“… a movie that I haven’t stopped thinking about since I walked out of the theatre, and I doubt it will leave my mind anytime soon.”

I have a confession to make: I have not seen any of David Lynch’s works despite being reminded constantly that he is a genius filmmaker. At least I hadn’t seen any of his films until last night when I decided to attend a screening of one his most popular films, Blue Velvet. What I experienced was not exactly what I expected, but we’ll get into that later. For those who don’t know, Blue Velvet is a movie that follows Jeffery Beaumont, a college student home from school to care for his sick father, who finds a human ear in a field. His curious side takes over and he is thrown into the darkest parts of the world while trying to solve the case of where exactly the ear came from.

David Lynch is known by many to be the “weird director”, and I agree with this sentiment after seeing Blue Velvet. To be completely honest, I was surprised at how normal the film was after having built up a reputation for Lynch’s films without having seen a single one. Don’t get me wrong, Blue Velvet is weird as hell, but the overarching story is rather normal and quite engaging; but it’s the small details that really stick with you after watching it. Watching Blue Velvet, to me, was like watching a horrific car accident. I understood that what I was seeing was something that I could never unsee, but I watched it all the same. I enjoyed most everything about Blue Velvet; the cinematography was beautiful, the acting was phenomenal, the setting was great, the soundtrack was fitting. One thing I particularly enjoyed about the film was the character of Frank. Frank is the “bad guy” in Blue Velvet, so of course he does some pretty fucked up things in the film. That doesn’t stop him from being one of the most compelling characters I have seen in a while. We never really get to see everything about Frank, but we are given hints throughout the film which allude to a very storied past.

The main issue I have with Blue Velvet is the pacing. The film is very much a slow burn, but at times it gets frustrating. Every scene has something to say, so the film isn’t technically wasting your time, but I felt that a lot of what what said could have been said more concisely if that makes sense. I understand that Blue Velvet, like many other films, presents itself like a puzzle of sorts making you work a bit for the information. With that said, I just felt that there were a few too many scenes that had filler (for lack of a better term) surrounding the pertinent information. Blue Velvet is a movie that I haven’t stopped thinking about since I walked out of the theatre, and I doubt it will leave my mind anytime soon.

Ultimately Blue Velvet is the kind of movie that stays with you long after the credits have rolled. It presents extremely dark themes and characters in ways that highlight just how fucked up the world can be.

Giving Blue Velvet a score is not going to be easy because I’m sure that my opinion of the film will evolve with me watching it again (and again, and again, etc.); that being said:

I give Blue Velvet a B