by Jonathan Klotz
| Published
David Lynch died on January 15, 2025, leaving behind a legacy of work in film and television that helped redefine the meaning of entertainment and pushed the envelope to the brink of acceptance in mainstream Hollywood. Fans have been debating for years which of his films is the best, but there are two that tend to be at the top of everyone's lists: Mulholland Drive and one of his earlier films, which ended up setting the tone for the rest of his storied career. Issued in 1986, Blue velvet The American Film Institute considers it one of the greatest mystery filmsMovies of all time; It's confusing and bizarre, includes a surprise jump into a musical interlude, and lays the groundwork for Twin Peaks.
Suburban nightmare
Blue velvet The film begins on a strange note from the opening minutes, with MacLachlan's Geoffrey Beaumont, a college student who returns home to help care for his ailing father, and discovers a severed human ear. Jeffrey discovers that the ear is loosely attached to Dorothy Valens, a local jazz singer, so he ends up awkwardly talking to her place after the performance, leading to an exchange between MacLachlan and Isabella Rossellini as Dorothy, one of the most awkward. Ever been caught on camera.
This is from before Blue velvet It takes a wild turn when Frank, a local crime boss (played by Dennis Hopper in a career-changing performance), shows up for a wild night out with Dorothy that involves a gas mask and calling her “Mama,” which Jeffrey watches from the closet. .
All within the first thirty minutes blue velvet, The film gets stranger from there, as it reveals a criminal conspiracy lurking beneath the surface of the small town of Lumberton. Sure enough, to get there, Jeffrey has to spend time with Frank, which includes visits to a drug den and a sawmill, which includes not one, but two old movies, “In Dreams” and “Mr. Sandman,” with characters just dancing David Lynch They will have to do. It's a fairly conventional story, but with Lynchian touches on top, he's able to take a story of suburban distress and turn it into a dream-like story that constantly throws viewers off balance by subverting every expectation they had.
Blue velvet cinema changed
After the disastrous failure of Sand dunesscience fiction epic, David Lynch He returned to the way he started with Eraserhead, a strange, low-budget film that once again stripped down the bizarre moments of a disembodied head floating in space or a radiator singing golden oldies and it's all about relationships. Blue velvet Incorporating what would later be considered Lynch trademarks (show-stealing one-scene characters, dream-like storylines, and long takes that don't cut, among many other things) and by going to an independent studio run by legendary B-movie producer Dino De Laurentiis, He didn't have to give up his vision. Critics at the time responded divided, with those who would die on the hill saying it was a subversive and groundbreaking film, and those who thought it was pretentious, boring and meaningless.
today, Blue velvet It is rightly recognized as a landmark in American cinema. Not only does it have a fresh rating of 81 percent Rotten tomatoes By today's critics, but has been studied in writing and film classes as an example of the power of storytelling. It's a difficult film to watch that will stay with you for years, but it's also one of the greatest achievements in filmmaking and helped reignite the career of David Lynch, a man whose name has become synonymous with challenging, thought-provoking media. And one of the greatest creative minds in Hollywood ever.
Blue Velvet is streaming now Top.
