Inland Empire (2006) Online
A blonde actress is preparing for her biggest role yet, but when she finds herself falling for her co-star, she realizes that her life is beginning to mimic the fictional film that they're shooting. Adding to her confusion is the revelation that the current film is a remake of a doomed Polish production, 47, which was never finished due to an unspeakable tragedy.
Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Laura Dern | - | Nikki Grace / Susan Blue | |
Jeremy Irons | - | Kingsley Stewart | |
Justin Theroux | - | Devon Berk / Billy Side | |
Karolina Gruszka | - | Lost Girl | |
Jan Hencz | - | Janek (as Jan Hench) | |
Krzysztof Majchrzak | - | Phantom | |
Grace Zabriskie | - | Visitor #1 | |
Ian Abercrombie | - | Henry the Butler | |
Karen Baird | - | Servant | |
Bellina Logan | - | Linda | |
Amanda Foreman | - | Tracy | |
Peter J. Lucas | - | Piotrek Król | |
Harry Dean Stanton | - | Freddie Howard | |
Cameron Daddo | - | Devon Berk's Manager | |
Jerry Stahl | - | Devon Berk's Agent |
Stars Laura Dern and Justin Theroux have both said they have no idea what the film is about.
Marketing executives were so puzzled by the film that they did not know how to promote it. They eventually chose the tagline "a woman in trouble", based on David Lynch's sole explanation of the film as a mystery about a woman in trouble.
During a conversation between David Lynch and Laura Dern, Dern mentioned that her husband was from the Inland Empire (an area east of Los Angeles County, including Riverside and San Bernadino County). Lynch confesses he stopped listening to what she was saying because he loved the sound of the words "Inland Empire", and finally decided on these words as the title of his movie because "I like the word inland. And I like the word empire."
Laura Dern has said that the genesis of the whole project was a phone call from David Lynch saying: 'Do you want to come and experiment?'
In the brief scene where Jeremy Irons is speaking to his gaffer through a megaphone in order to lower a light, the voice of the gaffer is David Lynch.
In an interview with Joe Huang at the AFI Dallas Film Festival, David Lynch stated that "Inland Empire" wasn't originally intended to be a feature film. He would simply come up with an idea and - utilizing the versatility and ease of using DV cameras - would film it, creating a series of seemingly unrelated scenes; the first scene filmed was Laura Dern's monologue to the silent psychiatrist. As time progressed, he began to see how the stories were connected, and continued filming scenes for it until he had what we see now. Rumors that Lynch began filming without a script are more or less incorrect, as he would write a short scene and film it, without having the intention of making a feature length film.
David Lynch sings "Ghost of Love".
Shot over the course a few years.
Nikki Grace's home is the historic Doheny Mansion at the downtown Los Angeles campus of Mount St. Mary's College.
The instrumental music played during the love scenes is "The Colors of My Life" from the Broadway musical "Barnum". There are two different sets of lyrics to this song (sung by different characters who have different points of view). The lyrics concern colors and emotions and were intentionally omitted from "Inland Empire" in line with its themes of absence and loss.
As of 2018, Inland Empire is the last feature film directed by David Lynch. All of his other film projects since have been short films, music videos, documentaries or TV episodes. In 2012, Lynch stated in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he lacked the inspiration to start a new movie project, but "If I got an idea that I fell in love with, I'd go to work tomorrow". In 2017 while promoting Tvin Pyksas (2017), Lynch was reported to have retired from directing feature films. However, Lynch clarified that his words were misconstrued by reiterating "I did not say I quit cinema. Simply that nobody knows what the future holds."
Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2007 (#02, tied with Mirties irodymas (2007) and San xia hao ren (2006).
Laura Dern & Justin Theroux would later appear in Žvaigždžiu karai: paskutiniai džedajai (2017). David Lynch notably turned down the opportunity to direct Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
As of 2017, this is the last feature length film Lynch has ever made - excluding the return of TV series Twin Peaks in 2017.
Ian Abercrombie and Jeremy Irons have both played Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth; Abercrombie on the TV series Birds of Prey (2002) and Irons in Betmenas prieš Supermeną: teisingumo aušra (2016) and the forthcoming Teisingumo lyga (2017) .
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