David Lynch, 1/26.

Picking up where this left off: "Lynch transfers his own mercurial consciousness to his characters, and his two best films are about being trapped and being vulnerable, though each one has happy intervals of escape, all conceived in musical terms - a song about heaven in Eraserhead and the magnificent celebratory sequence behind the final credits of Inland Empire, a Felliniesque music video staged around Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman,'" writes Jonathan Rosenbaum in the Chicago Reader.

Updated through 1/30.

"And it can't be a coincidence that unwanted pregnancies and related feelings of guilt play significant roles in both movies," he continues. "The titles Eraserhead and Inland Empire, his only metaphorical titles, point to his guarded way of coping with his own ambivalence: he either censors (erases) some of his darkest thoughts or retreats into the relative safety of his inner self."

"Both Lynch and [David] Denby have expressed reservations about HD," notes Jim Emerson. "Lynch says, 'If everything is crystal clear in the frame then that's what it is - that's all it is.' Whereas, 'sometimes, in a frame, if there's some question about what you're seeing, or some dark corner, the mind can go dreaming.' (There's a powerful moment that illustrates this in Inland Empire for me: a shot that I first saw as a close-up profile of a Nosferatu-like figure pressed up against a wall in the darkness. Turns out, it's just a stain - or maybe even a digital artifact - on the wall at the end of a dark hallway.)"

Via Ray Pride, Mark Rahner's interview with Lynch for the Seattle Times:

Want to know what's missing [in Inland Empire]?

What's missing?

Dancing dwarf.

No.

No?

No.

Jette Kernion files a longish report on Lynch's Austin gig at Slackerwood.

Updates, 1/27: Ry Knight announces "The Lynch Mob" at Vinyl is Heavy: "Over the week of February 12th to February 16th (and possibly beyond) we will host a series of essays from each of our four five writers as well as various 'Lynch Links' to be co-ordinated and updated each day as the top post on the home page. We hope you can join us."

David Lowery catches Inland Empire a second time: "I don't think there is a key, or a mystery for that matter. It's all there, in a fairly straightforward sense, and going in looking for something that's missing will only take away from this one of a kind cinematic experience."

Nick Davis: "There is nothing clever, euphemistic, or hyperbolic about this admission: I have never been so scared in any movie as I was during the last half-hour or so of Inland Empire."

Update, 1/30: Ry Knight reviews Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness and Creativity for the House Next Door: "[T]he whole book is an invitation. When you open Lynch's book, he, in turn, opens his front door and invites you inside for a cup of coffee. And, perhaps, a twenty-minute meditation session."

Posted by dwhudson at January 26, 2007 3:47 PM