Blue Velvet - the original seed of Twin Peaks?

Discussion of Blue Velvet

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coolspringsj
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Blue Velvet - the original seed of Twin Peaks?

Post by coolspringsj »

I haven't seen it in a long time, but it is my favorite Lynch movie along with Mullholland Drive besides the whole Twin Peaks saga. There are eerie similarities between BV and Twin Peaks. Was Blue Velvet Lynch's original experimental idea and he fell in love with this small town with secrets so much he enhanced it further by making a similar TV show in TP? Also, what are the similarities between BV and TP according to fans?
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garethw
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Re: Blue Velvet - the original seed of Twin Peaks?

Post by garethw »

coolspringsj wrote:I haven't seen it in a long time, but it is my favorite Lynch movie along with Mullholland Drive besides the whole Twin Peaks saga. There are eerie similarities between BV and Twin Peaks. Was Blue Velvet Lynch's original experimental idea and he fell in love with this small town with secrets so much he enhanced it further by making a similar TV show in TP? Also, what are the similarities between BV and TP according to fans?
Old thread, I guess, but I think we have similar taste, collspringsj!

I can't find the quote at the moment, but I'm fairly certain I've heard or read Lynch saying, "The trick is to keep making the same film."

There are so many parallels between the two films - the logging town setting, that weird anachronistic 50s look - but to me the real thematic connection between the two pieces is Jeffrey Beaumont's question, "Why are there people like Frank?", which I think is eventually answered, somewhat in TP. There seems to me a lot of evidence that Frank was abused as a child, possibly by his father. In my mind that ties to Leland's story, and whatever it was that happened to him "up at Pearl Lakes" when he was a boy. There are allusions to child abuse in just about everything he has ever filmed, dating all the way back to "The Grandmother", and in BV and TP, he's talking a lot about the effect that traumatic childhood experience has on the adult - a cycle of abuse and violence. In my mind, I see MD as a further examination of that, maybe from a different angle, so in a way, the three form a sort of loose trilogy.
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Black Rose
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Re: Blue Velvet - the original seed of Twin Peaks?

Post by Black Rose »

In addition to what garethw is saying, there seems to be a strong shared theme of the virgin/whore.

I would love to see a feminist reading of Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, or any of Lynch's works sometime, but it seems like he's always got the innocent virgin and the dangerous femme fatale, and he loves to play them off each other.

I think we all know what's up. Audrey/Donna, Audrey/Annie, Donna/Maddy, Laura/Maddy, Laura/Audrey, Laura/ Josie, Laura/Shelly, Laura/Laura, Sandy/Dorothy, Betty/Rita, Betty/Blonde Camilla, Camilla/Diane, and on and on and on....

I mean, I hate Annie along with the rest of us, but I think it's telling that Audrey was literally in a whorehouse and Annie was literally a nun.
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Re: Blue Velvet - the original seed of Twin Peaks?

Post by garethw »

Interesting that in the new clips Dugpa just posted, it seems that maybe Lumberton is the place that cakes go when they die...

Yet another thematic connection!
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Re: Blue Velvet - the original seed of Twin Peaks?

Post by perno »

In fact, there are so many parallels between all the "dreamy" films of Lynch (it excepts Elephant Man, Dune and Straight Story of course) that it would be easier to search for the real differences between them rather than parallels. :)
Although each one is unique and magic.

And even for the three films mentionned above... I've recently seen Elephant Man's end (I hadn't seen it for many many years...) and the parallel with FWWM's end is evident !

About the inital topic : I think BV is the first go of TP. Mulholland Drive beeing the "final" TP version and Lost Highway being half-way between TP and MD.
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iar
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Re: Blue Velvet - the original seed of Twin Peaks?

Post by iar »

Black Rose wrote:In addition to what garethw is saying, there seems to be a strong shared theme of the virgin/whore.

I would love to see a feminist reading of Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, or any of Lynch's works sometime, but it seems like he's always got the innocent virgin and the dangerous femme fatale, and he loves to play them off each other.

I think we all know what's up. Audrey/Donna, Audrey/Annie, Donna/Maddy, Laura/Maddy, Laura/Audrey, Laura/ Josie, Laura/Shelly, Laura/Laura, Sandy/Dorothy, Betty/Rita, Betty/Blonde Camilla, Camilla/Diane, and on and on and on....

I mean, I hate Annie along with the rest of us, but I think it's telling that Audrey was literally in a whorehouse and Annie was literally a nun.
I would love to write this someday soon. It's been in my mind for some time, ever since hearing someone remark that Lynch's films are misogynistic. I don't happen to think that it's quite that simple. You're right that the virgin/whore dichotomy is extremely strong in Lynch's work, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he passively reproduces it. I wonder if there is a case to be made that he deconstructs this aged-old duality of woman. (I don't know this, I'm just wondering.) In many ways I think it would be interesting to also link back to surrealist conceptions of women, because as much as Lynch denies external influences there is a strong case to be made for Lynch as a post-surrealist.

Anyway, perhaps after I have finished my thesis I could get around to this.. on a film by film basis at first.
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Re: Blue Velvet - the original seed of Twin Peaks?

Post by TheAlien »

I thought the same thing when I first saw Blue Velvet, it's a fascinating topic to think about :o
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Re: Blue Velvet - the original seed of Twin Peaks?

Post by Gabriel »

Yes, the Madonna and Whore is an age-old film trope and we know Lynch loves his films noirs! ;)

I remember reading, many many years ago, a remark that Twin Peaks was intended to be very much 'Blue Velvet: The TV Series' and the casting of Kyle McLachlan in TP was effectively to show that this is who Jeffery becomes when grows up. It's too long ago to be able to say where I read it – sometime at the earlier end of the last 25 years and probably pre-easy access to the internet – but I know that I did read it.
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Re: Blue Velvet - the original seed of Twin Peaks?

Post by bluefrank »

The "ear" from Blue Velvet was actually used in the Twin Peaks pilot. It's at the centre of the pile of dirt (with the circle of candles). This pile of dirt/ear was shown at the start of Cooper's dream - and Cooper's dream ends with Laura whispering in his ear. Blue "In Dreams" Velvet. :)
Twin Peaks pilot filming: Suddenly, Lynch exclaims, "I know what we need"! Lynch then proceeds to carefully pull from his pocket, the prop severed ear from Blue Velvet. The ear was apparently in his pocket the entire time. With no explanation as to it's meaning or significance, Lynch very carefully partially submerges the ear into the center of the pile of dirt and the closeup is filmed.
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