This week we take on Blue Velvet, a classic film with a sexy level of mystery.

Blue Velvet, a 1986 film directed by David Lynch, is a mysterious film with a fascinating aesthetic. I will be reviewing this film through the concept of Mise-en-scene mostly.

There was a copious amount of repetition within the movie. Let’s start with the colors: Overall everything was very neutral: grey, brown, white and beige. However, there were two colors that really stuck out: one was red as there were a lot of jarring red objects within the film. The popsicle that the child is eating when Jeffrey’s father gets hurt; the car Jeffrey drives; the dress Dorothy is wearing; in the apartment, the curtains and, most importantly, the red light that crossed Jeffrey’s face when he was in the car with Frank and Dorothy. There was also (unsurprisingly) a lot of blues: the carpet at the apartment; the paint at the diner; the lighting at the bar; the woman’s robe. It’s a very interesting contrast because blue invokes calmness and red invokes passion (according to the psychology of colors) so the film uses these to cause mixed feelings.

Another repetitive aspect of the film were the type of shots. Most of the shots were medium or long shots, so close-ups were always very specific. For example, one of the major close-ups was on the ear, a crucial moment. The next time we see really intense close-ups are when we’re at the bar, and we close-up on Jeffrey’s face as well as the singer’s silhouette, which is another important moment as well as the first real moment where ‘Blue Velvet’ is introduced. Afterwards the close-ups are more fleeting.

The use of shadows also plays a huge role in the Mise-en-scene of the film. Sometimes there is a light cast on the wall or on an object. This cast shadow has bodies blocking out the light. The film uses primarily attached shadows with generally dark lighting. In general, the manipulation of lighting was targeted towards blacks and dark colors. Many times, characters only have their faces illuminated by the light, and the rest of their face or body will be in the shadows. The film also mostly took place at night to add to the creepiness level of the movie.

Now to discuss the interesting use of sex  as Blue Velvet is one of the most intense movies when it comes to sex. There was a lot of broken characters within intense fetishes:  screams of “Mommy”; tons of hitting; crying and knives. People are barely sober and sex is almost always very out there and incredibly cringe worthy. If you can’t handle that kind sex scene this movie may not be the movie for you.

The most appealing aspect of this movie is the mystery. As a viewer, you genuinely want to know the ending. You get clues along the way, and the mystery keeps you interested. I did figure out the ending early on and if you’re good at solving mysteries then you probably will too.

Blue Velvet is sexy and interesting with a lot of really great aspects to it. It’s not my favorite film when it comes to action packed, somewhat mysteries, but if you can’t pick a movie it might be a really good choice for a Saturday night. Just stick to drinking water so that when the excess brains that scatter throughout the movie scare you, your spit take is easily cleaned up.

February 22 is Kyle Maclachlan’s, the star of Blue Velvet’s birthday, so I’ll bump my rating from 3 stars to 3.5 stars as a birthday gift.