(Originally written February 4, 2007)

What Alfred Hitchcock did with Psycho, David Lynch did with Blue Velvet. This is a masterpiece that defines what it means for a film to be a “pure film.” It’s a work that uses aesthetics to engage the audience, creating the atmosphere of a dark, cruel world. Frank Booth makes Hannibal Lector, who was voted by the AFI to be the greatest screen villain, look like a gentleman. Dennis Hopper plays this character with such savage energy, a character with absolutely no redeeming qualities. He’s a foul-mouthed character who struggles with sexual frustration and a thirst for blood. This is a classic loss of innocence tale in which Jeffrey Beaumont steps into a world buried under the polished façade of everyday life. The film begins this journey by entering into the severed ear Beaumont finds in the fields. This film is perverse, cold, and difficult to completely grasp on the first viewing. It’s a film that, unlike most Hollywood productions, does not show a hackneyed triumph of good over evil. It’s an investigation of the scary truth that the world of Jeffrey Beaumont and that of Frank Booth necessarily coexist. Perhaps the most authentic line of the film is when Booth gazes at Beaumont and suggests, “You’re like me.” They are two sides of the same coin. Beaumont, by delving into this strange mystery, experiences a sexual awakening with his eyes opened to new, disgusting sights. The way in which music is used is fantastic. The way in which David Lynch is able to exploit the haunting atmosphere of songs such as “Blue Velvet” and “In Dreams” shows he understands the implications of the tone of the music. Evil does not impress itself upon the good world in this film, but, rather, good inevitably finds itself attracted to evil. The beautiful, clean-cut Sandy Williams is the one who inspires Beaumont to investigate the situation. This film requires more than one viewing to completely digest, but it stands as one of the great modern works of cinema.