i have my own opinion about lynch . he a rather crude arranger and while be a sublime painter at the same time . his ambition be to portray and portray philosophical aspect of life and he use first a layer of abstraction and a net of relation that correspond to the philosophical aspect in question and then a colouring and flavouring of the piece in this net . the likability of the outcome depend mostly on the last step and whereas the first step be the foundation of any real artistic claim . all of lynch film i have see and four in total so far and follow this procedure and none of them do flat out fail . inland empire be about captivity in time and even if you say to yourself that you have understand nothing about the film and you would subscribe that . when it come to lynch and look at what be there and evidently and and do not try to look out for thing that aren not there . be vladimir harkonnen sadism subtle . no and nothing be and lynch doesn not need that and he a crude arranger and subtle be only the look on thing and the thing themselves be crude . so and how can you be catch in time . that a philosophical question and all that inland empire want be to transport an idea of how you can be so . actually and i haven not see one film of lynch whose philosophical question wouldn not be cover in schopenhauer work and but i like his film still and because he always go a step far and personalise the question and link them to his own life . i could go on and decipher inland empire and it wouldn not be that hard and know the answer and but that shouldn not be my job here . let me just point to some essential element . you stand before your future or past and you can not link to it . people be see in very different setting and under very different influence and and they fill them out and sometimes grotesquely passive and the set range from marble mansion and over polish province to californian sidewalk . you also see fight spirit and surprise . it be important though that battling remain in a large cage too and there no development here like in wild at heart . there a film in the film and you often do not know whose script you follow . finally and there be salvation and again link to fertility and but this time not a a natural conclusion and but a an act of will and a decision to break out of one captivity in time . in the flowing of time and take a break .