Blue Velvet
The blue-velvety world isn't always pretty.
One of David Lynch’s best pieces of work, Blue Velvet is a mystery film that vividly explores fantasy and power in an underworld.
College student Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) finds a severed ear in a grassy field. After strangely getting little attention from the police, Jeffrey teams up with Sandy Williams, daughter of the police detective, to investigate the mystery.
Sandy tells him about a suspicious lady singer named Dorothy Vallens, whom people rumor to be involved in crimes. Using this as a lead, Jeffrey sneaks into this woman’s apartment, only to be discovered by Dorothy herself. After threatening to hurt him, the troubled singer forces him to undress and begins to fellate him. They are interrupted by a rough knock, and as Jeffrey hides in the closet, we are introduced to the most disturbing character in the film: sociopath Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper).
The overwhelmingly foul-mouthed and aggressive Frank engages in a violent sex scene with Dorothy. We witness him beat her while at the same time regressing to a child-like state. He has a fetish with a piece of blue-velvet fabric, which he uses on her during the bizarre sex scene.
As a horrified Jeffrey is forced to observe from the closet, he later learns that Frank has kidnapped Dorothy’s husband and son, whom he will kill unless Dorothy performs sexual favors for him. Apparently, she is also forced to sing “Blue Velvet” regularly at a nightclub. At a scene at the nightclub, Frank sits in the audience and fondles a piece of blue-velvet fabric as Dorothy sings. Oddly enough, he is touched by her singing.
Out of a desire to help Dorothy, Jeffrey falls into a relationship with her, devastating Sandy. Being accustomed to Frank’s beatings, Dorothy wants him to hit her when they have sex. Jeffrey finds himself sucked into an underworld of sadomasochism, voyeurism and crime, which escalates when he and Dorothy are kidnapped by Frank’s gang, who are nearly as insane as Frank.
This cult classic uses elements of surrealism and film noir to portray a grungy underworld that contrasts with Jeffrey’s Beaver Cleaver-like world. Blue Velvet goes beyond the literal and vividly delves into the psychological, depicting the perversion that, alas, is part of our reality.
Written by: Christine Le
Reviewers Rating: 9.5
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Added: 6-Dec-2008
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