Examining The INLAND EMPIRE Trailer
by Rick Paulas
-----
For your viewing pleasure, screenshots from the trailer for David Lynch's new film INLAND EMPIRE - opening today in New York, next Friday in LA - with accurate commentary on what exactly is going on in Lynch's meticulous shots.
-----
The first shot of the trailer is, in some ways, the most intriguing. Not only do we have a lush green landscape - all is right in the world - but we have that bold white "R" sticking out like a sore thumb towards the bottom. It is much more than a simple letter, however. The round curvature symbolizes a side view of a pair of breasts, while the diagonal line jutting from underneath the breasts takes the shape of a phallus. It's obvious that Lynch is commenting on one of the sad horrors of life: namely man-boobs.
-----
When you look at this shot, you immediately see the empty chair on the right. Well, first you see the hideous face, and then you see the empty seat. When you look at the lamp behind the seat, you notice that the white light is actually coming from a window behind the chair. So, why have a lamp if you have a bright light source already? This is important and will come back in our discussion. To get back to the chair, it is obviously a gift from a suitor in her younger years, when she was presumably more attractive.
-----
This is a reaction shot to the previous one, with the huge-faced lady and the mysterious empty chair. Laura Dern is supposed to sit in the empty chair, but she's not sure if she wants to, because she's comfortable where she is. Plus it's easier to talk to someone when you're facing them. This is why she has the look of the confusion on her face. Also, the green plant thing above her left shoulder symbolizes a vagina made of money which, in turn, symbolizes democracy. Something the lamp to her right takes note of.
-----
Taking us down a long hallway, we see a lamp shining in the background. Is this the lamp from the shot #2, behind the empty chair? Is it the lamp from shot #3, hovering over Laura Dern's shoulder? Is this the lamp that kept the red phone company in Mulholland Drive? No, my friends. It's the lamp from Purgatory. Notice the red band of light against the wall, two bands of white light above and below it. The two lights are Heaven and Hell, and the red band is Purgatory. Lynch is making two statements with this: (1) Heaven and Hell are pretty much the same; and (2) Purgatory is really Hell. In essence he's asking the age-old question, "If Satan rules Purgatory, does he still use a pitchfork?"
-----
This is a shot of Laura Dern sobbing hysterically while standing on a street. It's clear that she's being stalked by the street lights behind her, obvious friends of the lamps she met earlier on while talking to the weird lady. They're pissed off that she has arms and legs. "How dare her, the bitch!" the street lights scream without mouths, another reason for their anger. The point that Lynch is making is that, no matter how hard they try, street lights, or any man-made source of light for that matter, will always be jealous of humans. Do not trust them.
-----
Notice you can't see his arms or legs in this frame. As with all of Lynch's work, you can't assume anything (in this case the man's appendages), so you must assume the exact opposite (that he has none). This is, therefore, the leader of the lamps, coming to punish Laura Dern for her insolence. Notice the lamp hovering over his left shoulder, whereas the lamp in shot #3 sits over Dern's right shoulder. The left is, symbolically, one's sinister side, and this lamp has sinister intentions. (Also of note is how Lynch returns to his green background theme from shot #1, but this time the lush color is being taken over by darkness.)
-----
This one, with people sitting around an apartment wearing rabbit-heads, is obviously one that Lynch wants us to take on face value. Nothing's going on in this one. Take note, boys and girls, for this is indeed a rarity in Lynchian cinema!
-----
You might not be able to tell by the still, but in the video it's obvious that this shot is taking place during intercourse. As such, the blue shading of the shot symbolizes the blue balls that the man will have long after Laura Dern's own orgasm. Why? You try enjoying sex with a woman hunted by an army of evil lamps!
-----
Laura Dern's face is lit up completely except in one place. Can you see where? That's right, between her eyes. What is she hiding? This is Lynch's way of showing the vanity of women. They are so worried about being viewed as beautiful that they must have every light that falls on their imperfection-laden bodies rigged just right so anyone looking at them doesn't see their many hideous distortions. In this case, Laura Dern is hiding her unibrow.
-----
The second-to-last shot, dissolving into the final one, starts off with a closeup of a record playing, the player's needle reading the grooves on the right. But look closely. Are we sure that's a needle? Could it be, possibly, a lamp? By the end of the trailer, have the lamps have learned to adapt, no longer taking orders from humanity. Instead they are actually writing and producing their own music. With this jump in lamp evolution, Lynch is hinting that, deep down, we all are lamps.
-----
The final shot is arguably the most important one. Gone is the green pastures from the introductory shot, replaced by a vast dark landscape. One can assume that this darkness is symbolic of the entire destruction of the human race by the lamp uprising. The planet's new residents have already become comfortable as its rulers, littering the ground with an inordinate supply of their records. But wait. What's that at the bottom? It's the symbolic "R" from shot #1, making an important reprise. You see, even though lamps have taken over the world, they will still face the same problems that man before them has: namely, manboobs.
-----
Rick Paulas is an editor of Duct Tape & Rouge. In his free time he offers fake fantasy baseball advice for McSweeney's, ruminations about sport for the Chicago Sports Review, shitty ideas at Mental Flatulence, and digital testicle photography for those with special needs.
<< Home