DAVID LYNCH DECODED--INLAND EMPIRE

[TheMysteryMan]

I read this today (the whole book could be drained in one sitting; it's very short) and Mark Allyn Stewart brings up some interesting ideas about the film that are worth discussing.

1) The idea that the Lost Girl is a slave of some kind, prostituting herself, and watching Nikki's story play out is an escape from her misery. I don't think this is a concrete idea, thoughI'm guessing he made this connection because of the previous scene in the hotel room between the unseen Man and Woman, but as we've discussed on one of the Random Thoughts threads, it is not clear if the Woman is actually a prostitute, so I'm not sold on this idea, even if it goes some way toward explaining the appearance of the prostitutes elsewhere in the movie.

2) Jack Rabbit might be The Phantom. This hadn't occurred to me before and it's an interesting idea. Jack Rabbit appeared to be waiting for someone and The Phantom's meeting with Janek has the bearing of an appointment. Because The Rabbits don't strike me as especially malevolent, it's arguable, but could that be why there are no Rabbits when Nikki reaches that room at the end? Because the Phantom's influence is exorcised (see point below)?

3) In Freddy's dialogue about animals, he mentions raising rabbits. His remark about how he owes the landlord money takes it a step further than suggesting we identify dogs getting themselves out of tricky situations with Nikki/Lost Girl, because the landlord also suggests an "unpaid bill."

4) The appearance of Jack Rabbit in the room where Nikki/Sue will talk to Mr. K implies that previous connection to The Phantom"”who has found his opening with Nikki. The scene which immediately follows Piotrek's meeting with Gordy/Uri at that shack in the woods, after Gordy/Uri says, "He mumbled something about Inland Empire,"is Laura Dern walking through the spotlight with that horrifying grin on her face. The implication being that The Phantom (the "he") has possessed her, which explains a question I had about why Nikki/Sue mocks the Lost Girl on Hollywood and Vine, the line about "Will you tell me if you've known me before?"That's the look she sees on her own face when she looks across the street, and it recalls Visitor #1's story about the shadow of evil created when the boy/girl walked through the doorway.

5) The scene where Julia Ormond stabs Nikki can be construed as some kind of double-cross by The Phantom. The implication is that she has the screwdriver to kill someone but someone else uses it on her"”maybe this is all suggested by the original scene of Ormond in the police station where she pulls the screwdriver out of her own side.

6) In shooting The Phantom, she is exorcising his influence over her rather than him personally/spectrally, which is why we see her face superimposed with that grin.


I'm not going to bring all of the points up, as some of them are reliant on a motif of ideas Stewart points out from Lynch's body of work. It's a good read and should be of interest to everyone with an interest in getting below the surface of Lynch's work. I wish it had been longer, but it does bring up several ideas that hadn't occurred to me.

Ryan

[MichaelPW]

Jack Rabbit might be The Phantom.

When Nikki opens the Axxon N. door there is a strange lamp/light. Somehow it reminds me on the shape of a rabbit.

[applesnoranges]

Edit: What I said here doesn't make sense any more.

[TheMysteryMan]

I don't yet see the evidence one way or the other. He appears in the back of the room, then there is the meeting. Someone mentioned that the aura in which he appears is the same as in a scene from TP, but I don't remember of whom.

His reasoning in the book is that Jack Rabbit says, "I hear someone,"then leaves. Then the Phantom is talking to Janek as though at an appointment, so he was saying the Rabbit left for the appointment because it was his, although it seems more to me that he's leaving to watch what they say. I can't be very concrete about the details now because I loaned the book to someone, but he was saying that the scene ties the Rabbit to the Phantom and then when he sits in Nikki's/Sue's chair later that it's like he's privy to what she tells Mr. K.

Then Visitor #1 shows up, so who is she? Either Jack or the Phantom? My strongest feeling is that she is like the Blue Haired Lady from MD; in charge of reincarnation. Lost Girl has been killed and cannot reincarnate until she has a clear understanding of what happened in her life, so Visitor #1 shows her (Nikki being her next incarnation still waiting to be born).

