Hell

This film has given me quite a few problems in terms of plot and characters, but in the end, I understood it... It’s a crazy puzzle where the pieces are fitted together in a non-logical, but emotional order... For everything else, I would say there’s no doubt: it’s a film made by Lynch mainly for Lynch himself, so to follow and appreciate it, one needs to know the director quite well, particularly the excellent Lost Highway and the masterpiece Mulholland Drive, which together form a sort of trilogy on the same theme: dreams (and nightmares). In all three, we find a dissatisfied or disappointed protagonist with their own life, who dreams of an ideal one where everything is turned upside down; but of course, not everything goes smoothly. In this case, there’s the Polish prostitute who at the beginning watches TV and cries as she sees snippets of her past life (she is dead, trapped in limbo, and has "an outstanding balance still to pay") along with her dreamed life. I say that this film (whose title alludes, like the other two, to a particular place: if Lost Highway was the motel where betrayals occurred and Mulholland Drive was the road separating the star district from that of the wannabe actresses, Inland Empire is the road where Crumpy/Ghost keeps his ladies) is directed at Lynch himself because it tests all his visionary capacity and at the same time manages to break the circle in which the two previous films were trapped - and the self-references are not few, as one might expect. In the end, there’s a catharsis, a liberation of the alter ego, and the acceptance of one’s lived experience. Yes, a happy ending... In the afterlife, however. No matter how disturbing, convoluted, sick, etc., the film may be, I found the ending incredibly touching, to the point that I almost came to tears, also thanks to the splendid soundtrack. It’s not that I liked it just because I believe I understood almost everything (it may be cool, but that’s of secondary importance), but because there’s a perfect interplay between style, acting, dialogue, atmosphere, settings, music, emotions... Each time I find myself glued to the screen for almost three hours, and that doesn’t seem like a small thing given the amount of content. The exaggerated and morbid close-ups, Dern as a perfectly polished movie star gradually adopting the most disturbing expressions, the encounter with the old woman at the beginning that transforms from a banal exchange of courtesies into something hallucinatory and threatening, the characters who all seem suspended in some sort of dream (indeed), the rabbits (they may seem like a senseless choice but they too have a precise role), the absurd dialogues that always contain a fragment of truth... But above all, there’s this overlapping/confusion of multiple "planes of reality" (of which Dern herself is affected), so much so that at a certain point, we find ourselves watching a film within a film within a film! A damn game of Russian dolls that makes everything even more surreal, magnetic, and disturbing... In short, without further ado, for me, it’s a straight-up 5, maybe in my top 10.

I'm writing here because I can't reply under the comment. Zaireeka, it's an interesting perspective, but I wouldn't want my claims about cinema (and not only that) to be misunderstood: I'm not someone who wants to always dive into who knows what philosophical/existential questions. I use the films of my two favorite directors as examples: Ozu (a classic of Japanese cinema from the '50s) and Koreeda (his best heir, around for about twenty years). What they communicate (or even teach) me is as simple as can be imagined; they tackle themes that are so close to everyday life and do so with sobriety and realism. Beyond references to the historical context, Ozu's messages can be summed up in phrases like: "how ephemeral this life is," "respect your parents; tomorrow you won't be able to anymore," "those who give more are those who have received less," "happiness comes after much effort and sacrifice," etc... The same goes for Koreeda, who often deals with family, memory, and death without ever becoming pretentious. It is a clear and essential cinema, but it resonates and makes me think for days and days after watching. Malick might also address "banal" yet enormous topics, but lately (specifically starting from The New World), he has been doing it with a weight I just can’t identify with. Of course, it all depends on taste; those who love to drown themselves in Malick's virtuosity might not be able to stand the aforementioned directors precisely because they are so rigorous, who knows... Hi Zaire, thanks for the comment.

Better than the previous one. "Across The Universe" is cool, a couple of other tracks caught my attention, but overall I found it a bit nauseating like much of their discography. They're good, but they're not for me even though I love contaminated black. 2.5

... Well, strange, judging by the ecstatic comments I had read about The Tree Of Life here on DeB, I expected the wrath of the Malickians. Has the hype already deflated? Anyway, I reiterate: I fundamentally didn't like that film, but I could still understand why it existed. This one, however, is just not it; it's one of the worst I've ever seen.

2.5. Decent and at times even entertaining, but overall nothing special.

Never listened to in full for obvious reasons. In short, an epic brick, but still a brick. For ambiance, I prefer something else.

Just this year, the new "Tunnel Of No Light" was released and it's the second confirmation of how superfluous and redundant they have become for the scene. Not unbearable, that would be too much, but if they didn't exist, no one would miss them. Plasticky and insubstantial. At most, one might go back to listening to the excellent "Rain Without End," or directly to "Brave Murder Day," which for me is the alpha and omega of doom/death and one of the most emotionally charged metal albums of all time.

They would have every right to make me a bit uneasy, but it is what it is.

A couple of years later, with a bit more understanding, I feel entitled to say that this film is half (but also a whole) crap. 2 stars if I'm being generous. Overall, I have reassessed Aronofsky negatively, even in the acclaimed Requiem for a Dream. Great hype, but I no longer find him credible.

Well. Always found unbearable.