Today is the thirty-first anniversary of the Twin Peaks pilot, when David Lynch changed television forever in the form of a surreal mystery set in a small town. Four years before that, however, he'd told a similar story in cinematic form with Blue Velvet. I will be comparing those two works on a Patreon podcast which should be available in the next day or two - but first, for this public podcast I wanted to share a discussion I recorded three years ago; consider these "part one" and "part two," especially as this episode ends with a few thoughts on how Velvet relates to the The Return via the presence of Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern. I also cover the film's stylistic and tonal relationship to other Lynch films, some of the deleted scenes, the influence of Lynch's upbringing in different types of areas, the suburban vs. urban feel of the setting, the effect of perspective on an amoral (not just immoral) milieu, the legacy of the sixties onscreen and offscreen, and more outlandish theories - mine and others' - about what's "really" going on. Links to my previous work on the film are included below, and I'll be reading (or sampling) from them on the patron podcast too, as part of my archive section - in addition to a special section of my "Twin Peaks Reflections" in which I specifically relate the "Jean Renault's drug scheme" storyline from season two to Blue Velvet. If you're interested in becoming a patron but haven't taken the jump yet, this month is the perfect time, not only for the extension of this podcast but because I will be releasing a Straight Story patron episode in April as well.
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The follow-up to this podcast - patron coverage of Blue Velvet as "Twin Peaks Cinema" - is now available HERE.
LINKS FOR EPISODE 19
MY PREVIOUS WORK ON THIS FILM
Take This Baby and Deliver it to Death (non-narrated video essay focused on how Lynch's early films - including Blue Velvet - depict violence and assign the roles of abuser, victim, and rescuer)
Journey Through Twin Peaks chapter 27: Opening the Door (video essay exploring how Twin Peaks represents a shift in Lynch's work and how it affected his later films, includes one clip from Blue Velvet) - see still images here
Blue Velvet & The Duchess of Langeais (reviewing a double feature from the David Lynch/Jacques Rivette retrospective at Lincoln Center)
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MY RECENT WORK
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