I'm still viewing her as more of a Chalfont/Log Lady type character. Someone who has privileged information that they ambiguously convey to guide the protagonist, although in Chalfont's case she tends to help sew someone's doom (in FWWM the painting she gives Laura is the doorway to Laura's dream of the Red Room where she takes the ring, and in TP she guides Donna to Harold's house, where Harold will ultimately kill himself as a result). I can see where your conclusion comes from for V1, though.

But then, why the empty room? Maybe also there is no need for the rabbits after the phantom has been exorcized. I don't know; this seems mixed up but I'll leave it for now.

I suppose as far as the Lost Girl goes, there is nothing more for them to observe or facilitate. I wonder what we're to make of the imbalance of power with them, where Jack Rabbit can observe and the female isn't privy to it and isn't toldbut I suppose it's not that different from the Lodge inhabitants. Bob and Gerard are able to leave but MFAP is never seen outside of the Red Room.

He also refers to the landlord as "this damned landlord".

Yes, that too seems to magnify the significance of that exchange. Also, the obfuscation of time"”"It seems like only yesterday that I was carrying my own weight."And also, perhaps, the idea of needing help, since Lost Girl obviously needs Nikki.

Except that the funny thing is that she never talks about the Billy/Devon/Doris story. She ran up there to escape from Ormand on the street, so it's strange that it is not the first thing she talks about, but she never does. She goes on about all sorts of other things. She seems to be some other person and the only way she has anything to do with Sue has to do with her husband planning something and then, she thinks, getting something out of a drawer. It's as if the Sue story has invaded her mind just as dreams do and she misunderstands what she sees of Piotrek planting the gun in the drawer. He's not her husband but he looks just like him. So ... where was I?

We don't see her discussing that but I'm not sure it's a foregone conclusion that she says nothing of it. It could be something as simple as we don't see it because we already know it (wellkind of). When she talks about the "mind fuck"that's been laid on her and how she isn't sure what came before or after, it implies there are a lot of events she has related in addition to her husband joining the circus and a couple of disgruntled and well-endowed suitors. She says she heard Mr. K could help her. Who knows with what though.
Mr. K's a great listener but he says more on the mystery caller than he does to her. Minus the "I like pancakes"thing, he only says, "Were you in fact seeing other men?"Could be this line is of a more profound significance than merely the set-up to a good laugh, much like Freddy's dialogue. I remember laughing at a lot of what she says in that scene because her language gets more and more profane, the apex for me coming with the line about the circus being "one great ball of shit."

Jack Rabbit also seems to have direct contact with Mr. K. He seems to be Mr. K.'s messenger. If, for example, Mr. K. is God, then Jack Rabbit seems to be acting as an angel assigned to LG's case. The missing connection here, again, is that to Visitor #1 because she is the one who lays out the story which includes connections between Nikki and Lost Girl.

I hadn't considered him as such, although I can see why some people wouldthe "long fucking climb"she makes to see him, the idea he can help, how she basically gives an account of her life to him. He appears once later to beckon Nikki up the stairs to confront The Phantom, so in spite of the sinister bent to his conversation on the phone, he did ultimately help her find her way.

The idea that the phantom is at work here explains her cruelty, hmmm. But again, she does not say that line, "tell me where you've known me before", on Hollywood Blvd. Just to keep track.

What she says and I'm assuming what Wikipedia refers to is the "I'm a whore!"line, which is said very mockingly and with that contorted face. Possibly The Phantom in control, degrading her for his amusement.

The screwdriver is deliberately handed to Ormand because they are making a movie, but then, it seems that she was really stabbed and went through a horrible death she did not expect when she said, "Watch this move!" So those are 2 different views of what is happening and I wonder which one was the hypnotized one. boogie666 on the inlandempirecinema board pointed out that snapping fingers has often been characterized as a way of bringing someone out of a trance ... and I keep thinking about that.

That's interesting, although when they snap someone out of a trance, it's usually preceded by, "You will do what I tell you to do, although you won't remember why you are doing it."If the Phantom has her at that moment, he could be sending her off to die instead of seeking refuge of sorts with Mr. K again. Does he want her dead because he knows she can help the Lost Girl? Because otherwise, why not use her to kill Billy's wife?

