LYNCH (one)

When David Lynch released Inland Empire to reviews acclaiming it as brilliant and the work of a genius, it was shrouded in secrecy with the famously publicity shy director refusing to explain it and not providing a commentary or any such supplementary material for the DVD.  Made as a series of 'experiments' and with the cast only receiving a few pages of screenplay at a time - it was shot without a finished screenplay - many fans, myself included, wondered how this project came about. 
 
Luckily we now have this DVD which acts as a loose making of, showing the maverick auteur in abandoned Polish factories to take photographs, talking to his fans on davidlynch.com about the weather in LA, taking a call from Jeremy Irons and going through scenes with members of the cast, including Laura Dern.  It is clear that Lynch was working very much on the hoof, inventing scenes just before they were to be shot and explaining to the Polish crew where he wants doorways cutting in the set. 
 

It is clear he has a vision in his mind of where he wants this project to end up, but won't tell anyone else exactly what is going on, or where it is going to end up.  The secrecy and sense of oddness in the film is reflected in the way it was made and even in this documentary, directed and edited by blackANDwhite. 
 
This shows how Lynch's mind works - he is a very intense man and, though he will get on his hands and knees to help with the art decoration,  you get the sense that there is an awful lot going on in that brain of his that he can't (or maybe won't) share with anyone else. 

As someone who thought Inland Empire was a fantastic film that improves with every viewing, this provided a fascinating insight into how it was made and made me wish I had a spare three hours that evening to watch the film just to see if LYNCH (one) cast any light on what exactly goes on in Inland Empire.

The Disc

Unfortunately I was only provided with a DVD-R so there were none of the extra features and I can only guess that the AV quality will be the same on the retail version.
 
The Picture
Shot with DV cameras and occasionally smaller recording devices placed in rooms, this isn't a visual extravaganza but sits well with the aesthetic of the film of which it is documenting.  There are interesting camera angles and in terms of providing an insight, it does its job and that's all we can ask or expect.
 
The Sound
An unspectacular dialogue dominated soundtrack which picks up the exchanges well and records the utterances from David Lynch (who sounds more and more like Jimmy Stewart the more I listen to him!) well, presenting everything clearly.

Final Thoughts
This is really only going to appeal to those who liked Inland Empire, that much is a given.  It would provide a valuable insight into the way that David Lynch works if you think that he works like this all the time - he doesn't.  If you haven't seen Inland Empire then this would be of no interest to you whatsoever but, if you're a fan of Lynch's work and haven't seen the film, then it will be a good move to pick up both that film and this. 
 
Running at 85 minutes, this would be a great DVD extra but, as a standalone piece, it's really only for the most devout Lynch fans that have seen Inland Empire several times and intend to watch it many more.  As such, the £15.99 RRP does seem a little on the high side, for what it is I'd expect it to retail for about half that.