U.S., 2006, 180 min, 4K DCP, Dir. David Lynch, Rated R, English & Polish with English subtitles, Janus Films
Inland Empire
Saturday, June 4
"A journey inside David Lynch's mind, sometimes burrowing very deep indeed." —Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
“Possibly the greatest work of American film art since Altman’s Nashville.” – Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
This screening is SOLD OUT!
NEW 4K PICTURE AND SOUND REMASTER overseen by David Lynch
David Lynch’s labyrinthine Hollyweird freakout—his last feature to date—is his most uncompromising creation: a fugue-state trawl through the darkest realms of the subconscious that pushes his straight-from-the-id imagery and sinister dream logic to their extremes.
Inland Empire, originally shot on standard definition digital video tape, was upscaled to HD and output to 35mm film for its initial theatrical release in 2006. For this groundbreaking new remaster, overseen by Lynch himself, the original video tape footage was painstakingly upgraded to 4K using the latest in sophisticated AI upscaling algorithms. The result is a stunning new way to experience one of David Lynch's most unique and epic mind-bending creations.
I went to a Christmas Day screening of Inland Empire when it first opened in 2006. I was transported back to the realm I so loved. What better occasion to kick off this program, than the restoration and re-release? I don’t know of a recent film that is both more of a dialogue with the viewer and such a specific direction. To me when someone says "surreal,” I think “open to interpretation” in that whatever is being discussed should ideally ferment into some sort of unique fever dream. When I witnessed Inland Empire, I thought “everyone is seeing a different movie.” It pulls on the brain in the best sort of triggering: it should summon the unique for each of us. And only the surest of directing hands can do that. Thank you, Mr. Lynch! – Ted Hope
This June at After Hours, experience remarkably distinct non-genre-conforming cinema with a selection of four films curated by guest programmer Ted Hope.
A note from Ted Hope
When we sit down to take in a film, we offer a challenge: go ahead, and blow my mind. Take me somewhere I have never been! Freak me out!! Change me!!! It is an incredible offer we audiences give to the filmmakers, but so few really choose to take us up on it. I think the first time I had a physical reaction to a movie was Eraserhead. It truly got inside me and made me queasy. I was in film school then; I went with a plan to make a very specific film. I storyboarded it and everything, but then one day our teacher screened Jean Cocteau's Blood of a Poet for us—and it was the movie I had been planning to make. I did not understand how that could be as I had no recollection of ever seeing Cocteau's original version; it was if it had been summoned from my dreams. It was the next weekend that I saw Eraserhead and felt more like a nightmare that I had never dreamed than any film I had seen before.
I eventually pieced together the puzzle of how I had seemingly dreamed Cocteau's film, but I was already hooked into a relationship with the cinematically surreal. Despite an extra-large dose of Bunuel, side heapings of Terry Gilliam, and acquiring my own print of Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon, I could never satisfy my urge for more of the surreal in modern cinema. I got to make Michel Gondry's first feature Human Nature with Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman, perhaps the trio of most regular contributors to the realm, but again just-not-enough. Some may call all these films in my initial selection “horror,” but I don't think any “horror fans” would. The films here are remarkably distinct non-genre-conforming cinema, and for me, delightfully so.
A note from Brenda Moe
As executive director and programming director I am excited to tell you about In Exhibition With: my newest series where I invite a friend to build a film program for our audience. I am thrilled to unveil a June After Hours takeover, In Exhibition With: Ted Hope - Children of Lynch and The New Surreal.
Ted Hope is one of the most thoughtful, prolific, and involved professionals in film that I am lucky to know. Ted's early years include working with Hal Hartley on The Unbelievable Truth and Trust. As a co-founder of Good Machine and This Is That, Ted produced the first films of Ang Lee, Nicole Holofcener, Todd Field, Michel Gondry, Moisés Kaufman, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. Ted served as executive director of San Francisco Film Society, and head of production for Amazon Original Movies. He's also a twice published author. Variety says of Ted, “no film exec is better qualified to brainstorm ideas for saving indie films than Ted Hope.” In early emails with Ted, he mentioned that he wanted to create a Lynch-inspired program. I jumped at the chance.
Click above to read program notes.