[applesnoranges]

...although it seems more to me that he's leaving to watch what they say. I can't be very concrete about the details now because I loaned the book to someone, but he was saying that the scene ties the Rabbit to the Phantom and then when he sits in Nikki's/Sue's chair later that it's like he's privy to what she tells Mr. K.

I can see that but I wonder what he would do with the information, except that Lost Girl can see what he sees. But also, since Mr. K. repeats lines from the séance, it could be because Jack Rabbit, who was there, told him what happened.

I'm still viewing her as more of a Chalfont/Log Lady type character. Someone who has privileged information that they ambiguously convey to guide the protagonist, although in Chalfont's case she tends to help sew someone's doom (in FWWM the painting she gives Laura is the doorway to Laura's dream of the Red Room where she takes the ring, and in TP she guides Donna to Harold's house, where Harold will ultimately kill himself as a result). I can see where your conclusion comes from for V1, though.

And I can see that. Like, Mrs. Tremond/Chalfont, he acts as a sort of doorway into another world where part of the story takes place, though in all cases the characters themselves end up making their own decisions.

I suppose as far as the Lost Girl goes, there is nothing more for them to observe or facilitate.

It is as if at the beginning she has been robbed of all contact with reality except that of the hotel room and so she sees on TV what seems to be nonsense; a show by and for rabbits incomprehensible to humans. Ultimate culture shock. Then she begins to work toward her freedom through her crying out. Or maybe the other way around: Her crying out comes first and the men in the scéance hear and become the rabbits to help her begin to make sense. So when everything is wrapped up, OK, their rabbit forms are not needed so they are not there. And Nikki never saw the rabbits anyway, or the men in the séance.

I wonder what we're to make of the imbalance of power with them, where Jack Rabbit can observe and the female isn't privy to it and isn't toldbut I suppose it's not that different from the Lodge inhabitants. Bob and Gerard are able to leave but MFAP is never seen outside of the Red Room.

I am always aware that the rabbits' sequences are a collage piece worked in from Rabbits and David Lynch is finding sense in what they do as is Lost Girl. So I don't think the male/female balance means anything unless we find meaning in it. In the séance, all are men, but Jack still is the one who conducts most of the business. If they were a band, he would be the band leader or lead singer.

He also refers to the landlord as "this damned landlord".

I don't understand much about Freddy. I brought up the damned landlord because of all the religious overtones in the story, though I don't know who his damned landlord would be mythologically.

We don't see her discussing that but I'm not sure it's a foregone conclusion that she says nothing of it. It could be something as simple as we don't see it because we already know it (wellkind of). When she talks about the "mind fuck"that's been laid on her and how she isn't sure what came before or after, it implies there are a lot of events she has related in addition to her husband joining the circus and a couple of disgruntled and well-endowed suitors. She says she heard Mr. K could help her. Who knows with what though.

What I'm getting at is that she seems to be a different person from Sue Blue in the movie OHIBT, the one in its script. But her mind seems to be invaded by certain aspects of it only. She talks about a lot of pretty unrelated things and people but then a few things having to do with Lost Girl's quest for release pop in to the monolog, including memories of Sue and what she thinks her husband is doing.

Mr. K's a great listener but he says more on the mystery caller than he does to her. Minus the "I like pancakes"thing, he only says, "Were you in fact seeing other men?"Could be this line is of a more profound significance than merely the set-up to a good laugh, much like Freddy's dialogue. I remember laughing at a lot of what she says in that scene because her language gets more and more profane, the apex for me coming with the line about the circus being "one great ball of shit."

She doesn't seem very upset by the question. I can't see any reason for him to say that, given how much latitude he gives her to say anything else she wants, except that it leads to the next story about the town with the chemical factory etc. I don't know; I don't get much out of it.

The screwdriver is deliberately handed to Ormand because they are making a movie, but then, it seems that she was really stabbed and went through a horrible death she did not expect when she said, "Watch this move!" So those are 2 different views of what is happening and I wonder which one was the hypnotized one.

btw it's been pointed out that there are two screwdrivers. I'll have to watch more carefully when each appears.

