Blue Velvet (film)
The film follows a college student who returns to his suburban hometown and discovers a severed human ear in a field, which leads him to uncover a vast criminal conspiracy involving a troubled lounge singer.The screenplay of Blue Velvet had been passed around multiple times in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with several major studios declining it due to its strong sexual and violent content.As an example of a director casting against the norm, it was credited for revitalizing Hopper's career and for providing Rossellini with a dramatic outlet beyond her previous work as a fashion model and a cosmetics spokeswoman.College student Jeffrey Beaumont returns to his suburban hometown of Lumberton, North Carolina, after his father, Tom, has a near-fatal attack from a medical condition.Walking home from the hospital, Jeffrey cuts through a vacant lot and discovers a severed human ear, which he takes to police detective John Williams.When Frank catches Jeffrey leaving Dorothy's apartment, he abducts them and takes them to the lair of Ben, a criminal associate holding Don and Donnie hostage.I'd sorta had enough of the woods by the time I left, but still, lumber and lumberjacks, all this kinda thing, that's America to me like the picket fences and the roses in the opening shot.[21] Kyle MacLachlan had played the central role in Lynch's critical and commercial failure Dune (1984), a science fiction epic based on the novel of the same name.[32] Among the deleted footage was Megan Mullally as Jeffrey's college sweetheart Louise Wertham, whose entire role was cut from the theatrical release.[35] Blue Velvet establishes Lynch's famous "askew vision"[36] and introduces several common elements of his work, some of which would later become his trademarks, including distorted characters, a polarized world, and debilitating damage to the skull or brain.Lynch's characterization of films, symbols, and motifs have become well known, and his particular style, characterised largely in Blue Velvet for the first time, has been written about extensively using descriptions like "dreamlike",[38] "ultraweird",[39] "dark",[40] and "oddball".[18] He states, "Dorothy represents the sexual force of the mother [figure] because she is forbidden and because she becomes the object of the unhealthy, infantile impulses at work in Jeffrey's subconscious.[18] The most consistent symbolism in the film is an insect motif introduced at the end of the first scene, when the camera zooms in on a well-kept suburban lawn until it unearths a swarming underground nest of bugs.The bug motif is recurrent throughout the film, most notably in the bug-like gas mask that Frank wears and Jeffrey's exterminator disguise.Indeed, just as Jeffrey's troubles begin, the audience is treated to a nightmarish sequence in which the camera zooms into the canal of the severed, decomposing ear.[49] The Blue Velvet soundtrack was supervised by Angelo Badalamenti (who makes a brief cameo appearance as the pianist at the Slow Club where Dorothy performs).The soundtrack makes heavy usage of vintage pop songs, such as Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet" and Roy Orbison's "In Dreams", juxtaposed with an orchestral score.Critic John Alexander wrote, "the haunting soundtrack accompanies the title credits, then weaves through the narrative, accentuating the noir mood of the film."[54] Badalamenti's success with Blue Velvet would lead him to contribute to all of Lynch's future full-length films until Inland Empire as well as the cult television program Twin Peaks.She called it "an instant cult classic", concluding that Blue Velvet "is as fascinating as it is freakish" and "confirms Mr. Lynch's stature as an innovator, a superb technician, and someone best not encountered in a dark alley.[60] On the other hand, Paul Attanasio of The Washington Post said "the film showcases a visual stylist utterly in command of his talents" and that Angelo Badalamenti "contributes an extraordinary score, slipping seamlessly from slinky jazz to violin figures to the romantic sweep of a classic Hollywood score," but stated that Lynch "isn't interested in communicating, he's interested in parading his personality.[64] One of its detractors, Roger Ebert, stated that the large amount of "jokey small-town satire" in the film made it impossible to take its themes seriously.Ebert praised Rossellini's performance as "convincing and courageous" but criticized how she was depicted in the film, even accusing David Lynch of misogyny: "degraded, slapped around, humiliated and undressed in front of the camera."[62] While Ebert in later years came to consider Lynch a great filmmaker, his negative view of Blue Velvet remained unchanged after he revisited it in the 21st century.[65][66] The film is now widely considered a masterpiece and holds an approval score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 138 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10.[68] Looking back in his Guardian/Observer review, critic Philip French wrote, "The film is wearing well and has attained a classic status without becoming respectable or losing its sense of danger.Although it initially gained a relatively small theatrical audience in North America and was met with controversy over its artistic merit, Blue Velvet soon became the center of a "national firestorm" in 1986, and over time became regarded as an American classic.[18] In a poll of 54 American critics ranking the "most outstanding films of the decade", Blue Velvet was placed fourth, behind Raging Bull (1980), E.T.[92][93][94] In the video, Del Rey plays the role of Dorothy Vallens, performing a private concert similar to the scene where Ben (Dean Stockwell) pantomimes "In Dreams" for Frank Booth.[93] When Lynch heard of the music video, he praised it, telling Artinfo: "Lana Del Rey, she's got some fantastic charisma and—this is a very interesting thing—it's like she's born out of another time.
David LynchFred CarusoKyle MacLachlanIsabella RosselliniDennis HopperLaura DernHope LangeGeorge DickersonDean StockwellFrederick ElmesDuwayne DunhamAngelo BadalamentiDe Laurentiis Entertainment GroupTorontoneo-noirmysterythriller filmpsychological horrorfilm noirsong of the same namelounge singersurrealistEraserheadDino De LaurentiisAcademy Award for Best DirectorNational Society of Film Criticscult statusSight & SoundEntertainment WeeklyBBC MagazineAmerican Film InstituteEarly life and workJennifer LynchFilmographyThe Elephant ManTwin PeaksThe ReturnWild at HeartLost HighwayThe Straight StoryMulholland DriveInland EmpireDiscographyBlueBOBThe Air Is on FirePolish Night MusicCrazy Clown TimeThe Big DreamThought GangCellophane MemoriesBibliographyImagesCatching the Big FishGenealogies of PainRoom to DreamDale CooperLaura PalmerSheriff Harry TrumanShelly JohnsonDonna HaywardAudrey HorneMaddy FergusonBenjamin HornePhillip JeffriesWindom EarleLeland PalmerLog LadyThe GiantThe Man from Another Place / The ArmTommy HillBobby BriggsFrank BoothUnrealized projectsAccolades receivedCultural impactFrequent collaboratorsDavid Lynch FoundationLumberton, North Carolinasport coatBlue Velvetpsychopathicsexual slaverysadomasochisticselling drugslip-syncRoy OrbisonIn Dreamsevidence roomwalkie-talkiePriscilla PointerFrances BayBrad DourifJack NanceFred PicklerDepartment of AgricultureWashingtonCineasteThe New York TimesBobby VintonRonnie RockettreatmentHelen MirrenLancômeIngrid BergmanRoberto RosselliniICM Partnersthe novel of the same nameVal KilmerEasy RiderMichael IronsideHarry Dean StantonSteven BerkoffMolly RingwaldPrincipal photographyEUE/Screen GemsWilmington, North CarolinaHurricane Florencedeleted scenesBlu-rayMegan MullallyLightingfemme fatalevillainquestionable moral outlook of the herocinematographyAlfred Hitchcock