Blue Velvet-Nightmare on Lynch Street
Scripted style lettering, super imposed over a backdrop of undulating blue velvet cloth, to tune of Angelo Badalamenti’s stringed score, sensual, haunting, a throwback to the early Hollywood movies of the 50’s. And then the blue velvet cloth dissolving into clear blue skies, camera zooming down, on to freshly painted picket fences, and beautiful red roses. Birds chirping all around, school kids crossing a road, as a friendly cop helps them out. A bright red fire engine running down the street, a happy fireman on it’s truck, and then yellow tulips swaying in the breeze. The 1963 hit single “Blue Velvet” in Bobby Vinton’s voice playing across in the background, as we are treated to more shots of “Paradise”, lovely white cottages, green lawns, an old man watering his lawn, as his wife is immersed in some kind of mystery flick on TV, camera zooming in on to the screen to show a hand holding a gun. Everything indeed seems lovely in the idyllic, paradise of small town America, smiling faces, happy people, clear blue skies, greenery all around. Yet the deliberate zooming in on the hand with gun TV screen image, does give a hint about something amiss. It starts with the old man getting a seizure, falling down on the grass, writhing about. No sounds here, just the old man groaning, the hiss of the water spray from the pipe, and in a bizarre imagery, a dog comes around, standing on the man, drinking the water. No music here, the background predominantly dominated by the hissing sound, of the water, as the camera zooms in closer on to the green lawns. The peaceful green lawns on a closer look, take an ominous form, entering as if we are into a darker jungle, penetrating it’s thick canopy. The hissing sound, getting louder, the leaves now parting aside, and all of a sudden its a dark world out there. The idyllic green world, has given way to a dark world under the grass, where nasty looking bugs and beetles are in a fight for survival. For a moment, paradise gives way to hell. And just as ironical, the camera cuts back to a smiling lady on a huge billboard proclaiming “Welcome to Lumberton”, camera again panning to show the town’s waterfront, a radio announcer inviting locals for a “sunny day”. Paradise, Hell and back to Paradise?
For movie lovers who have heard a lot about David Lynch, and are eager to start exploring his movies, Blue Velvet would be the best starting point. Unlike Lost Highway or Mullholland Drive, whose non linear narration, and the numerous twists can make a first timer, feel completely befuddled, Blue Velvet, has a rather straight forward plot, not too many twists and turns, nor does the ending leave you stumped. Yet at the same time, the movie contains many of Lynch’s standard trademarks. The use of symbolism, the surreal images, bizarre odd ball characters and the feeling of “Nothing is what it is” that pervades the entire movie. And while the plot is pretty straight for most of the movie, at a deeper level, the movie does go into multiple layers, as Lynch superimposes genres, time periods, characters and then uses symbolism to depict the key points in the movie.
The American Small Town
The particular point at which the camera into the grass, and goes under it, to reveal the dark, nasty world is what would be the movie’s main leitmotif. Small towns in the US, have traditionally been seen as the quieter, more peaceful, more genteel alternatives to their urban counterparts, usually dirty, grimy, crowded, streets teeming with muggers, crooks, rapists. For long residents of small towns have been considered more friendly, more ethical, more God fearing and honest than their big city counterparts. But is the idyllic, peaceful, friendly atmosphere just a facade, do the small towns in US, have a more seamier side to their appearance, which is quite often hidden. In a city its hard to escape it’s grimy, dirtier side, it’s something you witness every day, and can’t really avoid it. The beautiful and the ugly co exist side by side in the city, and you learn to accept it. In small towns, its a different scenario, the ugly side would traditionally be hidden under, swept under the carpet. The opening sequence of Blue Velvet, emphasizes the idea of cinema as a visual narrative, with no dialogue, nor much sound, Lynch wonderfully sets up the entire concept of a “dark underworld beneath the beautiful exterior of the small town” . For all the beauty shown on display, it does seem artificial, everything is way too perfect, not a leaf , nor a blade of grass, seems out of place, but yet the perfection is scary.