Does he want her dead because he knows she can help the Lost Girl? Because otherwise, why not use her to kill Billy's wife?

I'm not following. I think generally he's catching on that Dern was sent to free Lost Girl and he wants the opposite of that. It's been said that she has to die to give him a false sense that she is out of the way as he proceeds toward room 47. But why would he want to have Billy's wife killed?

[MichaelPW]

In the séance, all are men, but Jack still is the one who conducts most of the business. If they were a band, he would be the band leader or lead singer.

As I see it the man in the séance who conducts most of the business could be the one who lays the pistol on the table. This would be the rabbit sitting right on the couch.

I brought up the damned landlord because of all the religious overtones in the story, though I don't know who his damned landlord would be mythologically.

It seems that Freddy just makes a joke when he talks about his landlord as damned landlord. The one who regularly wants money - how inconvenient.

btw - It`s funny that the butler who brings the drink when Sue and Billy are having a drink is called Jim.

btw it's been pointed out that there are two screwdrivers.

At least the one Lost Girl has and the one Nikki finds in the near of Crimp are different!

[applesnoranges]

In the séance, all are men, but Jack still is the one who conducts most of the business. If they were a band, he would be the band leader or lead singer.

As I see it the man in the séance who conducts most of the business could be the one who lays the pistol on the table. This would be the rabbit sitting right on the couch.

Yes, that's him. We call him Jack because that's who he is in Rabbits. The one next to him is Suzie and the one ironing is Jane.

It seems that Freddy just makes a joke when he talks about his landlord as damned landlord. The one who regularly wants money - how inconvenient.

Well yes, but Freddy is a very Biblical character so something is being reflected. He's a sad old preacher who has seen the story of Nikki and Devon before and knows what will happen. He goes around begging like asking for donations for the church. So he doesn't work for the devil ... so why damned landlord?

btw - It`s funny that the butler who brings the drink when Sue and Billy are having a drink is called Jim.

Never noticed that!

At least the one Lost Girl has and the one Nikki finds in the near of Crimp are different!

I think the one in Mr. K's office is different too, but I'm not sure. Have to look. But there is a big difference between her and the Dern woman on the street because the letters have flipped upside down, so maybe that screwdriver is different too. There are two of her at first so they must be different dreams of the same thing running into each other.

[MichaelPW]

We call him Jack because that's who he is in Rabbits.

Why do you think that? I would think that the one who says "It was red" is Jack, because he sits in the same position as Jack rabbit sits in the end.

Well yes, but Freddy is a very Biblical character so something is being reflected. He's a sad old preacher who has seen the story of Nikki and Devon before and knows what will happen. He goes around begging like asking for donations for the church. So he doesn't work for the devil ... so why damned landlord?

I don`t see him as a Biblical character. He`s a very worldly person who likes to drink, smoke and exchange informations. Obviously he likes these things so much that he forgets to save some money for the rent. So he invents stories which will lead to money from different persons (probably for some more drinks, cigarettes and a little bit for the rent). He`s "suggestive": "Damned landlord." "Yes, damned landlord - we have mercy - we have to help you."

I think the one in Mr. K's office is different too, but I'm not sure. Have to look. But there is a big difference between her and the Dern woman on the street because the letters have flipped upside down, so maybe that screwdriver is different too. There are two of her at first so they must be different dreams of the same thing running into each other.

I will have to look closer how the screwdrivers are in different situations. Think that the screwdriver Lost Girl has is quite fitting to the scene. Also the one which falls on the star of Dorothy Lamour is quite fitting - although I don`t know how it looks like exactly.

[applesnoranges]

We call him Jack because that's who he is in Rabbits.

Why do you think that? I would think that the one who says "It was red" is Jack, because he sits in the same position as Jack rabbit sits in the end.

I think we are talking about the same character for the same reason. The man on the left who does almost all of the talking ends up sitting where Jack Rabbit sits on the couch.

