Lynch going it alone

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But why has David Lynch arranged to self-distribute Inland Empire, his 172 minute, digitally-shot "fever dream" flick, before the end of the year? What were Lynch's concrete options before he decided to go this way? Manohla Dargis wrote some respectful things about Empire, but what are the buyers really saying about it behind closed doors? Was nobody was making a serious offer? Gregg Goldstein's Hollywood Reporter story is vague about this stuff.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 10, 2006 at 5:07 PM

comment #1

Devin Faraci says ...

As I wrote here: http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=news&id=7821 , the film had been pulled from Sitges because Studio Canal worried that the audience would like the three hour cut too much. They wanted it shorter (and they're right. It's a chore to sit through). I think Lynch is going it alone because he wants that three hour cut.

Posted by Devin Faraci at October 10, 2006 5:41 PM

comment #2

NYCritic says ...

Well one of your posters below noted that the film probably wouldn't find distribution and that may be the case. My feeling was that there was enough material there to make 2 separate movies, but it seems that Lynch doesn't want to cut the film. INLAND EMPIRE has flashes of brilliance but there's also a lot that's messy and confusing. Like all Lynch films it's demanding. It's more akin to LOST HIGHWAY (which I loathed) than to MULLHOLLAND DR. (which for the most part I liked).

I also don't really think that Dargis' opinion carries all that much weight. I was speaking with a few people and the general consensus was that she was a great writer who knows very little about the movies and cinema history. She seems ot have left a lot of people with a less than favorable impression from her past efforts at the New York Film Festival when she was on panel discussions and the selection committee. At least that's the impression I got.

Posted by NYCritic at October 10, 2006 5:43 PM

comment #3