Episode 83: Inland Empire with Melissa Anderson

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw. I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold. This year marks the 20th anniversary of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, a movie that has never been too far from best-of lists. But Inland Empire, Lynch’s three-hour digitally shot follow-up, which came out five years later, has sometimes gone overlooked. So it was great news to hear that the critic Melissa Anderson has devoted an entire new book to the movie, voyaging into its nightmarish depths. Anderson, who’s the film editor at 4 Columns, takes the opportunity to appreciate the unique qualities of Laura Dern and her multi-film collaboration with Lynch. Anderson joined me for this special episode, which partly found me in recovery mode after the movie’s haunted story about an actress who finds herself in emotional freefall and all kinds of uncharted territory while shooting a new movie. You can support this podcast and read show notes with links at: rapold.substack.com Opening music: “Monserrate” by The Minarets Photo by Steve Snodgrass