I don`t see him as a Biblical character. He`s a very worldly person who likes to drink, smoke and exchange informations. Obviously he likes these things so much that he forgets to save some money for the rent. So he invents stories which will lead to money from different persons (probably for some more drinks, cigarettes and a little bit for the rent). He`s "suggestive": "Damned landlord." "Yes, damned landlord - we have mercy - we have to help you."

Yes, that works too. There is a lot about Freddy that I don't understand. He and Kingsley both know the story and Freddy makes it happen just as Kingsley did. Could it be that Visitor #1, Kingsley, and Freddy are the three rabbits? Watch all their facial expressions.

I will have to look closer how the screwdrivers are in different situations.

I haven't watched that yet. On my list.

[MichaelPW]

I think we are talking about the same character for the same reason. The man on the left who does almost all of the talking ends up sitting where Jack Rabbit sits on the couch.

I think the man on the right does almost all of the talking. From Piotrek`s perspective it is the man on the left. But from our perspective it is the man on the right.

Could it be that Visitor #1, Kingsley, and Freddy are the three rabbits?

Maybe yes.

[applesnoranges]

think the man on the right does almost all of the talking. From Piotrek`s perspective it is the man on the left. But from our perspective it is the man on the right.

OK, yes, he's on the right. So he then becomes Suzie. Therefore I am wrong about Jack being the group leader; each plays a part.

Could it be that Visitor #1, Kingsley, and Freddy are the three rabbits?

Maybe yes.

I'm starting to think this is an interesting idea because Visitor #2 has that same strange quality. I've been wondering who V2 is and why, but if V1 is a rabbit, then V2 is also. But I don't see any other reason to think so. If she had come right after a disappearing rabbit it would seem more that way, but she doesn't. I don't know.

[TheMysteryMan]

What I'm getting at is that she seems to be a different person from Sue Blue in the movie OHIBT, the one in its script. But her mind seems to be invaded by certain aspects of it only. She talks about a lot of pretty unrelated things and people but then a few things having to do with Lost Girl's quest for release pop in to the monolog, including memories of Sue and what she thinks her husband is doing.

I don't know. I don't have much of a theory to explain the obvious dichotomy between Sue as scripted and who she is in real life. She's as distant as Betty from Diane in Mulholland Drive. This seems like the inverse of MD in that respect"”instead of the aspiring actress dreaming a better place in life, it's the successful actress reconfigured at a desperate, low level.

btw it's been pointed out that there are two screwdrivers. I'll have to watch more carefully when each appears.

I hadn't noticed that either. IE is a strange universescrewdrivers used for murder and guns for exorcisms.

I'm not following. I think generally he's catching on that Dern was sent to free Lost Girl and he wants the opposite of that. It's been said that she has to die to give him a false sense that she is out of the way as he proceeds toward room 47. But why would he want to have Billy's wife killed?

That would be a good way to explain why Laura Dern ends up the victim. My question was just, why even try to switch the victims at all? One dead was as surely as good as another. But not if he's aware of Nikki's potential to rescue the Lost Girl. I don't know that she's important to him for that reason or because she represents his "opening"into the story, though.

As for V1 and V2 as the female rabbits, that's an interesting theory. They seem to know a lot more about what's going on than the sitcom indicates, though, at least in the case of V1. It would be even more compelling if Jack had sat down in Mr K's chair.

[applesnoranges]

I don't know. I don't have much of a theory to explain the obvious dichotomy between Sue as scripted and who she is in real life. She's as distant as Betty from Diane in Mulholland Drive. This seems like the inverse of MD in that respect"”instead of the aspiring actress dreaming a better place in life, it's the successful actress reconfigured at a desperate, low level.

Well one thing is that "Sue Blue" is very much a character name, like "Nikki Grace". Both of these stories may be passing through her and interacting. The last part of the MTTH monolog seems to me to identify her as someone else entirely, talking about her current life which has nothing at all to do with the other parts of the story. So then at some other point when she says her husband is hiding something ... that becomes a story of its own and it's protagonist is Sue Blue.

I still haven't gotten around to comparing the screwdrivers or seeing what it means, but most likely the idea is to show that we are seeing different characters' versions of the stories. So maybe, as above, we will find that the one the monolog woman is holding is different from the one picked up by Sue Blue, who is a character in her own right in her own story.

