Inland Empire (film)

Inland Empire
Inland Empire
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	David Lynch
Written by	David Lynch
Produced by	Mary Sweeney; David Lynch;
Starring	Laura Dern; Jeremy Irons; Justin Theroux; Harry Dean Stanton; Karolina Gruszka; Peter J. Lucas; Krzysztof Majchrzak; Julia Ormond;
Cinematography	David Lynch
Edited by	David Lynch
Production; companies	Absurda; StudioCanal; Fundacja Kultury; Camerimage Festival;
Distributed by	518 Media; Absurda (US); StudioCanal (France; through Mars Distribution);
Release dates	6 September 2006 (Venice); 6 December 2006 (United States); 7 February 2007 (France); 27 April 2007 (Poland);
Running time	180 minutes
Countries	France; Poland; United States;
Languages	English; Polish;
Budget	$2.9–3 million
Box office	$4.4 million

Inland Empire is a 2006 experimental psychological thriller film^[7] written, directed and co-produced by David Lynch. As of 2024, it is the last feature film Lynch has directed, marking his longest hiatus between film projects. The film's cinematography, editing, score and sound design were also by Lynch, with pieces by a variety of other musicians also featured. Lynch's longtime collaborator and then-wife Mary Sweeney co-produced the film. The cast includes such Lynch regulars as Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, and Grace Zabriskie, as well as Jeremy Irons, Karolina Gruszka, Peter J. Lucas, Krzysztof Majchrzak, and Julia Ormond. There are also brief appearances by a host of additional actors, including Nastassja Kinski, Laura Harring, Terry Crews, Mary Steenburgen, and William H. Macy. The voices of Harring, Naomi Watts, and Scott Coffey are included in excerpts from Lynch's 2002 Rabbits online project. The title borrows its name from a metropolitan area in Southern California.

Released with the tagline "A Woman in Trouble", the film follows the fragmented and nightmarish events surrounding a Hollywood actress (Laura Dern) who begins to take on the personality of a character she plays in a supposedly cursed film production. An international co-production between the United States, France, and Poland, the film was completed over a three-year period and shot primarily in Los Angeles and Poland. The process marked several firsts for Lynch: the film was shot without a finished screenplay, instead being largely developed on a scene-by-scene basis; and it was shot entirely in low-resolution digital video by Lynch himself using a handheld Sony camcorder rather than traditional film stock.^[8]

Inland Empire premiered in Italy at the Venice Film Festival on 6 September 2006.^[8] It received generally positive but polarized reviews from critics, with attention centering on its challenging and surrealist elements.^[9] It was named the second-best film of 2007 (tied with two others) by Cahiers du cinéma,^[10] and listed among Sight & Sound's "thirty best films of the 2000s",^[11] as well as The Guardian's "10 most underrated movies of the decade".^[12]

The film was remastered by Lynch and Janus Films in 2022.^[13]

^ "Inland Empire (2007)". UniFrance. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
^ "Inland Empire (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2 January 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
^ "Oscar campaigning gets quirky with "Inland Empire"". The Hollywood Reporter. 4 January 2007.
^ "Inland Empire (2006) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
^ "Inland Empire (2006) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
^ "Inland Empire (2006) – Financial Information". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
^ Jensen, Jeff (1 December 2006). "David Lynch wants to get in your bloodstream". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
^ ^a ^b "David Lynch given lifetime award". bbc.co.uk. 6 September 2006. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
^ "Inland Empire". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
^ "Cahiers du Cinema: Top Ten Lists 1951–2009". alumnus.caltech.edu. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
^ "Sight & Sound's films of the decade". Sight & Sound. BFI. 6 June 2012. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
^ Leigh, Danny (22 December 2009). "The view: The 10 most underrated movies of the decade | Film". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
^ Cite error: The named reference Perez was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1] "Inland Empire (2007)". UniFrance. Retrieved 4 March 2023.

[2] "Inland Empire (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2 January 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2012.

[3] "Oscar campaigning gets quirky with "Inland Empire"". The Hollywood Reporter. 4 January 2007.

[4] "Inland Empire (2006) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 July 2022.

[5] "Inland Empire (2006) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 July 2022.

[6] "Inland Empire (2006) – Financial Information". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 July 2022.

[7] Jensen, Jeff (1 December 2006). "David Lynch wants to get in your bloodstream". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 18 March 2023.

[grf4-8] "David Lynch given lifetime award". bbc.co.uk. 6 September 2006. Retrieved 13 August 2012.

[Rotten_Tomatoes-9] "Inland Empire". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 12 February 2021.

[10] "Cahiers du Cinema: Top Ten Lists 1951–2009". alumnus.caltech.edu. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.

[11] "Sight & Sound's films of the decade". Sight & Sound. BFI. 6 June 2012. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2022.

[12] Leigh, Danny (22 December 2009). "The view: The 10 most underrated movies of the decade | Film". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2012.

[Perez-13] Cite error: The named reference Perez was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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