Blue Velvet

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

In class we viewed Blue Velvet, a 1986 mystery/horror film written and directed by David Lynch. It stars Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini, and Laura Dern. It earned David Lynch his second Oscar nomination for Best Director. The movie was Lynch;s idea since 1973 but no studio wanted it due to the strong violent content and sexual content. In the mid 80's, a independent studio named De Laurentiis Entertainment Group agreed to finance and produce the film. Even though the film has been a cult classic, when it first come at it was not successful. After 6 million dollars budget, it just broke even with bringing in 9 million dollars. It also was mixed with my high power critics. Some claiming it was amazing done by director Lynch but disinterested the overall movie, characters and plot. 

2) Find a related article (on the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) and summarize the content. 

I received my article from movie phone and its called the 25 things you didn't know about Blue Velvet. The first fun facy is that Lynch and Rossellini became a couple and lived together for five years before splitting. Also,Rossellini performance earned her a lot of negative backlash. From film producer like de laurentiis. He was mostly embarrassed for her parents, director Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman. Even her agents drop her due to her in this movie. The film itself was originally 4 hours long and Lynch had to cut it down. Releasing the bonus footage in 2011. One final fact is that neither Laura Dern and Isabella Rossellini were the first sought out to be given these roles. The role Sandy was look at for 80's star Molly Ringwald but her mother found the film to offensive and the role was given to Laura Dern. For the role of Dorothy, Helen Mirren was pictured for role and even helped out with the script before backing out of the role. 

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. 

The article really gave us a inside look into the production of Blue Velvet. Again, I feel that most important role in film making is the casting director because he or she needs to make sure the actors on the screen can tell a story with their chemistry even if their don't know each other or even like each other. Also you get a insider look in the world of the mind of David Lynch. You see that David Lynch had a lot of pride in this movie. This right around the blockbuster age, he out a lot of faith of the film that could. I feel that Laura Dern was the right fitted for this role since she was bit unknown and if Molly Ringwald had done it, I feel many people would of have compare her to Claire from her prior film The Breakfast Club. It could of really destroyed her career. She was known for her roles in the teen movies, not a movie like Blue Velvet. The same with Helen Mirren. Helen Mirren probably wouldn't have received the 4 Oscars nominations she has today if she went forward with the making of Blue Velvet. 

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

I'm not going to lie, I really wasn't into this movie at all. For a movie has to grab me in, and keep me in. This movie took 45 years to get me into it, lost me in a cornfield, had me again, lost it when the credits rolled. The scene that lost me was the ear in the field scene. It was not given any kind of context. Like why did Jeffery care such much about this single ear. It was very confusing because the characters were not given anytime of time of discussion or back story going into the first 30 minutes of the movie. Plus, the reveal of Dorothy wasn't what I hoped for. She was the MVP of the movie since she is all over the posters for the film. Laura Dern was one the best parts of the movie but after the scene in her house with her mother (the picture below) I couldn't stop laughing because I just kept seeing her face and her crying, which to me was the best part of the film. She had no idea what was going on. Overall, the film had its part of greatness... the ending. The last 20 minutes really saved the movie for me. It moved out of my never watched list to the I rather watch something else but if there is nothing than we can watch it list. 

      

http://news.moviefone.com/2011/11/08/25-things-you-didnt-know-about-blue-velvet/

 CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM

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 Name: _Antonio Amorim______ Date: ________2/11/2015 _________