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Directed by
France / Poland / USA
You could do worse than think of
Inland Empire as David Lynch’s Block Party—a career summation, an actors’
reunion, and a chance (thanks to the filming ease of digital video) for the
director to put less distance between inspiration and finished product. Working
a variation on the dream-film-life vortex of
Mulholland Dr., Empire is full of in-jokes; indeed, only the
extreme faithful might recognize the common denominator between Axxon N. and
Four Seven, the cursed movie that actors Nikki Grace (Dern) and Devon Berk
(Theroux) are remaking.
Empire follows Dern’s character(s) from the film set to Hollywood
Boulevard, from a mansion to a split-level, from watching others (and herself)
to being watched. There are detours into Poland and a sitcom living room filled
with rabbits, and a musical coda that should send viewers out shimmying, like
Twin Peaks’ Man From Another Place.
The movie flirts with the ostensible incoherence of
Mulholland and
Lost Highway, but the structure isn’t random. Empire may be the
closest Lynch has come to a critique of his own tools. Characters are variously
shown staring at a TV, standing in a movie theater and peering through
cigarette-burn peepholes. The Polish scenes evoke the texture of decaying film
stock. A squid-ink bullet wound matches icks with the best of
Eraserhead.
More successfully than anything Lynch has done, the movie creates the sense that
one’s own mind is fissuring. It teases, haunts and swallows you with its
nightmares, even on repeat viewings. If that’s not one definition of a great
movie, we don’t know what is.
Exerpt from Ben Kenigsberg's review at TimeOut Film Guide located HERE
Posters
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Theatrical Release: September 6th, 2006 - Venice Film Festival
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Comparison:
Absurda / Rhino (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Optimum Releasing (2-disc) - Region 2 - PAL
Big thanks to and Pete Hoskin for the Optimum Screen Caps!
(Absurdia / Rhino - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Optimum Releasing - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
| DVD Box Cover |
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| Distribution | Absurda / Rhino - Region 1 - NTSC |
Optimum
Releasing Region 2 - PAL |
| Runtime | 2:59:30 | 2:52:20 (4% PAL speedup) |
| Video | 1.78:1
Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.42 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Bitrate:
Absurda |
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| Bitrate:
Optimum |
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 5.1 far-field), and English (Dolby Digital 5.1 near-field) | English (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 5.1) |
| Subtitles | French (standard and widescreen), None | None |
| Features |
Release Information:
Edition Details: • Calibration static screens • 90
minutes of Deleted Scenes |
Release Information: Studio: Optimum Releasing Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
DVD
Release Date: August 20th, 2007 Chapters 0 |
| Comments: |
ADDITION: Optimum - Region 2- PAL -
August 07':
The video transfer on the Region 2
release of 'Inland Empire' is lighter than its Region 1 counterpart.
From my theatrical viewing of the film, I would suggest that the darker
Region 1 transfer is the more accurate representation of Lynch's DV-shot
footage. However – given that the transfers are near-identical in all
other respects – I don't think that this slight difference in brightness
should, by itself, deter potential buyers of the Region 2 release.
Unfortunately, the Region 2 release mirrors the American DVD in only
offering English subtitles for the Polish sequences of the film. **** I suppose there must be a certain amount of artistic leeway for digital video but regardless in comparison to most new stuff we review on DVDBeaver - this looks like crap. Certainly I'll wager it was this way theatrically and I have no doubt the dual-layered DVD faithfully is representing the finished product. Mini-cam Digital Video has definite benefits for direction and production but has a long way to go to equal the cleanliness and sharpness of, say, 35mm. Regardless the DVD is progressive and offers optional French subtitles (in both standard and widescreen versions). It sounds a bit better than it looks and purports a realistic 'feel' - that again was, most likely, intentional. I watched the film in a 2.0 channel audio option but also offered are a 5.1 'far-field' and 5.1 'near-field' choice. I tested them and they sounded different but not dynamically so and I don't know what to think of the option. Disc one offers a static screen TV calibration test for brightness, contrast and color. This appears on all Absurda / Rhino DVDs (ex. Eraserhead). There is no chapter menu although the 3 hour film has 40 chapter stops. Disc 2 has a ton of stuff from the 90 minutes of deleted scenes to the Ballerina short (I liked!) to a behind the scenes ad-hoc work called 'Lynch 2' which has a lot of David spouting off in the production process. There is a huge 'Stills Gallery' (that could pass as art in itself), trailers and even a segment of Lynch cooking Quinoa (a green leafy vegetable - edible cereal seeds - found in the Andean region of South America). Lynch's uncompromising film is pure art - in its most intense definition. This will appeal to some and distance many. This appears to have been made for a very narrow grouping as well, partially, for his fan base as there appears to be so much of what is David Lynch, and his past work, in the film. In fact many could go on to say both the film and the entire DVD are totally ego-driven works of expression. So be it. If it is entertainment one can only judge it on a personal basis. I'm sure it will divide many audiences from disgust to, as Manohla Dargis of The New York Times states, 'Inland Empire” isn’t a film to love. It is a work to admire, to puzzle through, to wrestle with'. |
DVD Menus
(Absurdia / Rhino - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Optimum Releasing - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
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Disc 2
(Absurdia / Rhino - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT
vs. Optimum Releasing - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
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Subtitle Samples (standard and widescreen - French only optional on Region 1)
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Screen Captures
(Absurdia / Rhino - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Optimum Releasing - Region 2 - PAL -
BOTTOM)
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(Absurdia / Rhino - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Optimum Releasing - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Absurdia / Rhino - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Optimum Releasing - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Absurdia / Rhino - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Optimum Releasing - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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Report Card:
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Image: |
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Sound: |
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| Extras: | Absurdia/Rhino |
| Menu: | Absurdia/Rhino |
| DVD Box Cover |
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| Distribution | Absurda / Rhino - Region 1 - NTSC |
Optimum
Releasing Region 2 - PAL |
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