Mysteries of Love

I love Blue Velvet. It's one of the greatest films of the 1980s. I watch it endlessly, trying to make sense of the great Lynchian moments. I got an advance copy of the new DVD with this documentary on it and am unfortunately still perplexed. There are current but not especially informative interviews with most of the cast but David Lynch only shows up in archival footage. What a pity. Sad to say that this doesn't shed much light on solving the mystery of David Lynch's best film and will probably serve as the last word on the film. Rather lackluster.

We start off with a great interview with Kyle MacLachlan explaining how he did not know Lynch's work but found him "friendly" and "available". In fact, the documentary is just full of great interviews with all the key cast. And we learn the importance of Bob's Big Boy.

Dennis Hopper informs us that "I am Frank Booth", Laura Dern and Isabella Rosselini add their input. We get some classic clips of reviews, and Siskel trumps Ebert on this one -- I hope Ebert later realized he misjudged the film. And it was awesome how the producer had to start his own distribution company to get it released.

I know others have criticized the lack of Lynch in this, but I would say the archive footage says as much or more as he would twenty years later. What would have changed? Not much.

Mysteries of Love (2002)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern and producer Fred Caruso are all interviewed for this 68-minute documentary that takes a look at David Lynch's BLUE VELVET. The documentary is broken into eight different parts that each take a look at a different part of the production. This includes Lynch, in an archival interview from 1987, talking about how he came up with the ideas for the movie and how it was really bits and pieces that he just threw together. The casting is another major section as each of the actors talk about how they got their roles and it was usually just by Lynch enjoying them as it appears none of them really had to audition. From here we get to see how the sets were designed, what type of look the director wanted for the picture and we even have Hopper talking about his infamous scenes with the gas. Rossellini even tells some wonderful stories about some of her problems with the nudity and how she eventually got over it. Other stories told include a funny one about dust bunnies and we hear about the rights issues for the Blue Velvet song. Finally, the cast talk about the film's original release and how it has held up over time. Fans of the cult film are really going to enjoy this look back at its making as everyone involved tells some pretty interesting stories. What I enjoyed most is how bizarre the film tells the story because it's just as strange as the film itself. Lynch is painted as a mad genius and you really get that feeling by hearing these stories and wondering about some of the items that didn't make it into the movie. It's too bad Lynch refused to be interviewed for the documentary but the archival ones still allow us to get some interesting thoughts from him. For the most part this is just a talking heads documentary but there are a few clips from behind the scenes stuff and we even get to see the now famous review from Siskel and Ebert.

Schwarz's "Mysteries of Love" is a wonderful reminiscence by the cast and film-makers of the landmark movie "Blue Velvet". Lynch does not participate in the new footage, but is more than adequately represented by clips from interviews from the time of the film's release. In contrast to most DVD-extras (wherein the cast and producers lavish obviously forced or perfunctory praise on the director or their co-workers) these participants seem genuine in their appreciation of Lynch and his work, and offer hype-free insights into the production process and into Lynch's direction. Blue Velvet is an "important film" and is well-represented by this set of interviews.

I'm sorry but I didn't like this doc very much. I can think of a million ways it could have been better. The people who made it obviously don't have much imagination. The interviews aren't very interesting and no real insight is offered. The footage isn't assembled in a very informative way, either. It's too bad because this is a movie that really deserves spellbinding special features. One thing I'll say is that Isabella Rosselini gets more beautiful the older she gets. All considered, this only gets a '4.'