Well I happened to re-watch the film and, basically, I think Lynch really fooled us by a LONG SHOT.

In the end of INLAND EMPIRE, in the mansion with the crippled lady that says "Sweeeeet", LEHarring (Camilla) appears. I always though, isn't that funny ? Because Naomi Watts (Diane) should be there too, or even alone. I always thought this because of the explanations most people had, that it was all about Diane and etc...

I think Lynch in a way told us: you guys are wrong.

[Please note, this is only my impression of what most people thought about the movie, me included - if for you it was always about Camilla, great, good fortune to you]

It's pretty simple actually and in a way it's in the 10 clues the man gave. He may be a joker but he's always VERY HONEST, I really think he has a strict artistic integrity - which is rare nowadays, I think, I believe.

But lets put this in topics and keep it simple, what I noticed in this watch of the film:

- Rita/Camilla speaks SPANISH. Notice the dinner conversation (in the end of the film) at Adam's House. When they say something in spanish "luigi something" (when referring to the film The Sylvia North Story). Notice that CLub Silencio is SPANISH and that RDRio sings a Roy Orbison song IN SPANISH. Also note the guy from the Hotel, where Adam goes after the pink paint incident, speaks SPANISH "Oye Carnal" (he says) and he also reappears at Club Silencio.

- Lynch said in one of the clues, most people didn't saw this (I think): 6 - Notice the robe, the ashtray, the coffee cup.
The ROBE, notice the ROBE when Betty goes to tell Rita that her Aunt doesn't know her! The ROBE HAS PINK PAINT ON IT!!
The coffee cup appears at Winkies and at the apartment, but more on this part later. Also notice in the 2nd Restaurant(Pinky's) the GIANT SLOGAN "MADE SPECIAL TO PINKY's" (Lynch does a shot of this, full size, you can't miss this) In fact it appears before the scene where the BLUE VAN appears for the 2nd time, and the sign is saying "FOR PINKY'S ONLY"

- Note that when Rita's sleeping in the beg of the film, beneath the table where aunt Ruth picks up the keys. Is the first appearance of the hobo lady. To me this is Camilla and this is why in the end of the film she lets the "old people loose".

- Notice that Rita, doesn't KNOW who she is.

- Notice that Rita wears a blonde wig and then Look's EXACTLY like Diane/Betty and she ENTERS the Blue Box wearing that wig, and surprise, surprise she wakes up being Diane

For me this is evidence that the film is about Camilla (mainly).

Notice also that DEAD PEOPLE don't Dream. So Diane didn't really shot herself, Camilla did AND Diane was so upset/depressed/unbalanced about this that she RE-LIVED what Camilla went through in way... But in the end I think Diane shot herself too, the hobo is Camilla and he unleashes things onto to Diane.

So you guys are right, the beg is Diane Dream, in fact everything is Diane S. dream. She never wakes up, she just finds the rabbit hole(blue box) in it.

- That's why the DEAD BODY has a dark dress (like Rita after the accident, running in the street in the beg of the film) and has DARK HAIR.

- The Cowboy is like the Mystery Man in Lost Highway, a walker of worlds (inside the MIND) a sort of conscience if you like. The Cowboy is the proof that the 2nd part isn't real.

- Other thing that Lynch uses very often, it started on Lost Highway, is the use of unfocus then focus thing. It's a clear message of distortion of reality, it's reshaping things.


I don't know the whole story because with this premises you really have a lot to dig up. But mainly it's the rise and fall of Camilla and in the end Diane kills herself too with guilt, because she destroyed Camilla's life.

Lynch is in fact a genius. His associative mind is uncanny, really. Because in the end you KNOW the truth he shows Diane killing herself. But to me that's in reality Camilla by the eyes of Diane, but also this means that Diane also killed herself. GENIUS. I'm amazed by this.

In my mind this also follows and also raises questions:

- To me Diane S. is someone who got lost in LA, emotionally speaking, she went there because her AUNT had won a contest. Her Aunt Died and passed the dream of living like a start to Diane, that later got manipulated by some old folks, and became a prostitute. She needed that to live and keep dreaming.

- The old folks in the beg of the film go into a limo and follow the BLUE VAN, the shot before they look demented, this Blue VAN shows later with a hooker getting in being driven by the Hitman. The Limo shows that this old people are powerful and like the Cast. Brothers (the expresso scene) they are part of the Hollywood society which leads us to the fact that THEY are related to the circuit of prostitution.

- I assume that Camilla lived in Sierra Bonita, it's a Spanish name too (Beautiful Sierra), Spanish-town thing. She moved from her apartment and she began an affair with Adam.

- I think the PINK stains on the Robe shows that Camilla had an affair with Adam too. Maybe she cheated on Him. Because she knows Coco and Coco GAVE HER THE KEY to Aunt Ruth's apartment. Coco KNOWS or KNEW Aunt Ruth. So the ROBE that was left by Aunt Ruth for Betty/Diane is in fact USED BY Camilla because Camilla was the one that ended up with Adam, she slept with him to get parts on his films, she also slept with Bob Rooker. But Does the PINK Stains means That Camilla cheated on Adam too(the pool guy incident) ? Or That Diane was with Adam and cheated him and Camilla got engaged with him ?