I guess maybe its do with the very nature of the American small town here. Unlike small towns in India, which generally tend to be more closely packed, more chaotic, and more noisy, the small towns in US, are widely scattered, with homes isolated from each other, scattered around. Sure they are lovely to look at, and the peaceful nature can soothe nerves. But after some time, the silence, can be unsettling, scary, the large empty spaces can look eerie. Again this is strictly my opinion, maybe having been used to the noise and chaos in India, i did find the quiet and peace, a bit scary at times. But again was this a motivating factor for David Lynch to explore the sleazy underside. Its not that Lynch is critical of the small town, he treats it with an affection, a nostalgic love, something based on his childhood.
My father was a research scientist for the Department of Agriculture . We were in the woods all the time. I’d sorta had enough of the woods by the time I left, but still, lumber and lumberjacks, all this kinda thing, that’s America to me like the picket fences and the roses in the opening shot. It’s so burned in, that image, and it makes me feel so happy- David Lynch.
Lynch does love the small town, as he shows in one of the moments, when the son of the old man, now in a hospital, Jeffrey Beaumont( Kyle MacLahlan) meets the local police detective J.D.Williams, to show him a severed ear he has found in the field. While introducing himself as the son of Beaumont, who owns the hardware store, Williams inquires about his father’s health, nothing really significant here, but again establishing the nature of the small town, where every one knows every one. Or in that moment, when Jeffrey tells his mother, he is taking a walk, and his Aunt advises him to avoid Lincoln, its not explicitly stated, but assumed that she is referring to a more seedier part of the town.
Are you a detective or a pervert?
Jeffrey Beaumont at first glance seems like any other normal, American college student, clean cut, boyish, dressed conservatively, some one straight out of an Enid Blyton/ Hardy Boys novel, the kinda boy whom Mama would certainly approve of. Nothing much is given about his family background, except the fact that his Dad is hospitalized with a stroke. In one of the earlier scenes, his father tries to speak with him, but is unable to. Now, what exactly was his father trying to communicate, did he have some knowledge regarding the severed ear? For me this part would remain one of the few unclear aspects in the movie, as also regarding Jeffrey’s mother, she does not really seem to communicate with her son, and most of the time is immersed in watching murder mysteries on TV. Did Jeffrey’s love for mysteries, his fetish for the darker side, come from there?
The beginning of Jeffrey’s journey into the darker side, is depicted in a brilliant way by Lync. As the camera dissolves to a dark screen, a door opens, Jeffrey’s silhoutte framed in the light of the door, as he walks down the stairs, his Mom and Aunt sitting in the living room, as he informs them about talking a walk. His aunt warns him to stay aside of “Lincoln”, the town’s seedier area, and Jeffrey walking out in the night. Camera here focuses on the trees swaying in the darkness, a kind of sinister mood, and then zooming in on to the severed ear, closing on it. Like in the first scene, the camera zooms deeper into the ear, now decaying, along its sides, and a whoosh sound. The symbolism is spot on here, ear acting proving to be a passage to the brain, in effect to Jeffrey’s own sub consciousness, and earlier on, when Jeffrey steps out from his home, the focus on a TV image showing a man in boots walking up the stairs. Jeffrey is starting out his journey, taking his steps into the unknown, or more specifically his own subconscious thoughts.
Now why does Jeffrey become so obsessed with the missing ear and the mystery behind it? I feel its two factors in play here. One is the detective’s daughter Sandy( Laura Dern) who begins to drop in hints about the case, and how it was found near the home of a night club singer, who was under surveillance. Another factor is Det Williams, asking Jeffrey to keep it confidential and not bother about the case any more. On one side, is the advice not to reach for the “forbidden fruit”, yet at the same time Sandy, by dropping in hints about the case, pointing to the singer’s home, makes Jeffrey more curious for the “forbidden fruit”. Sandy and Jeffrey are characters straight out of a 50’s romance, he the clean cut, good, nice young boy, she the wholesome sweet, girl, next door. I mean this was the 80’s of mini skirts, spiked hair dos, frizzy curls, punk styles, leather jackets, and here are two characters who seemed to have stepped straight out of a time machine from the 50’s. You feel that this movie is maybe set in the 50’s era, when you see the neon symbol of the Snow Club in pink , with a pair of antlers, something typically 80’s, yeah that was the era of pink neon signs, not sure why.
