Although slighly late and slightly early - Lynch was 65 on January 20th and Blue Velvet celebrates its 25th birthday later this year, no blog devoted to film-making and great movies could ignore two such significant landmarks.
Blue Velvet was, and is, one of the great films. It continues to appall, infuriate, mesmerise and reduce to helpless laughter - even after numerous viewings, even after the pause and slow motion buttons have broken after over repeated use.
It's magic. And, a quarter of a century later, still is.
David Lynch is completely unique amongst American film-makers. He shares some sensibilities with contemporary Hollywood but his remains a uniquely personal vision and voice. And that's what makes his work so compelling, so eminently watchable. So Lynchian.
The anniversary re-issue of Blue Velvet, it is rumoured, will contain some scenes that producer Dino de Laurentiis considered not integral to the film - Lynch's understandable acquiescence meant that these scenes have earned semi-legendary status among fans of the movie; it will be interesting to see these scenes in context, and to see how they impact on the narrative as a whole.
If you haven't seen the film, JG Ballard's one line description of it cannot be bettered...
Happy belated birthday, David.
'Dumbland'
'Blue Velvet'
'Straight Story'
'Good day today'
“like The Wizard of Oz reshot with a script by Franz Kafka and décor by Francis Bacon.”
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