Tuesday 25 March 2014

March Blind Spot- Blue Velvet

        


        Oh, I was scared about Blue Velvet. My previous two encounters with David Lynch's movies haven't gone as well as planned and my pretty prosaic brain was kind of freaking out, but then I thought the sooner I rip out this bandaid get it done with, the better. And holy Heineken, I actually liked it a great deal. Colour me pleasantly surprised.

          The film follows a college student, Jeffrey , who returns to his hometown after his father has a stroke. While returning from a hospital visit, he finds a human ear in a field and soon he starts investigating it with the help of a police detective's daughter, the pretty and rather square Sandy. They soon find out that all of this is connected with the mysterious and troubled nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens and a very dangerous man called Frank.


          Simply put, Blue Velvet is a neo-noir made by David Lynch. There are many typical noir elements- a morally confused hero, a femme fatale, a twisted villain and of course, it is very stylized. One of my favourite things about the film was its look, from the bright, primary colours to the way it uses darkness. This duality reinforces the theme of the movie- a look at an idyllic town with a very seedy underbelly. And it is here where the Lynchian elements come to play because obviously, the film has some surreal and weird parts but thankfully not to a great extent. There were no nightmare creatures waiting behind a diner nor, well, anything from Eraserhead *shudders*.


         Coming back to the theme, I liked how the two different worlds that Jeffrey inhabits in the movie are shown. I don't know if this was intentional, probably yes, but I found many of the interactions between him and Sandy hilarious- they are just so bland and pleasant. The "good" world that Jeffrey comes from has a sort of 50s perfectly perfect perfectness about it that is always strange to witness. In contrast, the underworld that he discovers is vivid and sexy and dangerous and oh so crazy, all of which is embodied by Dorothy, played by Isabella Rossellini. She was my favourite thing about the movie- so messed up but absolutely enticing. I loved her look, the way she sang, her pain, her "disease". I was almost equally impressed by Dennis Hopper's Frank. He was extremely creepy and totally unhinged, but some of the things he said made me laugh so much. The whole gas inhaling habit was terrifying but damn if all of this didn't result in making him an unforgettable villain!


        Kyle MacLachlan played Jeffrey and his blank canvas look felt perfect for the kind of film this was. Even though I loved Rossellini and Hopper more, the preppier foil that MacLachlan and a very young Laura Dern, who played Sandy, provided was needed to make them standout.


        Among the other aspects about the film that I appreciated, there are two that I must mention. One is related to its look that I spoke of earlier. At a number of crucial points in the movie, Jeffrey peeps through Dorothy's closet and sees things taking place in the apartment. This voyeuristic element really stood out for me and it helped build up some of the most thrilling moments in the movie. There is a certain sick quality about all this and though I did find Jeffrey somewhat plain, it helped make him a more interesting character.


        The last element of the film I really adored was its soundtrack. No, I won't really be purchasing it any time soon but within the context of the film, it worked so well. I was practically in stitches during Ben's "performance", mostly because of the other people in the room. So strange yet so amusing. Same goes for the woman dancing on Frank's car when he's intimidating Jeffrey. I must also confess that I had no idea that the song "Blue Velvet" existed before Lana Del Rey sang it but it has already become one of the best movie-songs I have seen/heard in my experience.


           There is of course a lot of symbolism and psychological issues in the film too. But as someone wisely told me, "Think of it like a song where the lyrics don't make sense," I watched it without letting myself get distracted by all that. It is much more rewarding thinking back upon it afterwards and I have definitely been doing a lot of that.

        So yes, though I was scared about Blue Velvet before watching it, it has most shockingly been my favourite Blind spot entry so far and while it has not decreased my fear of Lynch's movies, my curiosity has certainly been spiked.


14 comments:

  1. Definitely one of the best films and certainly, one of the scariest. BABY WANT TO FUCK BLUE VELVET!

    Yet, I think the moment that really showcased why it's not a film for everyone was that famous scene in The Squid & the Whale where Jeff Daniels agrees to go see a movie with Jesse Eisenberg and his girlfriend. Eisenberg was originally going to see Short Circuit but Daniels decided that they should all see Blue Velvet and well...

    I LOVE YOU! LOVE ME!!! HE PUT HIS DISEASE INTO ME!!!

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    1. I didn't find it so scary but weird, definitely.

      Haha, I don't remember this part in Squid & the Whale- probably because I didn't know what they were referring to. Must rewatch it.

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  2. So glad you liked it, it's one of my favorites from Lynch, Rosselini was just wonderful in it and the cinematography here is probably my fav out of his movies.

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    1. Yep totes agree on Rossellini and the cinematography :)

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  3. Very cool choice, I haven't seen this one yet but it justed moved up higher in my watchlist. The only Lynch film I've seen is Inland Empire which is v. v. confusing but I liked it.

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    1. Thanks! You should check it out. From what I know, Inland Empire is one of Lynch's craziest movies so that's very low on my watchlist :P

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  4. Still haven't seen this one! My knowledge of this comes from Lana Del Rey's rendition of Blue Velvet. :/

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    1. It's okay, I was on the same boat. You should check it out some time.

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  5. Exceptional movie and a really excellent review! I've been reading you for a long time now and this is one of your best yet!

    I love this movie and am glad that you got to see Isabella, Dennis, Kyle, and Dean Stockwell in this mad, lurid, slow story about the seamy underbelly hiding in "pure" small town America...

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    1. Aww really? Thanks so much!

      I keep appreciating this film more the more I think about it.

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  6. Haha, glad you liked this one. Lynch's films can be disturbing, but they're usually worth it. ;)

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    1. V. disturbing :/ But yes, I did love this one.

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  7. Flawless masterpiece - it's a quest story essentially, combined with a coming-of-age exploration (think Bogdanovich's Last Picture Show) & first love & sexual awakening. All of this would remain meaningless w/out Dennis Hopper's role of a lifetime, as the demented Frank Booth. His presence, even off-screen, underpins the genius of this film. Add Lynch-repertoire favourites like Jack Nance, who barely utters more than a few words, and the layers of weirdness accumulate into a behemoth of modern cinema. Btw, i used to have a "baby wants to fuck" t-shirt that had something to with official merchandise & swapped it for an eighth of north african hash as a stoned 17yr old. What a cock-end.

    11/10

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    1. I have grown to appreciate this film more and more throughout this year and it's one of my favourites that I saw all year. Hopper is indeed fantastic. And sucks that you sold that t-shirt. It sounds amazing.

      Thank you for this awesome comment, anon :D

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