| FILM
I just finished watching this DVD and all I can say is thank
God that there are people like David Lynch making movies. He
doesn't always succeed, but at least he is always trying something
different. In my opinion this film works on every level. It
is a great little murder mystery, but its most striking element
is its look into the other side that every person has in them
and how it can come out at the strangest, and least expected
times.
If
you have not seen this film before or if you have and did not
enjoy it, my suggestion is to think of it as a psycho-sexual
Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew mystery. If you look at the structure
in this context I think you will be able to absorb more of the
details of the film.
In
my opinion the sequence following the opening credits is one
of the most amazing ever filmed. When I say amazing I do not
mean like the D-Day landing in Saving Private Ryan, but visually
the whole movie is set up in ten or fifteen shots. As soon as
the camera descends into the life buried in the grass we know
we are in for a different movie.
After
visiting his father in the hospital, Jeffery (Kyle Maclachlan)
finds a human ear in a field behind his house. He takes it to
the local police station and is told by a detective that the
police will takes over from there. Curiosity gets the best of
Jeffery and soon he starts an investigation himself with a little
help from the detective's daughter (Laura Dern). This investigation
leads to things Jeffery never imagined were going on in his
home town.
From
here we meet a variety of odd characters of which Frank Booth
(Dennis Hopper) is the oddest. Hopper's performance as Booth
gets better every time I see it. There are very few actors who
could have done justice to this role, but Hopper hits every
psychotic note just right. The introduction of his character
as he has his way with Dorothy (Isabella Rossellini) is one
of the more disturbing scenes in cinema.
VIDEO
I was a little disappointed with the video quality. The best
that can be said is that it is very average. Blacks are a little
washed out which never helps with overall detail. Color is nicely
reproduced, it just should have looked better. At least MGM/UA
was good enough to do an Anamorphic Transfer.
AUDIO
One element of movie making that David Lynch never skimps on
is the sound design of his films and Blue Velvet is no exception.
This a Dolby Surround soundtrack, but it has been nicely reproduced.
Solid bass and a decent use of the surrounds put us right in
the middle of the events. This is not a sound effects movie
but when the volume kicks in to highlight things it is well
done.
EXTRAS
Thanks for the trailer MGM. One other pathetic part of this
disc is the background insert. I don't think I have ever seen
so many typos and problems in an insert before. It is like someone
typed the thing out right before it was due to the printers
and did not even bother to spell check it.
SUMMARY
Blue Velvet is one of those films that seems very familiar,
but when you reach the end, you say to yourself you have never
seen a film like that before. It takes a look at the underbelly
of small town America (really anywhere) and never flinches.
You probably never want to meet most of the characters, but
looking into this other world is quite fun, if not a little
disturbing. One last note is to pay attention to the various
riffs on Heineken and beer in general from both Jeffrey and
Frank. Absolutely hilarious.
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