Usually when I see a movie that is 'universally hailed as the most controversial film of the decade' they end up having been widely misinterpreted - such as The Silence of the Lambs, which wasn't 'sick' like everybody said, but merely portrayed the hypnotic effect of a consuming nature of evil, by drawing the viewer into it too. But Blue Velvet was the only film I've seen to date that shocked me far more than I thought it would. It's hard to say exactly what it was, but it did such a grotesquely fine job of carving out sickness from beneath an idyllic front that it couldn't help but be disturbing. It's also partly because David Lynch is a genius - some of the camera angles alone are enough to give you nightmares. Jeffrey is a young guy visiting his hometown when his father has a stroke. He finds a human ear in a field, and when he tries to find out more about it independently, he's drawn farther and farther into the world of sado-masochistic violence via Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini in a troubling role) and her tormentor, until he uncovers some unsavory findings about his own soul. Dennis Hopper - from Easy Rider - gives an absolutely disgusting performance as Frank. I mean, really, really disgusting. This from a person who thought Hannibal Lecter was kind of cool - trust me on this. All in all, the satirical film-making and saturated color, together with Rossellini's and Hopper's performances, make it really disturbing. By uncovering the hypocrisy in the idyllic front of a small town, the film uncovers the hypocrisy within everyone's soul. Because, no matter how repulsive some of it is, aren't we, against our own wills, irresistibly drawn to some of this perversion? We'd like to say we're all perfect, that it holds no attraction, but the fact is it does, no matter what we try to do about it. Is it really better to attempt to cover it up? Or is it better to surrender entirely to the dark forces within our natures, and thus release ourselves? And can we ever be one thing, or are we essentially divided? These are only some of the issues approached - it's a great film, but I wouldn't want to watch it again.
Review of Blue Velvet
