Detailed interpretation of the Inland Empire

Mona 2021-12-26 08:01:07

If David Lynch’s Mulholland Road can be regarded as a film with both artistry and appreciation, then the Inland Empire has completely become an art work that requires repeated research and speculation to be able to read. I think The Inland Empire is no longer a movie at all, but a work of art that describes the inner world of people. The essence of Mulholland lies in the interpretation of Freud's "Principles of Dreams" from the smallest details. It is actually a dream interpretation film with a scientific and educational nature, but this is only the research and learning value of the film. From the macro perspective of understanding the movie itself and the complexity of the movie, Mulholland Road is basically just the tip of the iceberg of the Inland Empire.

Mulholland Road is the foundation of this film. To understand the inland empire, it is recommended to study Mulholland Road thoroughly.

In the past few days, I combined with the poor online film reviews of the Inland Empire (and different opinions from each other), combined with my repeated viewing, and came up with a set of my own interpretations of this film, hope and like to study this kind of film The discussion by the people of the film only represents a personal view:

First of all, I will give a macro definition of the main content of this three-hour inland empire (just a macro definition, the film is much more complicated than this): Inland Empire The story is about a sunny, dreamy Polish girl. Due to the misfortune of her family life (specifically, her husband’s derailment and domestic violence), she also went out to find her lover, cheated with men outside, engaged in sex transactions, and gradually became degenerate. A "quasi-prostitute". In the process of her degeneration, the dark side of her heart (or demons) also breeds at the same time, which is manifested in her hatred of her husband, dissatisfaction with her life, and a strong sense of revenge. Her initial dreams and personality were almost swallowed by this demon, but in the end through painful struggles, the sunny side and dreams in her heart defeated the dark side. She eliminated the demon, resolved the hatred, and finally recovered from the pain and contradiction in her heart. The process of getting rid of the hatred, and finally returning home and embracing her husband.

The plot is quite simple, but this is also David Lynch’s signature technique: expressing the simplest and most true human emotions in an extremely chaotic and obscure manner. Darkness is the main color of the whole film, and the intense color renders the process of being affected, eroded, controlled and swallowed by the heart demon, or the dark side, so that the audience can always feel how terrible the dark side of their hearts is.

The whole movie has 5 big spaces and a devil (that is, the heart demon and the dark side). These 5 big spaces are connected to each other, intertwined and twisted together in the film, and often switched. This is also the biggest difficulty of the inland empire:

1. Realistic space: In the first black and white part of the film, a Polish girl had sex with a strange man. According to the dialogue, it is obvious that this Polish girl is not a professional prostitute. At most, this can be regarded as the first in her prostitute career. Second, and her heart is very contradictory.

2. Guiding space: the room where the three rabbits are located in the movie, a very critical space. This space shows the real family scenes of Polish girls, where the husband cheated, the wife questioned, and the husband denied it. This space is a channel connecting the first real space and the inner space, and it is also a channel that guides the thoughts of Polish girls from reality to the depths of their hearts. Because in Alice in Wonderland, the rabbit is a guide for Alice to walk into the depths of the cave from reality. In the Inland Empire, apart from connecting the inner world and the real world, this guiding space also has some subconscious symbols. In the process of the film, the changes in color and atmosphere also represent the changes in the subconscious emotions of Polish girls.

3. Actor Space: The space shown from the perspective of filming in the film symbolizes the original and purest dream of a Polish girl, which is a prosperous and comfortable life (the mansion at the beginning of the film) and the dream of being a famous actor. The main color of the actor's space is sunshine and light. Mulhollando told us that dreams are a manifestation of people’s inner desires. Although I do not approve of dreams in this movie, it is also a manifestation of the inner world, and part of this inner world reflects the inner desires and dreams of this Polish girl, actor Space is the part of the inner world that reflects the dream.

4. Character space: The space where the main body of the film's plot and scenes is located, the space where Polish girls are gradually influenced and swallowed by the heart demon. The main color is horror and dark or even horrible, symbolizing the horror and twisted inner world controlled and dominated by the dark side. In the film, the connection with the actor's space is the closest, and it is integrated with the role of the actor's space, affecting and dominating the actor's space.

5. Subconscious and memory space: the space that the heroine of the character space sees through the hole in the silk. This is the lowest, darkest, and most core space in the whole film. It is the birthplace and location of the inner demon. Some online film critics believe that This is the real space of a Polish girl, but I don’t think it is completely the case. This space contains the memory of what actually happened in the real world, as well as the materialization of the dark side of the heart. I will explain it later.

