Inland Empire

   David lynch has always been one to dance on the side of insanity as anyone who has seen his films might attest. It would seem that as the years went by his style degraded over time collapsing into to veritable nonsense, to the untrained eye. While Inland Empire appears to be a mess of incomplete and incoherent ideas, every character and narrative was rafted to specifically come to a point, figuring out that point is the trick. Although everything about Inland Empire tells it is not a horror movie, the film is still horrifying as the world in which it takes place is a normal one, albeit following the sense and logic of a fever dream.  You could arguably compare Inland Empire and David Lynch's film style to the abstract paintings of Wassily Kandinsky, is there anyone one definition? Or is it more to be appreciated as an art form. This is a reassuring theme in Inland Empire, there is something there to be had but you can't quite reach it, this is akin to the lead character's reach for success.

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A painting by Wassily Kandinsky, while abstract there are, like Inland Empire, still recognizable aspects like a crescent moon and several book forms

   Inland Empire, amongst the heady imagery, embraces the classic tale of a damsel in distress. In this case and actress, Nikki, struggling to find a foothold in the chaos of Hollywood, much like the views struggle to find a foothold in the film. Nikki is offered a role in a film and quickly becomes entangled in an affair, and struggles to deal with a slow descent into madness. This seems to me indicative of David Lynch's frustration with mindless and mainstream Hollywood fluff. Similarly, Inland is infused with scenes of three larger than life rabbits who drone on with dull tasks. All in all, I think Inland Empire is a film to be experienced rather than interpreted, although the latter certainly compliments  the other.