In 1986 David Lynch broke the language of cinema wide open in the same
way that Jackson Pollock did with the art world in the early '40s.
Using a minimalist palate set in small town America, Lynch blended
surrealist elements into a story of adult sexual awakening juxtaposed
against violence, mystery, and mental illness. Using character names
drawn from '50s Americana iconography, and a moody musical score to
match, Lynch presents returning hometown boy Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle
MacLachlan) who promptly unearths a severed ear in a field that he
crossed thousands of times in his youth. Jeffrey finds a willing ally
for his private investigation into the mystery of the ear's owner in
the local police detective's romantically inclined daughter Sandy
(Laura Dern). However, Jeffrey is unprepared for the psychological and
emotional upheaval that will devour him when he stalks the fetishized
life of Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini), a sultry nightclub
singer used to playing rough with a very debauched criminal named Frank
(Dennis Hopper). "Blue Velvet" is David Lynch's greatest achievement.
His balance of symbols and montage is at its most poetic and powerful.
Every role is perfectly cast, and the story carries an indescribable
undertow that kicks like a spastic mule in heat. It is the closest that
any filmmaker other than Bunuel has ever come to such daring perfection
of simultaneously primal and sophisticated cinema.
