Inland Empire

David Lynch's Inland Empire is a spectacular piece of filmmaking, but at three hours in length, it struggled to get released in cinemas at all. Three hours is a lot for the average filmgoer to take on, especially when it's this intense. Despite that, it's difficult to watch it closely without getting the feeling that there are important pieces missing, and that they may have been sacrificed not for artistic reasons but simply to make that release possible. Tucked away of this Blu-ray release, under the modest title More Things That Happened, is an hour and 16 minutes of additional material which no serious admirer of this work can afford not to see.

First things first: most of this footage is very dark. A midsummer release was perhaps not the smartest move. Watch it after dark if you can, with all the lights out. Much of it is also narratively obscure. It runs as a single sequences, not re-integrated into the film and not cut up as is traditional with deleted scenes, but flowing together beautifully. Parts of it provide answers (of a sort) to mysteries in the original. It also shows some fantastic acting work, especially from Laura Dern.

Though this footage might well be considered worth the price of purchase in itself, there is also a full documentary about David Lynch, which centres on the production process but also explores other issues in his life, such as his passion for meditation and love of the particular kind of beauty found in old, decaying factories. It's fascinating to see him at work, incredibly hands-on in the construction of sets and props, working with assorted power tools and happy to get down on his knees to prepare a floor the way he wants it. He's literally hands-on with his actors too, which seems to make some of them nervous until they realise that he's not being abusive, simply communicating a very precise vision of how he wants them to move. Laura Dern, having worked with him for years, is clearly very comfortable with this and the two move together like a dance.

Sitting in one of a succession of offices which look as though they urgently need to be cleaned, he complains about being surrounded by morons, but elsewhere he is full of warmth towards cast and crew. We see him reassuring a nervous actress, asking her to watch him and then repeat each line so that she doesn't have to worry about remembering them. He consumes a lot of coffee and cigarettes as the camera observes him from odd angles. At times the image is so blurred that it's hard to make out his face, but his presence is always felt.

Alongside this is a much more mundane, normatively shot interview in which he reflects on his work. There is very little repetition between the two. He has no shortage of things to say. Finally, there is the original theatrical trailer for the film, which will leave you wanting to go back to the start and watch those initial three hours all over again.