BLUE VELVET Review On "Violent Maniac's Cage"

BLUE VELVET

(1986, USA)

DIRECTED BY: David Lynch.

The master of visual weirdness himself David Lynch (big hair and all) both furniture designer and painter delivers another urban tale of intrigue. This time we have Kyle Machlan who also made regular appearances on Twin Peaks. He plays a young man returning to his home town. Machlan's father had a stroke and Machlan is here to run his pop's hardware store. The movie goes pretty smoothly (unless you count the bizarre but cool opening with its symbolism of life and death) until Machlan picks up a human ear in the field by his house.

Machlan then meets a young Laura Dern and they eventually get romantically involved. Machlan with help from Dern (her father is a police detective) learns that a singer in an apartment near by is the source of his investigation. He meets the singer (Isabella Rossellini) and a strange relationship occurs. Machlan then becomes tied up with a strange individual played by Dennis Hopper in one of his best screwed up roles ever "lets fuck everything that movies!". Rossellini has something to do with Hopper as he as well as her are mentally unbalanced.

Anyway I'll just say that some strange stuff happens and the plot is unfolded but it is muddled in a couple of places. Hopper and Machlan have a little interesting exchange of words; Hopper: "what kind of beer do you like?" Machlan: "Heinicken" Hopper: "fuck that shit, bapst, blue, ribbon!". Trust me you have to be a Lynch die hard to love this but it is one of his more straightforward films and less on the land of people who experiment with hallucinogens. There are however some really disturbed and deranged moments so take warning. Hopper steals the whole movie. Make sure to check out the blind black guy who guesses how many fingers Machlan holds up. Can you figure out how he does it? Some real cornball lines as well between Dern and Machlan like "I think your a neat girl" "I think your a neat girl too...I mean guy". Interesting to say the least.

Rating: 3 Skulls

Review by: Richard J. Taylor

Email: rtaylor@roadrunner.nf.net

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