Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet is a 1986 American mystery film written and directed by David Lynch, that exhibits elements of both film noir and surrealism.

Blue Velvet is able to strike you unpleasantly not so much with its brutality, but rather with harshness in the interpretation of people’s characters, who are living in the “little golden America”. Frank Booth, who inflicts his bizarre sexual proclivities — which include Inhaling Nitrous Oxide, dry humping, and sadomasochism — upon Dorothy, will be more frightening than thousand maniacs and undisguised monsters, who frighten the trusty audience from the television screens. And unrestrained insane sensuality of Dorothy Vallens gradually goes out of control and crushes the stream of voluptuousness on the minds of the audience. However the scenes of sexual abuse of pure souls are more impressive. Sexual abuse is committed with their permission – Jeffrey Beaumont after the session of the voyeurism becomes a competent participant of events. And after returning to the routine life, personified by Sandy, submits to the fact that his innocence is lost.

The picture is received as a thriller with elements of black humor comedy. Formally, the borders of reality are not broken and infernal events get truthful and logic explanations. However, the unfortunate ear is shown as an allusion to a basic symbol of surrealism not accidently – the eye, which was cut without hesitation by Louis Bunuel and Salvador Dali, anticipating their journey through human subconsciousness. David Lynch expands the picture by including all other sense organs: hearing, sense of smell, sense of taste and sense of touch. It is possible to pick up any of these senses to penetrate into the mysterious world, the entrance of which is only sealed by curtains of blue velvet. The world is frightening to the depths and insuperably attractive at the same time.

In this, I suppose, lies the reason of powerful affection of “Blue Velvet”. By the end of the viewing I had a sense that the story is a whole lot deeper. David Lynch does not deny the presence of autobiographical motives, but gives the film a slightly broader sound. It is sort of a peculiar global session of psychoanalysis that helps to reach into the collective unconscious – the unconscious of the whole modern civilization. Of course, by the example of USA, where the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth is an analogue, at least, to the Fall of humankind described in the Bible.