Blue Velvet (1986)

It's a strange world, isn't it?

The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.

Directed by: David Lynch

Written by: David Lynch

Music by: Angelo Badalamenti

Starring: Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Hope Lange, Dean Stockwell, George Dickerson, Priscilla Pointer, Frances Bay, Jack Harvey

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime

Released: 1986-09-19

Runtime: 120 minutes

Rate, review and log Blue Velvet on Film Reality, see where to watch it, its soundtrack and what everyone else thought.

Blue Velvet (1986): trivia & fun facts

Fun facts

• Kyle MacLachlan had played the central role in Lynch's critical and commercial failure Dune (1984), a science-fiction epic based on Frank Herbert's novel of the same name.
• Laura Dern, then 18 years old, was cast as Sandy after several already-successful actresses turned the role down, including Molly Ringwald.
• Conditions at this point were ideal for Lynch's film: he had made a deal with Dino De Laurentiis that gave him complete artistic freedom and final cut privileges, with the stipulation that he take a cut in his salary and work with a budget of only $6 million (equivalent to $18,593,850 in 2025).
• The Blue Velvet soundtrack was supervised by Angelo Badalamenti (who makes a brief cameo appearance as the pianist at the Slow Club where Dorothy performs).
• The scene in which Dorothy appears naked outside was inspired by a real-life experience Lynch had during childhood when his brother and he saw a naked woman walking down a neighborhood street at night.
• Lynch worked with composer Angelo Badalamenti for the first time in this film and asked him to write a score that had to be "like Shostakovich, be very Russian, but make it the most beautiful thing but make it dark and a little bit scary."
• During filming, Lynch placed speakers on set and in the streets and played the music of Dmitri Shostakovich to set the mood he wanted to convey.
• Blue Velvet premiered in competition at the Montreal World Film Festival in August 1986, at the Toronto Festival of Festivals on September 12, 1986, and a few days later in the United States.
• Blue Velvet initially received a divided critical response, with many stating that its explicit content served little artistic purpose.
• David Lynch was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for his work on the film.

Source: Wikipedia

Play 10 questions. Test yourself on Blue Velvet and see how everyone else answered.