Devil: At the beginning of the film, the Polish person who enters the gate from the guiding space (the room where the three rabbits are) represents the inner demon, the dark side of the Polish girl. This heart demon wanders in the above 5 big spaces and eats up the hearts of Polish girls.

There are so many symbolic meanings, but this is based on the first understanding of the plot context, but in this article I do not want to analyze the plot from the beginning of the film in detail through graphic analysis, because this It is very tiring, and there are already relevant film reviews on the plot interpretation level of the film on the Internet. You can go to see it (limited to the plot interpretation level). These film reviews are also some reference materials for my understanding of the plot.

Next, please combine the following film reviews found on the Internet to understand the plot of the Inland Empire first, and then look down (I am dull, it took three days to read it three times to understand the plot) .

http://i.mtime.com/hongxifan/blog/965469/ : Although this film review does not fully agree with the interpretation of the symbolic meaning of the film, I think it is an analysis of the plot of the inland empire that can be found on the Internet. The best and most comprehensive film review (I write the plot analysis by myself and it is the most to this level, so there is no need to write it, just read this one), friends who don’t understand the plot can pass this first Film reviews, and then combine the movie to understand the plot clearly. The curse mentioned in this film review is the heart demon and dark side I just mentioned; the susan being killed by Billy’s wife is the heart demon that I just said has swallowed ideals and dreams; the “phantom ghost” mentioned is that The devil is the heart demon; the "future world" seen through silk is the subconscious and memory space I just mentioned.



After the plot is clear, we continue (the following analysis is based on the familiarity of the plot):

At the beginning, the inner demon asked to enter the inner world of the Polish girl through the guiding space. From the expression of eager resentment he asked to enter, it can be seen that he wanted to go in and destroy it, because he was a symbol of the dark side of the Polish girl's heart and the heart of revenge. Then enter the actor space. At the beginning of the film is a bright mansion in the sun. It symbolizes the ideal living conditions of Polish girls in the actor space. At this time, it is predicted that the old lady will appear, and what he said to Nikki is very important. , Probably the content is that a little boy went out to play, when he opened the door, he saw a world, when he walked through the corridor, there was a reflection, the devil was born from this. This sentence implies that the Poles who opened the door just now is the symbol of the demon in the center of the film. This little boy symbolizes the actor space, and his reflection symbolizes the character space corresponding to this actor space. The heart demon will initially devour the inner space. Layer of the role space, and then go up to swallow the actor space.

After Nikki and Devon try out, Susan suddenly appeared in the role space of Nikki, Devon chased after him, but Susan could see him, but he could not see Susan. This was the first time in actor space and character space. After connecting, the crew explained that there is a curse that will kill the hero and heroine, which symbolizes that the heart demon already exists, and he will also devour the dream of the actor's space.

Later, the boundary between the actor space and the role space gradually blurred, because the influence of the inner demon was gradually expanding. In the 35th minute, the woman who claimed to be hypnotized and wanted to kill someone (Billy's wife) was hypnotized by the inner demon. This is a sign that the inner demon has swallowed the character space. When Nikki and Devon had sex, it can also be seen that Devon has become Billy at this time. This is also a feature of the character space invasion. When the two had sex, Nikki's husband discovered that the husband's hatred was buried. Later, time and space returned to the time when the male and female protagonists were trying out on the set, but the main perspective became Susan in the role space. Susan saw her husband while escaping. The aura at the time was terrifying, and she shouted: Billy! Billy! Because she was afraid of her husband hurting Billy, this expressed her inner conflict at the moment: she wanted to avenge her husband, and she was afraid that her husband would hurt her lover.

Susan ran into the room and saw a group of prostitutes. This group of prostitutes led Susan's inner world to degenerate thoughts. At this time, the guidance of this group of prostitutes was still very vague. They only guided Susan to remember what she least wanted to remember in real life. Some tragic past events, that is, domestic violence and misfortune, are aimed at inspiring the demons, inspiring hatred, and leading her to fall and devour.

Later, through the hole in the silk, Susan saw the innermost subconscious and memory space, and saw the real self (the housewife) in life, the neglect of her husband, the affair and violence she endured in her life. There is a very important detail in this: Susan walked to the bedroom of herself and her husband, and saw something on the floor that looked like female underwear and a small bag of things (I think it was a condom). This was proof of her husband’s cheating. At this time, the group of prostitutes appeared again, and what they said this time was very obvious. Obviously, they suggested that Susan use her body to seduce, and also to find a lover outside, to fall outside, to "complete the reversal", what reversal: you are not Betray me? Okay, you find a mistress, I go out to be a chicken, find ten men, see if you are a bull or me! This was the thought that the prostitutes instilled in Susan at this time, and it was also the beginning of Susan's degeneration. These are expressed in the middle of the film.

