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.

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.

Very few documentaries come close to capturing the true feel of the film. Mysteries of Love is one of them.

You can tell by watching this documentary that the director is a fan of Lynch. The documentary has lots of great archive footage as well as new recent interviews. One of the highlights is a piece of archive footage of Angelo Badalamenti teaching Isabella Rosselini how to sing "Blue Velvet".

I am eager to see what Jeffrey Schwarz comes up with next, and hope he will be given a crack at doing a proper Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me documentary.

Excellently made documentary on the classic 1986 thriller,Blue Velvet. Featuring cast interviews from Kyle MacLachlin, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper and Laura Dern, as well as producers etc. Its just a shame, and probably the only detractor, that the director behind this gem, David Lynch, didn't participate in the new documentary. Instead, they show archive footage of older interviews on the film.

The documentary analyzes the impact, production, inception and background to the film and crossover to in-depth interviews with cast and crew-members with excellent insight. Good viewing for a die-hard Blue Velvet fan, like myself!