcony and "horizontal smileish" ruffled velvet movie curtains that makes its motorized vertical ascent moments before showtime. The events' organizers knew their shit and had a vast array of Lynch soundtrack music playing before the film started including lots of Angelo Badalementi stuff.
Cinestudio's retro surroundings combined with being semi lost on a deserted gothic looking Trinity campus certainly added to the film I was about to witness.
If Lynch confounds you, <i>IE</i> mos def won't change your mind.
All the Lynch goodies are here:
Fascination with red curtains, electricity, strobe lights, fragmented women, red lipstick, constant ambient noise, and a reliance on familiar faces from past Lynch endeavors (H Dean Stanton, L Dern, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Grace Zabrieskie, voice of Naomi Watts) are all here.
New to the world of Lynch:
-actors Willam H Macy,J eremy Irons Mary Steenburgen, Julia Ormond
-Bunny head TV family (don't ask)
-violated Polish Prostitutes
-non Angelo Badalementi score (aside from the drone-ish score, my ears picked out Beck, Nina Simone, Dave Brubeck, and various 60's tracks such as <i>The Locomotion</i> on the Soundtrack)
I have seen and heard the criticism of <i>IE</i> being an over-indulgent train wreck, mostly as a negative or as a put down. I would also call it a train wreck, but would mean it as a compliment.
*I am avoiding plot synopsis in my impressions altogether, but if you are curious, there is a link at the end of this that will give you the gist.
This is adventurous filmmaking based on ideas and visual moments, not linear subject/story matter in the beginning/middle/end sense.
I will definitely be checking this out again on DVD...
*The best thematic breakdown (although it is supremely geeky and overanalytical - and I also mean this as a compliment) I have so far seen is <a href="http://messageboard.inlandempirecinema.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17">here</a>.
Seeing <i>IE</i> in the theater without distractions helped for me - I would never get through the film uninterrupted at home and I can't imagine any of Lynch's images having the same impact on my smallish tv.
Too bad the DÜ doesn't live closer - we could go to see the ~ 370 minute <a href="http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2009/01/16/portrait_of_a_revolutionary_in_two_parts/">Soderbergh Che film</a> that just came out...