Pacing problems

I’m a huge Lynch fan and watch many of his films on repeat, especially the later ones.

Blue Velvet is a weird one for me. I love the opening mystery, the tone, the characters… but once the plot gets going it loses me somewhat, and I think it’s because the film was cut down from 4 to 2 hours.

As a result, things move too quickly, and there are jumps in time that feel jarring. Jeffrey visits Dorothy for, presumably, sex… then they’re suddenly at her club with Dorothy singing while Jeffrey waits outside in his car 🤷🏻‍♂️

Jeffrey regailing what he discovered to Sandy with cutaways isn’t as interesting as us following Jeffrey and staying with him as he solves the mystery. Show don’t tell. It feels like Lynch had to compress the storytelling to fit everything into his contractually obligated 2 hour max final cut.

Lynch is at his best when scenes can breathe and he can take us deeper deeper DEEPER into the textures of the world. The first half of Lost Highway is a perfect example.

Also, I find the twisted sexual violence just… nasty. Lynch’s later films are dark as hell but they’re seductive. BV rubs your nose in really really fucked up content. I wouldn’t change a frame, but it’s just not as much of a pleasurable experience.

Added to this, I find myself detaching from our protagonist when he starts fucking a woman who he has just witnessed being beaten about the face and raped. This poor woman endured constant violent sexual abuse and Jeffrey starts ‘dating’ her… and eventually gives her a beating of his own. During this whole stretch of the film I’m completely disengaged from our ‘hero’.

As a result, I see BV as an interesting stepping stone for an artist on his way to greatness, but not quite there yet.