Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
vs
Melvin and Howard (Jonathon Demme, 1980)
Blue VelvetI had never seen
Blue Velvet, but I had heard a lot about it, and I had seen some of the key scenes before. As I watch more and more Lynch, I must say, nobody does creepy like David Lynch. This film starts of by showing you idyllic suburban scenes. The flowers and white picket fences, the fire truck (complete with dalmatian), and the gentleman leisurely mowing his lawn. But wait, that man is having a heart attack, now let's pan slowly across the scene and zoom in on the ground, now under the grass where bugs are devouring who knows what. Ah, there we are. Now I am watching a Lynch film.
I don't want to say too much about the plot, as to not spoil things, but briefly, Kyle Maclachlan (son of the man who had a heart attack) is home visiting his father. When walking home from the hospital he comes across a severed human ear. He brings it to a family friend who is a detective. The detective's daughter, played by Laura Dern, gives Machlachlan some information about a woman (Isabella Rosselini) who she has overheard her father talking about, thinking she may be involved with the ear somehow. Machlachlan decides to do some investigating on his own, and soon becomes involved with this woman, and many other characters, including Frank Booth, played by Dennis Hopper. I can't write this verdict without mentioning Hopper's performance. It is immensely creepy, scary, manic, brutal, and funny all at the same time. This is what Frank Booth thinks about Jeffrey's (Maclachlan) choice of beer."Heineken! F*ck that! Pabst! Blue! Ribbon!"
This film has quite a few disturbing scenes. The sex scenes are brutal and creepy. This film has gotten some heat for being misogynistic (most notably by Roger Ebert), and I can see why one can get that impression, but it didn't necessarily seem that way to me. However, it is hard for me to watch when a woman is being brutalized on screen, and there were multiple scenes in this film that hit me on a visceral level.
As far as Lynch films are concerned, this story is pretty straightforward. I don't what I was expecting, but I went in thinking I was going to have to put all the pieces together, but it was pretty much all on the screen for me. You don't really get a back story, but that is about the only piece missing. This isn't a flaw, I liked being thrown into the situation, without knowing why things were the way they were. The more Lynch films I watch, the more he seems to surprise me. (faceboy dictated me Eraserhead, which I plan on watching soon, I can't wait to see what that is about)
Melvin and Howard *mild spoilers*Melvin and Howard is based on a true story about a man who, while driving through the Nevada desert, gave a ride to a man who may or may not have been Howard Hughes. Melvin is a down on his luck miner/milk man/gas station attendant, who can never seem to get ahead. His car is constantly being repossessed, he is getting docked pay at his work, and his wife just left him. He gets the wife back, but as soon as it looks like they might make it, he blows what little money they have on a new car and boat. The wife leaves again. I don't want to say anything e :)lse, but the Hughes storyline does pop up again.
Melvin and Howard reminded me a lot of other films of the early 80s, films like
Terms of Endearment and
Tender Mercies. It has a slow lyrical quality to it, and a pleasant score. Whenever I see films from this era it makes me smile because of the clothing and the furniture and the hairstyles always remind me of my childhood. I think that the real heart of the film is not Melvin, but his wife, played by Mary Steenburgen. She really is lovely in this film, and when she isn't on screen, the film wanes a bit for me. I think that is where the main problem of the film was for me, I just wasn't sympathetic towards the character of Melvin. He kept doing things that sabotaged his family's financial security, and making silly decisions. He seemed to be a bit selfish and put himself in front of his family, and I found little sympathy towards him. Ultimately, I think this film is pleasant and sweet and definitely captures a piece of time that is very special to me.
Verdict: Like I just mentioned,
Melvin and Howard is pleasant, and if you got a spare 90 minutes, it is worth checking out, but
Blue Velvet hit me on gut level, and I know I will be thinking about it for some time.
Blue Velvet moves on.
Next matchup please...
