TY  - CONF
  - Kulezic-Wilson, Danijela
  - Music and the Moving Image
  - Song as a Portal of Narrative and Temporal Rupture in David Lynch's "Inland Empire"
  - New York University, Steinhardt
  - Oral Presentation
  - 2012
  - ()
  - 0
  - 01-JUN-12
  - 03-JUN-12
  - While Bordwell’s definition of modern transgressions from classical narrative style as “intensified continuity” seems a rather rigid attempt to conform everything new to existing theoretical models, it is true that in many recent cases non-linear storytelling takes the form of a cosmetic makeover of classical narrative. In the Lynchian universe, though, non-linearity is a necessity stemming from the fact that manifestations of the unconscious, hallucinatory and oneiric are represented side by side with the palpable and the “real”. The most complex example of this temporal flux appears in Lynch’s film Inland Empire, in which familiar themes of adultery, mental instability and trauma are permeated with an overwhelming sense of loss, constituting not one or two but at least five co-existing realities/storylines that merge into one another without warning or explanation.            As in all Lynch’s films, the soundtrack in Inland Empire is deeply embedded in its morphing storylines, seeping through their porous realms, connecting the parallel plots, bizarre episodes and temporal digressions. However, while the manifestations of the unconscious in the narrative, like the Mystery Man in Lost Highway or the Red Room in Twin Peaks, are usually defined by chilling electronic or digitally manipulated soundtracks, in Inland Empire they feature lip-synching and line dancing to 1960s hits by Etta James, Carol King and Lynch’s own ‘The Ghost of Love’. My paper will show that, unlike the lip-sync performances in Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive which, however surreal, stay within the bounds of a particular storyline, the songs in Inland Empire create narrative and temporal ruptures which reflect the splits in the protagonist’s psyche, opening up the diegesis to a seemingly infinite number of optional realities.
  - CACSSS Research Support Fund UCC
DA  - 2012/NaN
ER  - 

@unpublished{V148327101,
   = {Kulezic-Wilson,  Danijela },
   = {Music and the Moving Image},
   = {{Song as a Portal of Narrative and Temporal Rupture in David Lynch's "Inland Empire"}},
   = {New York University, Steinhardt},
   = {Oral Presentation},
   = {2012},
   = {()},
   = {0},
  month = {Jun},
   = {03-JUN-12},
   = {{While Bordwell’s definition of modern transgressions from classical narrative style as “intensified continuity” seems a rather rigid attempt to conform everything new to existing theoretical models, it is true that in many recent cases non-linear storytelling takes the form of a cosmetic makeover of classical narrative. In the Lynchian universe, though, non-linearity is a necessity stemming from the fact that manifestations of the unconscious, hallucinatory and oneiric are represented side by side with the palpable and the “real”. The most complex example of this temporal flux appears in Lynch’s film Inland Empire, in which familiar themes of adultery, mental instability and trauma are permeated with an overwhelming sense of loss, constituting not one or two but at least five co-existing realities/storylines that merge into one another without warning or explanation.            As in all Lynch’s films, the soundtrack in Inland Empire is deeply embedded in its morphing storylines, seeping through their porous realms, connecting the parallel plots, bizarre episodes and temporal digressions. However, while the manifestations of the unconscious in the narrative, like the Mystery Man in Lost Highway or the Red Room in Twin Peaks, are usually defined by chilling electronic or digitally manipulated soundtracks, in Inland Empire they feature lip-synching and line dancing to 1960s hits by Etta James, Carol King and Lynch’s own ‘The Ghost of Love’. My paper will show that, unlike the lip-sync performances in Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive which, however surreal, stay within the bounds of a particular storyline, the songs in Inland Empire create narrative and temporal ruptures which reflect the splits in the protagonist’s psyche, opening up the diegesis to a seemingly infinite number of optional realities.}},
   = {CACSSS Research Support Fund UCC},
  source = {IRIS}
}