Inland Empire
Last night I went to see the new David Lynch film, Inland Empire. This movie is so incomprehensible that the critics will probably call it a work of genius. Often times when a work of art seems to have no meaning at all, people will assume that it is an artistic statement that is over their head and therefore must be worthy of praise. I would love to pull off such a rock and roll swindle myself, but I would be surprised to discover that a proven master like Lynch would resort to such tomfoolery. This movie is a long series of unconnected images involving the same characters in different places, times, countries and speaking in different languages. The images are dark and blurry, with no storyline that I can ascertain. I was surprised that this film was only being shown in one theater in Atlanta, in a neighborhood in between Little Five Points and Emory University. The theater is on Ponce de Leon Avenue, next to what used to be called Plaza Drugs. As I left the movie house, I felt dismal and dirty. As I drove away, I passed by a diner from the 1950s called The Majestic. This was really the perfect neighborhood for this movie to be shown in. The images of this neighborhood are almost as hopeless as the images in the movie. This movie seems to be influenced by the Jean Cocteau films of the distant past, with a little Ingmar Bergman thrown in for good measure. I wonder if Lynch simply wanted to pay tribute to these filmmakers of the past ?
Tonight, ” Hannibal Rising,”
I.C.