Review of Blue Velvet by Lynch

This is the third film I've watched in my study of David Lynch's work. So far it's the best one. Eraserhead is very good, but I think Blue Velvet has more substance. Elephant is good. I didn't see Dune, perhaps I should. Blue Velvet is the first film that the term Lynchian could be used. It is similar in many ways to his Los Angeles trilogy which were the films that created the term "Lynchian."

The film as the nytimes reviewer said in an article about a re-release of Blue Velvet on it's twentieth anniversary reminds me of Hitchcock films from the late 50's and early 60's. Like Vertigo and Birds, Blue Velvet presents an eery setting only to be disturbed by something beneath the surface. The firetruck, the serene setting of a small city, the white picket fence, create a calm that is deeply disrupted by the inquisitiveness of a college kid and the masochistic drug dealer who abuses Rosselini's character.

Roger Ebert gave this film a harsh review. I don't agree that it should receive such a harsh treatment, only one star. I do agree with him that Lynch presents a satire of life in a small city. That there is a deep, dark underbelly to the seemingly quaint, orderly day-to-day life of a small city.

I really like Dennis Hopper's performance in the film. He came off as sadistic, violent, and deranged. I also thought Rosselini turned in a good performance. The technical aspects were well done. I liked the settings a lot; the apartment, the warehouse, the nightclub, the quaint homes, all created a ambience which took the viewer into a small city. And, as I mentioned before, the cinematography was great in creating the feeling of satire. I felt very turned off at the banality that is created by the showing of the flowers and picket fences, the firetruch, the hokiness of everyone. Then when it's juxtaposed against the violence and depravity of Rosselini's situation; her husband and son kidnapped by Hopper, and of course Hopper's sexual depravity, his violent temper, it creates a feeling of disgust, of horror, and raises the question that Jeffrey's character asks; why are there men like Frank?

A very good film.