- I assume that Camilla and Diane really met on The Sylvia north Story. But where does the Blonde-Camilla Rhodes comes into place ? The one that kisses Camilla (LEHarring) in Adam's House.
-> this could mean what ? Why does that GIRL enters the DREAM of Diane, its clear that she has a relationship with Camilla, in fact she even owns the name Camilla in the dream and she is the one WHO GETS THE PART ON THE DREAM. WHY???
-> IN THE DREAM Betty/Diane runs away from the audition to help Rita. Does this has a ring of truth
Because if Betty is the one WHO HELPS RITA to find HERSELF, this could mean that Diane made a sacrifice to help Camilla, because of love and lost/blames that decision on her for loosing the part on the Sylvia North Story


It makes sense that Diane had a hard life, prostitution, being a waitress, etc... etc... and that Camilla gets on her way and that Diane kills her but feels remorse because she LOVES HER and kills herself too and that was the whole point of the film. Because in the end Camilla was a fighter just like Diane, and they are very similar, Diane felt sorry for what she did, she loved her deeply even after Camilla had stepped on her and left her for another Woman and Man and got her parts.

I just need help figuring the rest out, my mind is killing me.

What do you guys think about this ? (Please be constructive even when you don't agree, it's nice to know how other people think).

- Notice that Rita wears a blonde wig and then Look's EXACTLY like Diane/Betty and she ENTERS the Blue Box wearing that wig, and surprise, surprise she wakes up being Diane

I'm not sure what to make of that. If Rita wakes up being Diane, who is that who shows up in her kitchen in the next scene?

kmkmiller wrote:

- Notice that Rita wears a blonde wig and then Look's EXACTLY like Diane/Betty and she ENTERS the Blue Box wearing that wig, and surprise, surprise she wakes up being Diane

I'm not sure what to make of that. If Rita wakes up being Diane, who is that who shows up in her kitchen in the next scene?

After she wakes up she sees Rita, the way she is dressed like in the dream. This is not very different from the Rita she ends up seeing. Did you notice that ? There's a drastic change in Diane, because it was her dream, there's no doubt about that.

Maybe I did't write that one very well. What I meant is: Rita with the blonde wig give us information about Diane. Because Betty doesn't exist, we know that after the Club Silencio scene, she literally disappears. Betty is the good half, the lover half of Diane, and Rita is the representation of her lover. Clearly she can't give a name to Rita, because Camilla is dead, but she still loves her.

In the world created by Diane, she led a good life and Aunt Ruth didn't die and clearly the disfigured dead body of Camilla is in her real apartment.

This is why I said Rita with the blonde wig after opening the blue box and going in is a mix of both worlds. Camilla's body is on that apartment but you are going to see it through Diane's soul. (I can't explain this one better)

Because Diane was never in danger of being murdered, Camilla was, that's why she changed apartments. Camilla didn't wanted to be found.

makes sense to you now ?

is a mix of both worlds.

ok. So it's not an exchange of identities, but it is a crossover point between Havenhurst and Sierra Bonita.

I understand now.

Yeah. Sorry for my bad writing. I writer faster than I think sometimes.

I find it strange that nobody talks about the pink stains in the robe that Rita wears. When Betty is talking to her we even see dirt on the robe, mixed with the Pink PAINT.

Look at the picture:

Ironically it's on the net because of a continuity error, but you still can see the pink on the right (it's mostly on the BACK)

Anybody?

It's right there on the shoulder, along side with the right arm. But you got the better pictures. Do you notice the FOOT PRINT on top of that stain ? (in your last picture) it's because of the fight with the MOB Guy.

I told you. Lynch fooled US ALL. Clever guy.

What really FUCKS ME UP is the fact the the Blonde-Camilla Rodes that Bettys sees is fucking BLONDE and with SHORT HAIR. Fuck! This pisses me off, because there's also a connection with Rita wearing the wig, but this clearly confuses me DEEPLY, because I can't see it.

Lynch did this on purpose, he is hiding something very personal here.

Bob wrote:

Robe1.jpg

robe3.jpg

Anybody?

I see a pink sweater.

Wow, that's a nice observation, PauloMoto.

I never noticed the robe in that way, although I thought the colours and patterns of it are unusual. The fact that you make the connection between the robe and the pink paint on Adam I find very interesting. Let me see if I can fit this into my current view.

I think Adam is playing the part of grandma, who is discovering that her husband is abusing Diane. So, she gets stains of pink paint over her that symbolyses her involvement in the loss of sexual innocense of Diane.

The robe that Rita is wearing is the robe of Aunt Ruth. She is partly based on the mother of Diane. I will not go into details about it here, but for the establishment of this connection it is sufficient to note that the robe belongs to Aunt Ruth and that she represents in the dream the aunt of Diane, but in reality is based on the mother of Diane. This scene takes place early in the dream and the scene with Adam somewhere in the middle.

So, we start at the involvement of Aunt Ruth / mother, than we go to Adam when he represents the grandmother, while in reality it was the grandmother herself who was guilty of involvement of the abuse of Diane and her loss of sexual innocense.

Here I go again commenting on my own post, but I think this will be a slight improvement on my earlier theory.

I didn't find the connection between Aunt Ruth as partly the mother of Diane and the real grandmother of Diane convincing. So, now I think it isn't the relation to Diane that is the key, but the relation to reality.

Aunt Ruth is a totally fictitious person (the clues to this assumption I will place elsewhere in the forum), while Adam represents a real person in Diane's life. But Adam doesn't play himself in the scene where he discovers his wife cheating, but he is a metaphor for Diane's grandmother. So the connection is than as follows:

Aunt Ruth ---> Adam ---> grandmother / fictitious ---> metaphor ---> reality