Ratings based on a five-star system.
Five — Excellent; One — Pathetic.
—
_
vie Review
"Blue Velvet"
Directed by David Lynch
Starring Kyle MacLach-
lan, Isabella Rossellina,
Laura Dern and Dennis
Hopper
★★★★★
Russian film pioneer
Sergi Eisenstein believed
the best films were those
that hit the viewer over
the head with the images
of the film. Director David
Lynch uses Eisenstein’s
“Kino-fist” theory to great
effect, except he aims for
the stomach instead of the
head.
Lynch’s first film, “Era-
serhead,” was a total as
sault on the senses. “Era-
serhead” was a stark,
nightmarish film that ef
fectively put the audience
on the edge of, and in
some cases behind, their
seats. To this day, I get
chills when someone
mentions the “E” word.
Next came “The El
ephant Man,” a stylistic
and compassionate por
trait of the deformed John
Merrick and his struggle to
find a place in Victorian
England. Then Lynch
made his first film in color,
an adaptation of Frank
Herbert’s science fiction
epic, “Dune.” “Dune”
looked fantastic but the
acting was too melodra
matic and the storyline
: tivemusic*more!
^Kathy and the
Kilowatts
Pavlov's Band
Mon Nite
Football
Happy Hour Prices
Battle of the
Bands-Part 1
I Jus'Wanna Qancet
4410 College Main
: Bryan,1*: 77801;
o 46'1812 •
was incomprehensibly
muddled to those who
were not familiar with
Herbert’s novel. It’s worth
the effort to rent “Dune”
on videotape and watch it
with the sound turned
down so you can concen
trate on the images of the
film.
“Blue Velvet,” Lynch’s
newest film, is not your
run-of-the-mill Hollywood
production. It begins with
nice images of small town
life — a white picket
fence, a rose garden, a
dog playing in a yard, a
friendly fireman waving as
he passes by and a man
watering his flowers. We
soon leam that everything
is not well in this little
town when the man has a
stroke and the camera
zooms into the ground to
show us an extreme close-
up of insects crawling over
each other.
Then, Jeffery Beau
mont (Kyle MacLachlan)
finds a human ear in a
field near his house. After
he takes the ear to the po
lice, he learns through
Sandy Williams (Laura
Dern), a detective’s
daughter, that the police
think a nightclub singer is
somehow involved with
the ear.
Beaumont and Wil
liams begin to do a little
detective work on their
own and spy on the
singer, Dorothy Vallens
(Isabella Rossellina).
Beaumont hides in Val
lens’ apartment one night
and leams she is being
blackmailed by the evil
Frank Booth (Dennis
Hopper). Booth, who is
holding her husband and
son hostage, forces Val
lens to participate in sadis
tic sex.
In the course of the
film, Beaumont falls in
love with Vallens and
dedicates himself to help
ing her out of the horrible
situation she’s trapped in.
Love also begins to bloom
between Beaumont and
William, who represents a
more pure form of the
emotion. Beaumont also
becomes terribly involved
in the evil and perverted
world of Booth. Booth
has to be one of the most
horrible villains ever to
darken the screen.
MacLachlan, who
played Paul in “Dune,”
portrays Beaumont with a
great deal of complexity.
He seems to be an inno
cent, clean-cut kid, but he
displays slightly sadistic
tendencies when he
makes love to Vallens.
Dem seems to be the per
fect image of the nice girl
next door in her role as
Sandy Williams. Daughter
of actor Bruce Dem, she
asserted herself in her
own right nicely in “Blue
Velvet,” just as she did in
“Mask” last year. Hopper,
best known for his role as
Peter Fonda’s motorcycle
buddy in “Easy Rider,”
which he also directed, is
fantastic as pure evil incar
nate. Hopper does a good
job in his role as a sex per
vert, drug dealer, mur
derer and weirdo.
“Blue Velvet” is a fan
tastic and intense film.
There are images in this
movie that are remi
niscent of the films of Luis
Bunuel and the paintings
of Salvador Dali. The nice
small town images be
come twisted into a sur
realistic nightmare.
You should make the
effort to see “Blue Vel
vet.” It probably won’t
win anything so trite as an
Oscar, but it is one of the
best films to come out of
this decade.
It’s possible that “Blue
Velvet” might make it
back into town one of
these days. If not, take a
road trip to Houston. It’s
well worth the time.
David Lynch has the
most distinctive style of
any American director
working today, and he
proves it again here. “B-
lue Velvet” is not for the
faint of heart, but it shows
how effective a film can
be if made properly.
— Review by
Karl Pallmeyer
Auto Service
“Auto Repair At Its Best”
General Repairs
on Most Cars & Light Trucks
Domestic & Foreign
OPENMON-FRI 7:30-5:30
ONE DAY SERVICE IN MOST CASES
846-5344
Just one mile north of A&M
On the Shuttle Bus Route
111 Royal, Bryan
Across S. College From Tom’s B-B-Q
Illusion and reality violently clash in the stunning suspense Aussie actor Bryan Brown (Breaker Morant) is special effects
wizard Rollie Tyler. The Justice Department has asked Tyler to make an underworld witness “disappear.” To make the disappear
ance complete, the government wants Tyler to stage a fake assassination. When murder with special effects becomes real,
Tyler needs every trick from every movie he’s ever made just to get out alivelThe startling special effects will keep you in constant suspense.]
5