Blue Velvet in 4K Home Cinema Test: The Violence We Want to See
David Lynch makes the audience an accomplice. The new 4K edition on UHD not only sharpens the image but also the unease.
(Image: De Laurentiis)
- Hartmut Gieselmann
- Timo Wolters
David Lynch is one of the most idiosyncratic and provocative directors in film history. Since the 1980s, he has delved into the subconscious and plumbed the depths of the human soul. Instead of explaining everything in minute detail, he worked with surreal images and dream sequences that intentionally left viewers in the dark. He wanted them to feel his films rather than think about them.
This is rare today. It is all the more pleasing that Plaion has now re-released one of his central works, "Blue Velvet" from 1986, in an elaborate set consisting of an Ultra HD Blu-ray (UHD) and two Blu-ray discs in a mediabook for 40 euros. Just in time for its 40th anniversary, the film is thus available in Germany for the first time in its restored 4K version.
The white picket fence in front of the blue sky with red roses echoes the colors and shape of the US flag. Lumberton could be any small town in the USA.
(Image:Â De Laurentiis)
In this detailed review, we will first discuss the film's historical significance and, from page 4 onwards, the technical features and differences of the new restoration, comparing it with the cheaper versions available on Blu-ray disc and streaming on AppleTV/iTunes. We will show whether UHD and Dolby Vision deliver visibly more than the old Blu-ray. Which audio track comes closest to the creators' intentions, and why the streaming version cannot compete with the new disc edition in terms of both sound and visuals.
We have no intention of spoiling the plot and assume it is known (otherwise, Wikipedia can help). For younger readers who may not yet know David Lynch, let us reveal that a moral rollercoaster awaits them. This, in today's times, where Fifty Shades of Grey is already considered scandalous and blockbusters tell the same old hero and love stories, is probably even more disturbing than it was back then. All the more reason to dive into this bizarre world.
The Surreal Big Bang of the Lynch Universe
When David Lynch, then 39 years old, began shooting Blue Velvet in August 1985, he had just had a painful collision with the blockbuster system of Hollywood studios. He had spent a year and a half in Mexico working for Dino De Laurentiis on the adaptation of Dune. The studio had big plans for Frank Herbert's epic story. It was supposed to repeat the successes of Star Wars, and several sequels and other big-budget productions with Lynch were already contractually agreed upon.
Dorothy makes Frank cry in the nightclub with her interpretation of 'Blue Velvet'. Composer Angelo Badalamenti had to practice carefully with Isabella Rossellini, who was not trained in singing, until she brought the right fragility to Bobby Vinton's 1964 song.
(Image:Â De Laurentiis)
However, the film turned into a disaster. Lynch came from painting and was too much of an artist and visionary to be confined by the studio's narrow specifications and bow to the producers and marketers. The result was a completely cut-up film torso, which consequently flopped at the box office – a stroke of luck for auteur cinema, as it would turn out in retrospect.
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Lynch was back to square one and longed for the days when he made small films like "Eraserhead" and had full artistic control. De Laurentiis proposed a devilish deal: Lynch could make "Blue Velvet" if he and the actors largely waived their fees and he managed with a budget of only 6 million US dollars. He would have full artistic control and a verbal promise of the final cut. Lynch agreed, revised the script, and assembled the eccentric actors and actresses of the time – and those who wanted to become them.
Unions didn't have much say back then: the crew worked 18 to 19 hours a day to exhaustion. But at least Lynch enjoyed filmmaking again and looked forward to every shooting day.
