Inland Empire Quotes

  • Neighbor: Is there a murder in your film?

    Nikki: Uh, no. It's not part of the story.

    Neighbor: No, I think you are wrong about that.

    Nikki: No.

    Neighbor: Brutal fucking murder!

    Nikki: I don't like this kind of talk; the things you've been saying. I think you should go now.

    Neighbor: Yes. Me, I... I can't seem to remember if it's today, two days from now, or yesterday. I suppose if it was 9:45, I'd think it was after midnight! For instance, if today was tomorrow, you wouldn't even remember that you owed on an unpaid bill. Actions do have consequences. And yet, there is the magic. If it was tomorrow, you would be sitting over there.

    [Neighbor points to Nikki's couch across the room]

    Neighbor: Do you see?

  • Announcer: The Marilyn Levens Starlight Celebrity Show will be back next week. From Hollywood, California - where stars make dreams, and dreams make stars.

  • Neighbor: So, you have a new role to play, I hear?

    Nikki: Up for a role, but I'm afraid far from getting it.

    Neighbor: No, no. I definitely heard that you have it.

    Nikki: Oh?

    Neighbor: Yes. It is an... It is an interesting role?

    Nikki: Oh yes, very!

    Neighbor: Is it about marriage?

    Nikki: Um, perhaps in some ways, but...

    Neighbor: Your husband is involved?

    Nikki: No.

    Neighbor: Hmmm. A little boy went out to play. When he opened his door, he saw the world. As he passed through the doorway, he caused a reflection. Evil was born. Evil was born, and followed the boy.

    Nikki: I'm sorry, what is that?

    Neighbor: An old tale, and a variation. A little girl went out to play. Lost in the marketplace, as if half-born. Then, not through the marketplace - you see that, don't you? - but through the alley behind the marketplace. This is the way to the palace. But it isn't something you remember.

  • Neighbor: I've been going around, meeting my new neighbors. I think that it is important to know one's neighbors. To say "hello!" to them.

  • Devon Berk: Kingsley, get to the point.

    Kingsley Stewart: On High and Blue Tomorrows is in fact a remake.

    Devon Berk: It's a remake?

    Kingsley Stewart: Yeah.

    Devon Berk: I wouldn't do a remake.

    Kingsley Stewart: No, no, no, no. I know. Of course... but you didn't know. The original was under a different name. It was started, but never finished. Now, Freddy's found out that our producers know the history of this film and they have taken it upon themselves not to pass that information along to us. Purposefully. Of course, not me. I assume not to the two of you. True?

    Nikki: No... absolutely. Nobody told me anything.

    Devon Berk: No, me neither. I thought this was an original script.

    Kingsley Stewart: Yeah... well... anyway, the film was never finished.

    Nikki: I don't understand. Why wasn't it finished?

    Kingsley Stewart: Well, after the characters have been filming for some time, they discovered something... something inside the story.

    Devon Berk: Please. Kingsley.

    Kingsley Stewart: The two leads were murdered! It was based on a Polish-Gypsy folk-tale. The title in German was "Vier-Sieben: 47". And it was said to be cursed. So it turned out to be.

  • Nikki: Hey! Look at me. And tell me if you've known me before.

    Lanni: Yes. We will do that.

  • Nikki: I'm a whore. Where am I? I'm afraid!

  • Neighbor: The Evil was born and followed the boy...

  • Nikki: The ambulance guys, they say: "What the fuck happened here?" I say: "He come to a reapin' what he had been sowin', that's what." They say: "Fucker been sowing some kind of heavy shit..."

  • Nikki: Bam! I Kicked him straight in the balls so hard they go crawling into his brain for refuge - he went down like a two dollar whore.

  • Nikki: Who was it?

    Devon Berk: Disappeared where it's hard to disappear.

  • Nikki: Some men change. Well, they don't change - they reveal. They reveal themselves over time, you know?

  • Nikki: I figured one day I'd just wake up and and find out what the hell yesterday was all about. I'm not too keen on thinkin' about tommorow. And today's slipping by.

  • Lori: There's always a chance with tits like yours, Kari.

    Kari: Thanks.

  • Piotrek Krol: There are consequences to one's actions. And there certainly would be consequences to wrong actions. Dark they would be, and inescapable.

  • Street Person #1: I'll show you light now. It burns bright forever. No more blue tomorrows. You on high now, love.

  • Devon Berk: If you're looking for shock value, Marilyn, I suggest you look in the mirror.

  • The Marine's Sister: Sweet!

  • Street Person #1: You dyin', lady.

  • Nikki: This is a story that happened yesterday. But I know it's tomorrow.

  • Nikki: All I see from this is blue tomorrows.

  • Nikki: Damn! This sounds like a dialogue from our script!

  • Nikki: Are you enjoying yourself, Freddie?

    Freddie Howard: Well... There is a vast network, right? An ocean of possibilities. I like dogs. I used to raise rabbits. I've always loved animals. Their nature. How they think. I have seen dogs reason their way out of problems. Watched them think through the trickiest situations. Do you have a couple of bucks I could borrow? I've got this damn landlord.

  • Nikki: Hey... hey. Watch this move.

  • Rabbit: Have there been any calls?

  • Kingsley Stewart: What is going on? What the bloody hell's going on?

  • Rabbit: What time is it?

    [audience laughs]

Extended Reading
  • Emma 2022-03-26 09:01:08

    Movies are dreams, and Akira Kurosawa honestly said that this is "Dream", David Lynch's personal dream, a dream within a dream. The inland is David's inland; the empire is Lynch's empire. Please feel free to interpret and justify yourself.

  • Kaleb 2021-12-26 08:01:07

    One of David Lynch's most obscure movies is almost impossible to deconstruct correctly. The second half of the narrative is completely fragmented. Multi-layered narratives, blurry and shaking shots, distorted close-ups, blurred colors, a large number of mashups and collages of dialogue and intentions, and a 3-hour film length, make you stare without thinking. This is David Lynch’s most thorough show of the spiritual world, but I still prefer the gorgeous and easy-to-understand "Mulholland Road." (8.5/10)