After his first big-budget studio movie, Dune, bombed with both critics and audiences, David Lynch returned to his familiar filmmaking style and salvaged his directorial career with 1986’s Blue Velvet. While Dune had taken Lynch deep into a fictional galaxy, Blue Velvet saw a return to his uniquely surreal take on ‘50s Americana.
From disturbing imagery to a musical score by Angelo Badalamenti to an exploration of the dark side of the suburbs, Blue Velvet exhibits many of the stylistic trademarks of Lynch’s filmmaking. There are plenty of strong competitors, but Blue Velvet is arguably the quintessential David Lynch film.
Disturbing Imagery
The most recognizable trait of Lynch’s filmmaking is his use of disturbing imagery. From the alien-like baby in Eraserhead to the Winkie’s nightmare sequence in Mulholland Drive to every Twin Peaks sequence set in the Red Room, Lynch has an uncanny ability to come up with a uniquely terrifying vision and then realize that vision on-screen.
For Blue Velvet, Lynch brought some of his most haunting images to life. From Jeffrey’s breakdown to the Yellow Man’s gaping head wound to Frank attacking Dorothy in her apartment while Jeffrey watches from the wardrobe, Blue Velvet is full of horrifying cinematic compositions.
Sadistic Villain
Frank Booth from Blue Velvet is one of the most memorable villains in movie history. Lynch characterized Frank as the most horrible human being imaginable, and Dennis Hopper knocked the role out of the park with a darkly comedic yet truly unsettling performance.
Frank is just one of many sadistic villains featured in Lynch’s works. Killer Bob from Twin Peaks, Bobby Peru from Wild at Heart, and Mr. Bytes from The Elephant Man are all just as hateable.
Music By Angelo Badalamenti
Angelo Badalamenti is one of the most prolific film and TV composers of all time. He’s received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Soundtrack Awards and the Henry Mancini Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.
He also won a Grammy Award for his theme from Twin Peaks, one of many collaborations with David Lynch. Lynch also tapped Badalamenti to compose the scores for such films as Blue Velvet, The Straight Story, and Mulholland Drive.
The Dark Side Of Suburbia
From the dysfunctional family life of Eraserhead to the surreal small-town antics of Twin Peaks, Lynch loves to explore the dark side of suburbia. The suburbs are supposed to be a safe, tranquil place to live, but Lynch’s creepy visuals posit that nowhere is truly safe or tranquil.
Lynch explores this concept in more depth in Blue Velvet than in any of his other movies. Jeffrey finds a severed ear in the middle of a quaint, innocuous neighborhood. The opening sequence shows swarming insects festering in the dirt beneath an idyllic suburban flowerbed.
1950s American Culture (In A Contemporary Setting)
Lynch tends to set his movies in the present day, but his visuals evoke the cultural motifs of the 1950s. In Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, and Lost Highway in particular, Lynch draws from the nostalgic imagery of ‘50s-era Americana.
This can be seen in the greasers in Wild at Heart and the white picket fences around Jeffrey’s hometown in Blue Velvet. Despite their contemporary setting, these movies feel stuck in a simpler past.
Diegetic Music In The Dreamscape
Lynch often features dream sequences in his movies, and those dream sequences can be spotted when diegetic music (music that the characters can hear) is playing in a scene. Some of the most memorable musical moments from Lynch’s career have involved diegetic music playing in the dreamscape.
In a dream sequence in Eraserhead, the Lady in the Radiator sings “In Heaven.” In a dream sequence in the second episode of Twin Peaks, diegetic music carries the audience back into the waking world. In a dream sequence in Blue Velvet, Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams” can be heard (appropriately).
Kyle MacLachlan
Like many auteurs, from Wes Anderson to Quentin Tarantino to Martin Scorsese, David Lynch has a recurring company of actors that he regularly recruits to appear in his films. Like all those other filmmakers, when he works with an actor he likes, Lynch usually brings them back for subsequent projects. These actors include Laura Dern, Jack Nance, Isabella Rossellini, Harry Dean Stanton, and Naomi Watts.
One of Lynch’s go-to leading men is Kyle MacLachlan, the quintessential everyman who brings a relatable hook to even Lynch’s most bizarre stories. MacLachlan played Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks, Paul Atreides in Dune, and Jeffrey Beaumont in Blue Velvet.
Ambiguous Meaning
Like most of Lynch’s other films, Blue Velvet ends on an ambiguous note. Lynch refuses to explain the meaning behind his movies and instead implores the audience to find their own meaning in each one. The stories and symbols in Blue Velvet have been interpreted in all kinds of different ways by scholars and critics over the years.
In an essay subtitled “Oedipus and Blue Velvet,” feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey argued that the movie is about the Oedipal family unit, with Jeffrey taking the place of “the child” and Frank and Dorothy taking the place of the “parents.”