That would be a good way to explain why Laura Dern ends up the victim. My question was just, why even try to switch the victims at all? One dead was as surely as good as another. But not if he's aware of Nikki's potential to rescue the Lost Girl. I don't know that she's important to him for that reason or because she represents his "opening"into the story, though.

She is but he may not know about what resources she has at her disposal as an actress. There is something very strange about the way Sue drives over there and deliberately makes trouble. It's as if Nikki has her do that deliberately to coax him out of the woodwork and lure him into the Hollywood story where she can get to him and destroy him on her own ground. At the same time, Sue may be just weak and crazy, but she only exists because Nikki makes her exist.

As for V1 and V2 as the female rabbits, that's an interesting theory. They seem to know a lot more about what's going on than the sitcom indicates, though, at least in the case of V1. It would be even more compelling if Jack had sat down in Mr K's chair.

I wonder why he doesn't. The movie would seem easier to explain that way with that to explain who Mr. K. is. But Mr. K. and the rabbits and the séance all seem to be in the same building. The red lamp from the séance appears in the window of the rabbits' room in the next scene.

[TheMysteryMan]

I thought I replied to this the other day...I'll try again in the next couple days.

[TheMysteryMan]

Well one thing is that "Sue Blue" is very much a character name, like "Nikki Grace". Both of these stories may be passing through her and interacting. The last part of the MTTH monolog seems to me to identify her as someone else entirely, talking about her current life which has nothing at all to do with the other parts of the story. So then at some other point when she says her husband is hiding something ... that becomes a story of its own and it's protagonist is Sue Blue.

I noticed that about the names, and the deeper implications of them. "Grace" as representing the Lost Girl's chance to be saved, for instance. When the end credits rolled the first time I saw it, I remember thinking, "That's it?" when Laura Dern was only credited as Nikki and Sue, because I thought there had to more than that. The woman with Mr. K seemed wholly different to me, too.

The story is something that filters through multiple characters and identities. The person we perceive as Sue, once Nikki enters the Axxonn door, is literally and figuratively a world apart from the Sue we saw portrayed in the OHIBT scenes. And when we return to behind the scenes of OHIBT, after the screwdriver scene, the film has completely changed as well. It began as a southern gothic melodrama and ends as this urban tragedy. Sue is different from the OHIBT Sue right from the point she enters the Axxonn door, and then we meet the woman talking to Mr. K, who through a nonlinear chronology we learn went through another Axxonn door before she met Mr. K, which could account for this seeming other switch in identity. When she returns to OHIBT shortly after leaving Mr. K, the film is different. Has Axxonn really brought her back to her original life as Nikki, or is that not cemented until she frees the Lost Girl?

She is but he may not know about what resources she has at her disposal as an actress. There is something very strange about the way Sue drives over there and deliberately makes trouble. It's as if Nikki has her do that deliberately to coax him out of the woodwork and lure him into the Hollywood story where she can get to him and destroy him on her own ground. At the same time, Sue may be just weak and crazy, but she only exists because Nikki makes her exist.

By that point, though, isn't he already part of the Hollywood story? I'm fairly convinced that the Phantom has already possessed her by then (by the scene where she walks on the path in that spotlight with the Phantom grin on her face) and she doesn't need to lure him. Perhaps she only did it because he made her, and his intention was to plant the knowledge in Doris Side's head that this is the woman she was previously instructed to kill. If this is so, he seems to have been around from the time the project got underway, as we see the interrogation scene with her before Nikki goes through Axxonn the first time. Perhaps he knew to go as soon as he heard about the remake.

I wonder why he doesn't. The movie would seem easier to explain that way with that to explain who Mr. K. is. But Mr. K. and the rabbits and the séance all seem to be in the same building. The red lamp from the séance appears in the window of the rabbits' room in the next scene.

You probably just answered your own question, haha--he doesn't sit in Mr. K's chair because it would make the movie somewhat easier to explain. It almost seems like Lynch did his best to construct this Rubik's cube of a movie where you can never quite get all the colors to line up on each side. One theory gives you four sides that match, but the other two won't line up and never will.