Sandy though quite curious about the more darker side, does not actually tend to explore that side. She does some Nancy Drew type sleuthing with Jeffrey, helping him to solve the mystery. Jeffrey’s intentions are more clearly established.
There are opportunities in life for gaining knowledge and experience. Sometimes, it’s necessary to take a risk. I got to thinking. I’ll bet someone could learn alot by getting into that woman’s apartment. You know, sneak in, hide, and observe.
While Sandy is more troubled by the fact of snooping on the singer Dorothy Valens( Isabella Rosellini), she does not really dissuade Jeffrey from his adventures. Its more like she finds herself fascinated by Jeffrey’s daring, a kind of vicarious thrill she gets from his adventure. Jeffrey by now is more fascinated with Dorothy, as we see in the night club scene. Dark haired, mysterious, sensuality oozing out, as she croons out the “Blue Velvet” number, he is fascinated by her much to Sandy’s discomfort. Again a mixture of different styles, hitting the screen, the 30’s style Art Deco microphone, she wearing a long blue velvet dress, with slits lo bright red lipstick and a marine blue eye shade, enough to quicken the pulses of any male. Isabella certainly seems to have inherited, the stunning beauty of her mom, Ingrid Bergman, and the hot Italian sensuality from her father’s side. At this point we seem to echo Sandy’s confusion about whether Jeffrey is indeed a “detective or a pervert”. Is he just curious about the mystery, or fascinated more by Dorothy, at least that’s what is suggested in the night club scene?
It is at this stage, when we come into the “shocking” “disturbing” encounter that Jeffrey would have. Jeffrey entering Dorothy’s apartment, and as he snoops around, he hears Dorothy entering in. The tension here is built up superbly by Lynch, inter cutting scenes of Jeffrey in the toilet, flushing down, Sandy giving him a warning honk, and then Dorothy coming inside. Jeffrey hides in the closet, and just as he feels he is caught, the phone rings, and that’s when the first hints are dropped of the nightmare ahead. Dorothy pleading with the caller “Frank, sir” and then assuring Don and later little Donny, all is fine. Something amiss, and then Jeffrey watches through the slits of the closet, Dorothy undressing, down to her panties and bra, into the shower.
Here again the tension in the scene, where Jeffrey is discovered by Dorothy is well set up, as she opens the door, puts on her blue velvet robe. For a moment there is deathly silence, as Jeffrey still continues to watch here, Dorothy opening the drawer, taking out the knife, pulling open the door, discovering Jeffrey, which signals the beginning of the nightmare for him. When Jeffrey tells her that it was the first time he had broken into a female’s home, and watched her getting undressed, she turns the tables back on him. Dorothy becomes the voyeur, and in a scene, that is shocking and sensual in turns, she first makes Jeffrey strip down, the moment she witnesses Jeffrey standing only in his briefs, her voice turns from a harsh tone, to a husky sensual one, Isabella Rosellini, sure showing she has inherited not just her mom’s beauty, but her acting chops too, switching expressions from scared, nervous, to bold, lusty, passionate with effortless ease.
And that is when Jeffrey witnesses the nightmare unfolding before him, in all horror. The devil here being Frank Booth( Dennis Hopper), who is everything that Jeffrey is actually not. Middle aged, foul, dressed in a dark leather jacket and jeans, stocky, crude and disgusting. Add to it, he is the one who has kidnapped Dorothy’s husband and son, using that to his advantage to forcibly debauch her every night. Jeffrey watches it unfold, as Frank orders around Dorothy, treating her like a servant, and then aroused, he gets into the mood, inhaling a mask full of helium. The scene here alternates between the shocking and the sensual, the shocker being the obscenities uttered by Frank, his coarse language, his abusive behavior, and yet at the same, Dorothy’s head tilted back, her lips in a sensual smile. And then the part, where Frank stuffs the blue velvet robe into her mouth, and forces himself on her, it is one of the most explicit sex scenes, i have watched in movies. Disturbing, repellent, shocking at the same time you can’t help watching it. Lynch has already set up the ugliness, given hints about going into that dirty world, and now makes us watch it on screen, no let up, no softening of the impact, its brutal, raw, wild, and yet you can’t turn your eyes away from it.
