Inland Empire (2006)

Attempt of Experience Through a Mastermind.



Written and Directed by: David Lynch.

Starring: Laura Dern and Justin Theroux.

4 Years ago I watched a movie. In that movie when Naomi Watts wakes up and her neighbor calls her name as Diane, which previously was Betty and Diane is living in a filthy barren house wearing a dirty stinky bathrobe instead of a fancy silkish red bathrobe worn by Betty while living in a fabulous LA apartment during first half of the movie. It is important to mention that both Diane and Betty were played by Naomi Watts and all these changes in the story were without any warning, and that is when I realised I have to watch this movie again. So I watched it immediately after it was over, then again and again and again trying to figure out what is the basic plot. It played in my mind for months and this became the movie I have viewed THE maximum number of times ever. I spent hours and days watching it and theorizing it. In the end I gave up when I realised that this movie is all about the experience of watching it. The name of the movie was Mulholland Drive (2001).

Enter stage 10 of a hollywood studio where 'On High in Blue Tomorrows' is in production. Laura Dern (as Nikki) is playing Susan and Justin Theroux (as Devon) is playing Billy. The director of the movie during rehearsals reveals a fact about the movie that it was in production before. There was something 'in the story' that stopped the earlier production by previous filmakers. Now baffled as they can be, both Nikki and Devon get intrigued. The production of 'Blue Tomorrows' continues and strange things start to happen. First one is suspicion of invasion of privacy on stage 10 during rehearsals. Devon follows the 'sound of footsteps' but finds no one. Then follows a series of scenes of a lady watching a movie, a group of whores, shooting of Blue Tomorrows, a cold and gloomy street where people talk Polish, three Rabbits and Nikki and Devon. These scenes are connected to each other either by same dialogues, same characters, same gestures, same ambience or a watch. Because Lynch creates these images which require your attention, it furthur helps to get confused and curious as to ask question what happened next? This realization of connection and curiosity happens at every single point of the movie. Not to mention there is non-linearity as well. Now to explain how scenes are possibly connected will spoil the movie.

Now after writing these two paragraphs I am sure I got you confused as to ask me what is Inland Empire all about. The tagline says "A Woman In Trouble". David Lynch summed the whole story up in this one line. Because there in no way anybody can write a review of any David Lynch movie. His movies do not conform to any other movies that have a plot and a set of characters that play what they are meant to be. Lynch always defies these rules and has his own vision. If you are looking for a plot or an explanation then rather do not bother. Because Inland Empire is about 'the experience of watching and its effects on the viewer'. In his autobographical book Lynch on Lynch, where the author interviews him about his movies and paintings. When they talk about Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) Lynch said that he recieved hundreds of letters from the girls who saw this movie and who had some personal experience of physical abuse from parents at some point during their lives. All those girls asked Lynch 'how could he create an exact feeling of what they went through?'. This itself says that his movies create a particular emotion that can only be felt and experienced. He takes you on a ride and you just see all those strinkingly unforgettable images, feel those emotions, hear those extraordinary series of sounds and come out of the theatre realising that even the front door of the auditorium looks different than when you came in. This is the effect due to 'Lynch-stinged' mind.

My Rating: 9/10.

Grindhouse (2007).

Greatest homage to dead exploitation genre.

From Wikipedia:
Grindhouses were the cinema halls known for non-stop programs of B movies, usually consisting of a double feature where two films were shown back to back.

About 10 years ago I remember going to a B-grade movie theatre in India with my cousin and my brother in law to watch a sexploitation flick. I remember looking away from the screen for some shocking scenes. Today I sat through Grindhouse and yes I did look away because of some ugly and disgusting scenes. I guess Tarantino and Rodriguez pretty much brought everything back in Grindhouse, a two-movies-back-to-back feature film.

Planet Terror.

Written and Directed by: Robert Rodriguez.
Starring: Naveen Andrews, Rose McGowan.

This is the first offering of the "Grindhouse" directed by Robert Rodriguez. This is a Zombie movie. They always have a doctor whose experiment goes wrong and people walk who were assumed dead. They either have slashed faces or some skin irritation the size of coconuts. They always march together and always have a thirst for human blood. So some good looking women who never got lucky enough to get to the Big Banners, always wear exotic clothes bought from a Dollar Store and carry machine guns along with some legendary B-grade actors with shotgns on a killing rampage. This time there is a slight twist that the chick has lost a leg and apparently her co-star has found a way to use the "leftover" to install a gun that can be used to point and fire so as to add a factor of action to the sleazy body. Wow, now that is a sensational innovation that can be sold which fits an exploitation cinema's definition. There are some scenes that can make you sick to the stomach but at the same time are hillarious.

Death Proof.

Written and Directed by: Quentin Tarantino.
Starring: Kurt Russell, Zoe Bell.

This is the second offering after few fake movie trailers. This redneck car-chase genre movie is directed by Quentin Tarantino. This one actually is a lot better than the first offering. Tarantino does make this one look like a B-grade, but at the same time he does not forget to use hiw own styles and techniques. May it be 'this-converstation-has-got-something-to-do-with-the-next-half-hour' screenwriting technique, very typical Tarantino, or high pop culture references. Death Proof IS a Tarantino movie. The camera angles by QT himself during the car chase are quite fascinating. Last 20 mintes or so are the peak of sensational values. Zoe Bell's stunt is the key aspect of this chase. For these minutes the movie is recommended.

Both the directors have 'aged' the reels purposely. They also added 'missing reel, sorry for inconvenience-thetre manager' slides during the movies. In Death proof at one point the camera starts to zoom out and in a second starts zooming in as if to specify "unskilled cameraman". Go Enjoy this movie. Oh yeah, I strongly remember not taking any females with me during my visit to a Grindhouse in India.

My Rating: 8/10.