Blue Velvet
1 Oscar Nominations·BFI #84·National Film Registry
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
What critics thought
Blue Velvet landed like a grenade on American critics in 1986, generating a polarized response that has since settled into something closer to consensus masterpiece status — though never fully. The central fault line was whether Lynch's suburban surrealism and the film's extreme sexual violence served genuine artistic ends or amounted to self-indulgent provocation at Isabella Rossellini's expense. Time has largely vindicated Lynch's defenders, but the most serious objections — particularly around the ethics of what the film asks of its actress — never fully dissolved.
“the most brilliantly disturbing film ever to have its roots in small-town American life”
Sheila Benson·Los Angeles Times
“Lynch isn't interested in communicating, he's interested in parading his personality. The movie doesn't progress or deepen, it just gets weirder, and to no good end.”
Paul Attanasio·The Washington Post
“Mr. Hopper and Miss Rossellini are so far outside the bounds of ordinary acting here that their performances are best understood in terms of sheer lack of inhibition; both give themselves entirely over to the material, which seems to be exactly what's called for.”
Janet Maslin·The New York Times
“The film is wearing well and has attained a classic status without becoming respectable or losing its sense of danger.”
Philip French·The Guardian
Genres
Crime, Drama, Mystery
Cast & Crew
DirectorDavid Lynch
StarringIsabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Hope Lange
ComposerAngelo Badalamenti
Blue Velvet
1 Oscar Nominations·BFI #84·National Film Registry
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
What critics thought
Blue Velvet landed like a grenade on American critics in 1986, generating a polarized response that has since settled into something closer to consensus masterpiece status — though never fully. The central fault line was whether Lynch's suburban surrealism and the film's extreme sexual violence served genuine artistic ends or amounted to self-indulgent provocation at Isabella Rossellini's expense. Time has largely vindicated Lynch's defenders, but the most serious objections — particularly around the ethics of what the film asks of its actress — never fully dissolved.
“the most brilliantly disturbing film ever to have its roots in small-town American life”
Sheila Benson·Los Angeles Times
“Lynch isn't interested in communicating, he's interested in parading his personality. The movie doesn't progress or deepen, it just gets weirder, and to no good end.”
Paul Attanasio·The Washington Post
“Mr. Hopper and Miss Rossellini are so far outside the bounds of ordinary acting here that their performances are best understood in terms of sheer lack of inhibition; both give themselves entirely over to the material, which seems to be exactly what's called for.”
Janet Maslin·The New York Times
“The film is wearing well and has attained a classic status without becoming respectable or losing its sense of danger.”
Philip French·The Guardian
Genres
Crime, Drama, Mystery
Cast & Crew
DirectorDavid Lynch
StarringIsabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Hope Lange
ComposerAngelo Badalamenti