Review of Blue Velvet (1986) by Leila H — 07 Jul 2010

Lynch may not be everyone's cup of tea but he certainly is mine, and I wholeheartedly believe he is one of the best American directors the world has yet to recognize. David's gift and talent of bringing the surreal, unknown, and the utterly obscure to life on the big screen is a feat not many directors in the post-modern age can achieve; certainly when the images & emotions that arise from our subconscious rarely get a chance to be explored in-depth or even tapped into as Lynch is a master of probing into this alien territory. The intriguing plot that unfolds into a dark mystery in small town America involving a sadomasochistic sociopath named Frank, well played by Dennis Hopper, and the red lipped femme fatale Dorothy played by the lovely Isabella Rossellini, and her admirer & ultimate savior Jeffrey (Kyle Maclachlan) who gets a chance to see what most of us don't see everyday: the violent brutality lying behing closed doors. He is the primary voyeur who is exposed to these malevolent forces beyond his control. Lynch's Blue Velvet inquires us to to look through the looking glass essentially, in order to catch a glimpse of what eludes many of us in waking life; and to see what many of us aren't even aware of exists in the world. Our world. The entire element of sadomasochism in the film also effectively brings to light a subculture many films fail to address or even bring up. All in all, I respect and adore David's films. I think this film is a gem and is one of his many masterpieces, if you can tolerate it.

To each his/her own, I guess.

And now, I leave you with a quote:

Sandy Williams: I can't figure out if you're a detective or a pervert.

Jeffrey Beaumont: Well, that's for me to know and you to find out.