But more importantly Frank’s behavior during that scene, makes us understand the reason for Dorothy’s behavior with Jeffrey earlier. Dorothy was doing to Jeffrey, what Frank does to her. He had not just brutalized and degraded her, he had in effect made her numb, making her believe that was the only way to make love. Even when Jeffrey offers her help, she implores him to hit him, something which he could never do. Though repelled by the encounter he has witnessed, Jeffrey is more and more fascinated by the mystery. In a later scene where he again makes love to Dorothy, he obeys her orders to hit him, and is actually fascinated by it. He is troubled by the fact that there are people like Frank, but that only makes him more attracted to their world. Not even Sandy’s dream of a beautiful world, which she narrates, diverts him from his attraction. Jeffrey is walking into a nightmare, which he has no intentions of turning away from.
Blue Velvet also has some wonderful performances from the cast. Kyle Mac Lahlan, who would later star in Lynch’s Twin Peaks series, is excellent as Jeffrey, transitioning from a wide eyed boy, curious into an individual caught in a nightmare, that never seems to end. Laura Dern is suitably sweet, fitting into the blonde, wholesome, girl next door, childish giggles , curiousity and all. Dern however would appear later in Lynch’s Wild At Heart, in a more bohemian, sexier role, a complete reversal of her “cutie pie” image in Blue Velvet. Dennis Hopper does seem to revel in these kind of nasty, over the top, scumbag roles, as he sinks his teeth into the character of Frank with gusto, exhibiting sadism, cruelty with relish. Hopper had been one of Hollywood’s bad boys, battling drug addiction, a stormy personal life, in fact he took on this role, as he felt “Frank was him”, one of the best mean guy acts. The surprise here, though is Isabella Rosellini, showing a mixture of sensuality, passion, agony as the battered woman. Her mom sure would have been proud of it.
Tags: David Lynch, Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rosellini, Kyle MacLahlan, Laura Dern, Surrealist Noir
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Ratnakar Sir, Really a good review of old masterpiece.Few scenes make me scare on first viewing. It shows state of victim in horrific way. David Lynch has got balls of steel to make such a masterpiece. Its simply deconstruction of small quiet american town. Dennis Hopper remains most psychopath of all villains in my list. (except display of hybrid of wisdom and madness of Joker in dark knight)
Sure it needs balls of steel to make such a movie, and Isabella Rosellini, gosh, what a performance, one moment she is the sexy siren, luring Jeffrey, another moment she is the helpless victim. I rarely have seen such a performance with so varied shades. Her mom, Ingrid Bergman, would surely have been proud of it.
Dennis Hopper usually does well in these kind of pyschotic roles( Speed, Waterworld). I believe when Lynch approached him with the script, he said “I am Frank Booth”. Basically at that time, his career had gone bust, and he was recovering from a serious drug addiction. So he could identify immediately with the role.
I loved blue velvet. Typical Lynchian surrealism. Great review Ratna! I guess Elephant man was by far his most straightforward film and the most accessible one. All his films are a ride into the unknown and bizarre!
In a way i felt Blue Velvet was straightforward too, yeah it did have elements of the bizarre, especially in the character of Frank and his cronies, and most of it deals with journey into the unknown, but the plot if you see is pretty much linear, and there are no mind bending twists, unlike Lost Highway or Mullholland Drive, which need multiple viewings. There is also The Straight Story, a more personal, emotional movie from Lynch.
Neeraj, I consider ‘The Straight Story’ as most straight film without any surrealism of David Lynch.
Dennis Hooper was indeed very scary, psychotic villain.
Ratna sir you said most explicit sex scene? It wasn’t explicit but disturbing and shocking.
Also, I dont think it was typical Lynchian surrealism. Mullholland Dr., Lost Highway, Eraserhead, Inland Empire etc. are typical Lynchian stuff.
@ Jahan
I think i mentioned it in the first part of my review. While the narrative is straightforward, and linear, the movie has some of the trademark Lynch elements, the shot of the camera zooming into the ear, and then at the ending, coming out of the ear. Also the rather oddball characters, the pyschotic villians, so it does have some standard Lynchisms. Also did find the intial encounter, a bit explicit, again my opinion.
