Inland Empire, sometimes styled as INLAND EMPIRE, is a 2006 horror mystery film written and directed by David Lynch. It was his first feature-length film since 2001's Mulholland Drive. It premiered in Italy at the Venice Film Festival on September 6, 2006. The feature took two and a half years to complete, and was Lynch's first film to have been shot entirely in standard definition digital video. The film is a co-production of France, Poland, and the United States.
The cast includes such Lynch regulars as Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton and Grace Zabriskie, as well as Jeremy Irons and Diane Ladd. There are also very brief appearances by Nastassja Kinski, William H. Macy, Laura Harring, Terry Crews, Mary Steenburgen, and Ben Harper. The voices of Harring, Naomi Watts, and Scott Coffey are included in excerpts from Lynch's Rabbits website project.
It was named the second-best film of 2007 (tied with two others) by Cahiers du cinéma, and listed among Sight & Sound's "thirty best films of the 2000s", as well as The Guardian's "10 most underrated movies of the decade".
Plot
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.
Keywords: abusive-husband, acting, actor, actress, adultery, african-american, alternative-reality, anger, anguish, applause
A Woman In Trouble
A Story of a mystery...A mystery inside worlds within worlds...Unfolding around a woman...A woman in love and in trouble.
Neighbor: The Evil was born and followed the boy...
Neighbor: Is there a murder in your film?::Nikki: Uh, no. It's not part of the story.::Neighbor: No, I think you are wrong about that.::Nikki: No.::Neighbor: Brutal fucking murder!::Nikki: I don't like this kind of talk; the things you've been saying. I think you should go now.::Neighbor: Yes. Me, I... I can't seem to remember if it's today, two days from now, or yesterday. I suppose if it was 9:45, I'd think it was after midnight! For instance, if today was tomorrow, you wouldn't even remember that you owed on an unpaid bill. Actions do have consequences. And yet, there is the magic. If it was tomorrow, you would be sitting over there.::[Neighbor points to Nikki's couch across the room]::Neighbor: Do you see?
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Neighbor: So, you have a new role to play, I hear?::Nikki: Up for a role, but I'm afraid far from getting it.::Neighbor: No, no. I definitely heard that you have it.::Nikki: Oh?::Neighbor: Yes. It is an... It is an interesting role?::Nikki: Oh yes, very!::Neighbor: Is it about marriage?::Nikki: Um, perhaps in some ways, but...::Neighbor: Your husband is involved?::Nikki: No.::Neighbor: Hmmm. A little boy went out to play. When he opened his door, he saw the world. As he passed through the doorway, he caused a reflection. Evil was born. Evil was born, and followed the boy.::Nikki: I'm sorry, what is that?::Neighbor: An old tale, and a variation. A little girl went out to play. Lost in the marketplace, as if half-born. Then, not through the marketplace - you see that, don't you? - but through the alley behind the marketplace. This is the way to the palace. But it isn't something you remember.
Neighbor: I've been going around, meeting my new neighbors. I think that it is important to know one's neighbors. To say "hello!" to them.
Devon Berk: Kingsley, get to the point.::Kingsley Stewart: On High and Blue Tomorrows is in fact a remake.::Devon Berk: It's a remake?::Kingsley Stewart: Yeah.::Devon Berk: I wouldn't do a remake.::Kingsley Stewart: No, no, no, no. I know. Of course... but you didn't know. The original was under a different name. It was started, but never finished. Now, Freddy's found out that our producers know the history of this film and they have taken it upon themselves not to pass that information along to us. Purposefully. Of course, not me. I assume not to the two of you. True?::Nikki: No... absolutely. Nobody told me anything.::Devon Berk: No, me neither. I thought this was an original script.::Kingsley Stewart: Yeah... well... anyway, the film was never finished.::Nikki: I don't understand. Why wasn't it finished?::Kingsley Stewart: Well, after the characters have been filming for some time, they discovered something... something inside the story.::Devon Berk: Please. Kingsley.::Kingsley Stewart: The two leads were murdered! It was based on a Polish-Gypsy folk-tale. The title in German was "Vier-Sieben: 47". And it was said to be cursed. So it turned out to be.
Nikki: Hey! Look at me. And tell me if you've known me before.::Lanni: Yes. We will do that.
Nikki: I'm a whore. Where am I? I'm afraid!
Nikki: When the police came and they asked what happened, I told them "He's reaping what he's been sowing, that's what." They said "Fucker been sowing some pretty heavy shit."
Nikki: Bam! I Kicked him straight in the balls so hard they go crawling into his brain for refuge - he went down like a two dollar whore.