Blue Velvet

Here is the much-ballyhooed David Lynch psychodrama (which in this case may be interpreted to mean a drama about a bunch of psychos). The fact his, after seeing the picture, it is easy to see why Lynch was nominated for the directing Oscar. It is elegant, evil, and consistently fascinating directing, anrd does as much as anything to create the xmmxa sense of dread we feel while watching it. The film is absolutely claustrophobic; you feel things closing in all around you. Dennis Hopper is more horrifying than any B-movie monster as the chief villain. He is a truly gifted performer; just compare this role to the one in “Hoosiers” and note what a range he has; he is like a different person. The film takes the sunlit, idyllic suburban setting and turns it absolutely on its ear, revedaing the seamy side, and it is worse than we could have imagined. It is true that while watching it--particularly towards the endy-it is not always clear what is going on and who is doing what to whom (the plot after all is a little trickier than it first seems) but maybe that sense of dislocation and disorientation is intended, and actually gives the picture part of its edge. The film is ugly and sordid, and in its own way kind of depraved, but it is consistently fascinating. If Lynch can conthnue to impose more of his underground “Eraserhead” sensibilities on the Hollywood standard, all the better.