

The movie was shot without a finished screenplay and was built on a scene-by-scene basis.Īs well as that, the whole thing was made by Lynch himself using a handheld Sony camcorder. With captivating, Inland Empire is Lynch pushing his experimental tendencies to extremes. As the movie plays out, Grace eventually morphs into Susan Blue, her character in the movie, with bloody consequences. while another follows a cursed love story in early 20th century Poland. Part of the movie follows Dern's Nikki Grace, an actress with fading star power, who lands herself a role in a Southern melodrama called On High in Blue Tomorrows. Starring Lynch regulars Laura Dern, Harry Dean Stanton, and Grace Zabriskie as well as Jeremy Irons and Justin Theroux, the movie is a sprawling three-hour epic. Inland Empire looks like it's going to be Lynch's final movie and it is a suitably quirky finale. It also has none of Lynch's signature moves and weirdness, so what was the point in hiring him? 9.

It doesn't work as a movie, it does no justice to the story, with Villeneuve improving the story on screen in every way. The movie was given a pasting by critics, bombed at the box office and Lynch was so enraged by the final film that he publicly disowned it, telling the world that pressure from both producers and financiers restrained his artistic control and denied him final cut privilege. The shoot overran, and Lynch, in his wish to cram all 412 pages of the novel into the movie, initially delivered a four-hour-cut, which, after major surgery by De Laurentiis, his daughter Raffaella and Lynch himself, a 137-minute cut was delivered. Upon arriving, Lynch and his crew discovered that it was in use, as a dump for the carcasses of dead dogs. Particularly grim was a scene that was due to take be filmed on the bed of an ancient volcano. Sadly, the electricity frequently broke and working conditions were so haphazard there were frequently trips to hospital for the cast and crew. Producer Dino De Laurentiis organised the shoot to take place in Mexico's Churubusco Studios, booked the studio's eight sound stages for more than six months. MacLachlan led a cast that also included Patrick Stewart, Francesca Annis, Leonardo Cimino and Sting To take on Herbert's book and bring to life the saga of Paul Atreides and his quest for revenge in the sandswept deserts of Arrakis, Lynch turned to Kyle MacLachlan, with whom he'd later reunite with for Twin Peaks.
