Blue Velvet
Composite Score: 81.97
Starring: Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Hope Lange, George Dickerson, Priscilla Pointer, Frances Bay, and Fred Pickler
Director: David Lynch
Writer: David Lynch
Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Romance
MPAA Rating: R for strong disturbing violent and sexual content, some graphic nudity, and pervasive language
Box Office: $8.62 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Blue Velvet is David Lynch’s 1980s mystery thriller about a college student who returns to his small town and ends up becoming embroiled in an investigation involving murder, kidnapping, and drugs. In terms of cinematography and themes, it is clearly a predecessor to Lynch’s later works like Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive, utilizing a unique framing of rooms and characters and focusing on an idyllic American suburb with something broken underneath. While released to some controversy regarding some of its sexual content, the film has ascended and become one of the classics of the 1980s, commendable for its authentic takes on violence and the gray morality that so often pervades society.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
I’m not fully convinced of Kyle MacLachlan as a romantic lead, and perhaps that was the point of his casting, but some aspects of his performance simply took me out of the stakes. For one thing, we are led to believe that this pretty average guy who is taking time off school to help out at home while his dad is in the hospital is somehow able to pull both Isabella Rossellini’s Dorothy Vallens and Laura Dern’s Sandy Williams at the same time. Both women are well out of his league, which gives me some pause in engaging with the potentially feminist interpretation of the film. Also, even after Sandy finds out that he has been with Dorothy and her at the same time, she still takes the man back, no real questions asked. He also has a small gold hoop earring in for most of the film, and I was often distracted by it in his scenes trying to figure out what the point of the accessory was (still have no idea).
The other piece to note here is a content warning for certain viewers. This film features domestic and sexual violence as central themes within its plot, and some people might find viewing such acts to be triggering or troubling. If that is the case with you, I would encourage you to do some research before putting this one on. The acts are clearly condemned within the film but are also depicted with some graphic accuracy at some points, so just be aware.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
Though the lead is less than convincing, the acting is more than made up by Isabella Rossellini’s and Dennis Hopper’s performances as the damsel in distress/femme fatale and the film’s villain. Rossellini’s role as Dorothy gives her the opportunity to showcase her chops, depicting a deeply troubled and needy woman who is equal parts helpless before the villain but fully capable in every other aspect of her life. She walks the tightrope between pitiful wretch and romantic powerhouse well throughout the film’s run time. In the same way, Dennis Hopper as the film’s villain, Frank Booth, puts on a masterclass in selling out to the role. Booth is one of the most deplorable villains ever put on screen, and Hopper does not shy away from a single second of the performance, making the audience hate him just as much as every other character in the film does. His deranged and depraved actions feel believable in Hopper’s performance despite their blatant ridiculousness – a perfect villain for this mystery/noir thriller.
The film’s other major commendation comes in the form of the many symbols peppered throughout. From ears to insects to birds to colors to fabrics and basically everything in between, very little appears on the screen that does not have deeper meaning. The hidden evil plays out in the insects from the opening scene’s rapid zoom in on the bugs living underground in Jeffrey’s parents’ yard until the final scene’s robin eating the insect representing love’s triumph over the evil once that evil has been brought to the surface (a reflection of the film’s overall plot). The repeated song “Blue Velvet” from which the film draws its title is also reflected in Dorothy’s blue velvet nightgown, representing both desire and danger that exist in the character of Dorothy. As is typically the case, Lynch delivers all these and many more symbols throughout his film, inviting the audience to do deeper studies and watch his film again and again.
Powerful symbolism throughout, a perfect villainous performance from Dennis Hopper, and a strong showing from Isabella Rossellini help to make Blue Velvet into the classic that it is, deserving of a place among the Greatest Films of All Time. Though Lynch’s film is certainly not for everyone and even stumbles occasionally with its lead character/performer, it remains a great film full of insight into humanity and suburbia and desire. Blue Velvet is certainly a film worth watching when you get the chance to do so.
