I think that this is the movie that took me through five layers of enlightenment.
If you've known me for more than 0.2 seconds, you'll probably know that David Lynch is my favourite director ever. His works never cease to astound me, and of all of his already-perfect films, I would have to say that Blue Velvet really is not only the best film that he's made, but the best film of the 20th century, if not of all time.
There's something so stylistically beautiful and genre-defying about Blue Velvet. Something so sleek and so enchanting, combined with Lynch's classic horror, captivates you just like the eponymous song.
What's interesting about Blue Velvet is that even though it's one of Lynch's most confusing works, and the storyline isn't as strange as one of his later films (say, Lost Highway or Mulholland Drive), it still manages to be so incredibly disturbing and mind-bendingly horrific, to the point that sometimes you feel obliged to have to watch through your fingers.
Blue Velvet peels back the layers of the American dream to reveal a dark underworld that will haunt your mind for days. That signature opening with the unnaturally blood-red roses against a white picket fence and an artificially bright sky sets the theme of the slightly too-perfect image of suburbia that continues through the film, and contrasts jarringly with the things we later see and find. And that gorgeous song. Blue Velvet echoes throughout the film, and whenever you hear it you cannot help but be entranced.
There was not a single bad performance in this movie. Isabella Rossellini as the beautiful and troubled Dorothy Vallens, Laura Dern as "the girl next door", Dennis Hopper as the psychotic Frank Booth, and, of course, Kyle MacLachlan as our innocent young protagonist. How did none of these incredibly talented people get any sort of Oscar recognition? How did this movie generally not get any sort of Oscar recognition besides just a nomination for Best Director? Come on! Best Picture nom, at least!
This movie is certainly not for everyone, what with how horrifically graphic and disturbing it gets, every now and then, but let me tell you: when all is said and done, it really is a cinematic masterpiece and is my favourite movie of all time, and I don't see that changing any time soon.
-Sasha.
If you've known me for more than 0.2 seconds, you'll probably know that David Lynch is my favourite director ever. His works never cease to astound me, and of all of his already-perfect films, I would have to say that Blue Velvet really is not only the best film that he's made, but the best film of the 20th century, if not of all time.
There's something so stylistically beautiful and genre-defying about Blue Velvet. Something so sleek and so enchanting, combined with Lynch's classic horror, captivates you just like the eponymous song.
What's interesting about Blue Velvet is that even though it's one of Lynch's most confusing works, and the storyline isn't as strange as one of his later films (say, Lost Highway or Mulholland Drive), it still manages to be so incredibly disturbing and mind-bendingly horrific, to the point that sometimes you feel obliged to have to watch through your fingers.
Blue Velvet peels back the layers of the American dream to reveal a dark underworld that will haunt your mind for days. That signature opening with the unnaturally blood-red roses against a white picket fence and an artificially bright sky sets the theme of the slightly too-perfect image of suburbia that continues through the film, and contrasts jarringly with the things we later see and find. And that gorgeous song. Blue Velvet echoes throughout the film, and whenever you hear it you cannot help but be entranced.
There was not a single bad performance in this movie. Isabella Rossellini as the beautiful and troubled Dorothy Vallens, Laura Dern as "the girl next door", Dennis Hopper as the psychotic Frank Booth, and, of course, Kyle MacLachlan as our innocent young protagonist. How did none of these incredibly talented people get any sort of Oscar recognition? How did this movie generally not get any sort of Oscar recognition besides just a nomination for Best Director? Come on! Best Picture nom, at least!
This movie is certainly not for everyone, what with how horrifically graphic and disturbing it gets, every now and then, but let me tell you: when all is said and done, it really is a cinematic masterpiece and is my favourite movie of all time, and I don't see that changing any time soon.
-Sasha.