What needs to be mentioned is the scene in the middle of the film where the Polish girl was beaten up by the heart demon entity (the Polish person who first asked to enter). This should be a transfer of her being beaten up by her husband in reality. Her husband became this demon in her inner world, because it is impossible for the Polish girl to kill her husband in reality, and she went home and reunited with her husband at the end of the film. After that, the Polish girl killed her husband with an iron cone, which represented her subconscious desire for revenge. Then the Polish girl met the heart demon on the street, and in the dialogue with the heart demon she realized that the heart demon was about to cause chaos. And launched retaliation, so I was very scared. These are the plots that take place in the subconscious and memory space. In other words, this part of the plot is the product of the combination of the real experience and subconsciousness of the Polish girl, and it is the bottom of the inner world of the Polish girl.

There is also an important scene in the film. The fat man in the blue-robed bunny in the guiding space sits in the dim light and listens to Susan's internal painful experience and dissatisfaction. This process is interspersed with the inland empire. In the second half, I think the symbol is a kind of communication and monologue of Susan to her subconscious husband, because I said before that the male rabbit is the symbol of the subconscious husband of the Polish girl. This communication expresses Susan, that is, the ambivalence of a Polish woman who hates her husband and loves her husband.

The source of the murder weapon Iron Cone is also worth noting. It was a weapon found out of fear when Susan faced the Inner Demon. Friends who understand the plot should remember this scene. There is a red light bulb in the Inner Demon's mouth. After switching a camera, the demons disappeared. This scene shows that the inner demon does not exist, and the violence comes from fear and the dark side.

Then three old people appeared and snatched it to Billy in the character space, asking him to kill the inner demon. Billy put it at home and was taken by Susan in the character space, and then instructed Billy to say that the girl who was crying (should be The projection of the Polish girl in the character space) is red (It was red). Then these three old men turned into three rabbits in the guiding space, and then there was a strange dialogue between the rabbit masters: one day I will find the answer; it is red; where am I? I still don't fully understand what this conversation means. . . But from a general sense, I think it should be Billy’s wife who said that she would find out who Billy’s mistress was, and then Billy’s mistress threatened her and said that she was terrible (when Susan met with the demon, the demon’s mouth It contains a red light bulb, and red is dark and eerie throughout the movie), Billy said he didn't know where he was and what to do. The dialogue between the three rabbits here is the most bizarre and allegorical dialogue in the whole film. My interpretation of this dialogue may not be in place, because I have not fully understood it (by the way, I express my admiration for the fairy David , He should be the reincarnation of Taishang Laojun...). But the position of Lord Rabbit, who represents the subconscious mind, should support the elimination of inner demons. This is my intuitive feeling.

In the end, the character space was swallowed by the heart demon. Susan was stabbed to death by the wife of Billy, who was possessed by the heart demon, with an iron cone. At this time, he switched to the actor space through David Lynch’s godlike camera zoom technique, and Nikki in the actor space awoke. After experiencing the painful process of being engulfed by the heart demon in the role space, she realized that revenge is useless and when is the time for retribution, so she decided to eliminate the heart demon. Billy in her previous role space got the pistol from the three old men. , And walked to the screen to connect with the Polish girl in the real space, and then walked into the corridor to eliminate the demons. At this time, the music turned bright, and Nikki moved from the actor space to the real space, and looked like the Polish girl in reality. Embrace and disappear. The demon of the Polish girl disappeared, walked out of the room, went home and hugged her husband. The video ends.


If you really understand the Inland Empire, I think the Inland Empire should be the most memorable and chewed movie in the world, because it has surpassed the movie and has become a complex work of art!

I have to admire David Lynch’s performance on the multi-layered world and dark side of people’s inner world, which makes people truly feel the complexity of the inner world and the horror of the dark side, but I have to complain: the inland empire is too complicated. . . . When I watched Mulholland Road, I thought that the movie was so obscure that it was abnormal enough. I saw the Inland Empire and I realized that Mulholland Road is for children to watch compared to the Empire. . . . . .

View more about Inland Empire reviews

Extended Reading

Inland Empire quotes

  • 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..."