Inland Empire

A vindication of Lynch's maverick instincts.

Film Review by Jay Shukla | 11 Apr 2007
Film title: Inland Empire
Director: David Lynch
Starring: Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Jeremy Irons
Release date: Out now
Certificate: 15

Clocking in at three hours long, Inland Empire is by far David Lynch's most uncompromising creation to date. It may also be his best. Ostensibly revolving around a remake of a 'cursed' Polish film that was never completed, Lynch casts Laura Dern as the star of the piece – and this is indeed a career defining role for the actress.

Dern undergoes numerous Lynchian transformations throughout the film – from movie star to abused wife to prostitute – and as the surprising wit and pacy dialogue of the film's first half gives way to a sustained assault of jarring, traumatic imagery, it is Dern's ability to impose a dramatic unity upon these disparate elements that makes us feel that Lynch is taking us on a fantastic journey, rather than just bombarding us with deliberate non-sequiturs.

A triumph of the imagination, Inland Empire is a vindication of Lynch's maverick instincts which throws into stark relief the artistic limitations of conventional cinematic modes and narratives.

http://www.inlandempire.co.uk/