Yup. That was the only Lynchian thing in the movie. Camera zooming in to the ear means that going in the dark, musty and evil lurking world then in the end coming out of it back in the good happy world. The robin in the end of the movie was fake? Deliberately or he didn’t find any real bird?
Couple of other symbolisms too, the bugs under neath the grass, and reference to insects throughout, Dennis Hooper wearing an insect like mask, Jeffrey posing as an “Exterminator”. Also putting the Robin as fake, some kinda comment on a fake perfect world.
That’s why i say Blue Velvet is in ways a Lynch movie, though the narrative is straightforward, and its not one of the dream kinds, still many points, that make you think.
Of course but I watched it after watching Mullholland and Lost Highway and was expecting something like that from Blue velvet too so it did look to me somewhat straightforward. Symbolisms may entice new watchers but when someone has watched too many movies with multiple layers and symbolisms they look trite. That’s why I think Blue velvet didn’t awed me as much as Lost Highway or Eraserhead did.
Oh well same case here too, i watched Lost Highway first and this later, and was half expecting the entire course of events to be some kind of dream or maybe some twist in the end, about Frank being Jeffrey’s alter ego. Still it remains one of my favorite Lynch movies, again as they say to each his own.
Blue Velvet may be straightforward but it was impossible for me to understand it. I think the below site gives a lot of info about the movie. Read about Blue Velvet from this site
http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/lynch.html
Lynch’s movie some say are based on Freud’s work. It would be nearly impossible to decipher his work without reading Freud. And Freud’s most important work was “Interpretation of Dreams”. Most of Lynch’s movies are based on dreams. And this one too.
Read this too
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=tZWQ6Mp1×88C&pg=PA137&dq=Netherworlds+and+the+Unconscious:+Oedipus+and+Blue+Velvet&ei=G_DdSvjwOZiSlQSM67CaAQ#v=onepage&q=Netherworlds%20and%20the%20Unconscious%3A%20Oedipus%20and%20Blue%20Velvet&f=false
Thanks for the links, but i did not find Blue Velvet too hard to understand. Or maybe having watched Lost Highway, Mullholland Drive found Blue Velvet more easier to decipher.
Yeah sure Lynch bases his movies a lot on interpretation of Dreams, but that was more in Lost Highway, Inland Empire. Blue Velvet had Freudian undertones, Jeffrey watching the entire encounter between Dorothy and Frank from the closet, reflecting back to an earlier memory of his watching his Mom & Dad make love as a kid, and then the Oedipal angle, Mommy(”Dorothy”) and the obsessive kid(”Frank”).
Regarding dreams, well its not stated explicitly in Blue Velvet, but again the symbolism of the shot entering the ear, and end of it, comming out from ear, could be taken as a dream.
Well even I saw Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive before Blue Velvet. To top it, I saw EraserHead first. But if you don’t see the Oedipal angle and its relation to dreams, you come out thinking that it is a straight thriller with some bizarre sequence(which is what I thought). And for me to think beyond that is impossible as I don’t know these concepts. In fact I thought that Mulholland Drive is more straight forward than Blue Velvet. The viewer can distinguish between dream sequence and reality in Mulholland Drive. In the dream sequence the main lead in Mulholland Drive is the best of the lot but in reality she is a loser. That is what most people see in dreams. Lost Highway is in between. And EraserHead, I hope someone tell me what is inside EraserHead.
Well Eraser Head was mix of dystopian sci fi, horror, Euro style surrealism, one of Lynch’s hardest movies for me.
That movie was not meant to be understood. The interpretation would be entirely yours. That’s why I liked the movie.
That can be said about any movie. Once the movie is in public domain, it is open to interpretation.
Good one Ratnakar ! Agree with you , this is among the more accessible David Lynch movies. The way Lynch depicts things is indeed remarkable as we are drawn into this fascinating world where things are not what appears to be … the opening scene has to be among one of the best opening scenes , entire movie is summed up there !
Please do a similar write-up of ‘Lost Highway’ !
Anush, did try writing on Lost Highway, and it ended up a mess. Problem is movies like Lost Highway, Mullholland Drive have so many allusions, meanings, interpretations, layers in them, to date even now i still am not clear about ending of Lost Highway.