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Film: Blue Velvet
Director: David Lynch
Country: USA
Released: September 1986
Runtime: 120 minutes
Genre: Film Noir
Studio: De Laurentiis
Influenced: Lars Von Trier, Todd Solondz, Jennifer Lynch, Mary Harron, Gaspar Noé
One thing that's important to know I think when considering the films of David Lynch is that he started as a painter, naturally progressing to cinema as his artworks became ever more complex, so a defining characteristic of his movies is the emphasis on tone and mood over plot and narrative. Trying to categorise a film like Blue Velvet is near impossible, though I do think the genre it's most indebted to is film noir, closely followed by horror and surrealism. Lynch often did the sound design for his own movies too, and there are lots of eerie sound effects in Blue Velvet that add to the sense of strangeness. Lynch had already developed a close artistic rapport with composer Angelo Badalamenti on his previous film Dune (1984), and for Blue Velvet the score has a more dreamlike quality, blending melancholy, beauty and an undercurrent of unease, using a mix of orchestral arrangements, synthesizers and ambient sounds.
Lynch's inspiration for Blue Velvet came from his fascination with the contrasts and dualities of life, the hidden darkness lurking beneath suburban façades and his own experiences growing up in small-town America. The film's plot follows a young man named Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) who returns to his hometown of Lumberton, North Carolina after his father falls ill. While walking through a field, he stumbles upon a severed human ear, which leads him into a web of intrigue and danger. Jeffrey begins investigating on his own, teaming up with Sandy Williams (Laura Dern), the daughter of a local police detective. Their investigation reveals a dark and seedy underworld involving a nightclub singer named Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini), a sadomasochistic gangster named Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper) and a series of bizarre and disturbing events.
The tension starts to build and the intrigue deepens when Jeffrey sneaks into Dorothy's apartment and witnesses a disturbing encounter between her and Frank Booth. The character of Booth embodies an unsettling mix of dominance, vulnerability and sadism, and his interactions with Dorothy and Jeffrey reveal a complex interplay of control and submission, reflecting the hidden desires and fears lurking beneath the surface. One of the most iconic scenes involves Booth's violent and demonic outburst, which ranges from sexually profane to absurd ("Heineken? Fuck that shit! Pabst Blue Ribbon!") and lyrical ("In dreams, I walk with you. In dreams, I talk to you. In dreams, you're mine, all the time"). Lynch also uses the visual imagery of beetles beneath a suburban lawn to emphasise this central idea of hellish things lurking beneath the surface. "It's like Norman Rockwell meets Hieronymus Bosch.''
One small criticism I have of the film is MacLachlan's performance, which is at times wooden and pales in comparison to the performances of Hopper and Rossellini. But everything else about the movie I love, from the pacing, sound design and imagery to the film's overall tone and atmosphere. Lynch concludes Blue Velvet with a mix of resolution but also unresolved tension, leaving audiences with lingering questions and a sense of unease. The film solidified Lynch's reputation for exploring dark and unconventional themes, setting the tone for his later works like Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) and Mulholland Drive (2001). In terms of legacy, Blue Velvet's imagery and themes have continually been referenced in music, TV and other films, becoming a part of the cultural lexicon.
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