Editing Blue Velvet (film) (section)

===Critical reception===
''Blue Velvet'' was released to a very polarized reception in the [[United States]]. The critics who did praise the film were often vociferous.<ref name="LookingBack"/> ''The New York Times'' critic [[Janet Maslin]] directed much praise toward the performances of Hopper and Rossellini: "Mr. Hopper and Miss Rossellini are so far outside the bounds of ordinary acting here that their performances are best understood in terms of sheer lack of inhibition; both give themselves entirely over to the material, which seems to be exactly what's called for." She called it "an instant [[Cult film|cult classic]]", concluding that ''Blue Velvet'' "is as fascinating as it is freakish" and "confirms Mr. Lynch's stature as an innovator, a superb technician, and someone best not encountered in a dark alley."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maslin |first=Janet |date=September 19, 1986 |title=SCREEN: 'BLUE VELVET,' COMEDY OF THE ECCENTRIC |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/19/movies/screen-blue-velvet-comedy-of-the-eccentric.html |access-date=October 30, 2006 |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

[[Sheila Benson]] of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called the film "the most brilliantly disturbing film ever to have its roots in small-town American life," describing it as "shocking, visionary, rapturously controlled".<ref name="meta">{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blue-velvet|title=Blue Velvet (1986) Reviews|publisher=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=September 3, 2009}}</ref> Film critic [[Gene Siskel]] included ''Blue Velvet'' on his list of the best films of 1986, at the fifth spot. [[Peter Travers]], film critic for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', named it the best film of the 1980s and referred to it as an "American masterpiece".<ref name="rottentomatoes"/> Upon its initial release, [[Woody Allen]] and [[Martin Scorsese]] called ''Blue Velvet'' the best film of the year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/deconstructing-blue-velvet-a-master-class-in-screen-direction-0|title=Deconstructing Blue Velvet: A Master Class in Screen Direction &#124; American Cinematheque|access-date=March 27, 2022|archive-date=June 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611084928/https://americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/deconstructing-blue-velvet-a-master-class-in-screen-direction-0}}</ref>

[[File:Isabella Rossellini David Lynch Cannes.jpg|thumb|right|Rossellini and Lynch at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] in 1990]]

On the other hand, Paul Attanasio of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' said "the film showcases a visual stylist utterly in command of his talents" and that Angelo Badalamenti "contributes an extraordinary score, slipping seamlessly from slinky jazz to violin figures to the romantic sweep of a classic Hollywood score," but stated that Lynch "isn't interested in communicating, he's interested in parading his personality. The movie doesn't progress or deepen, it just gets weirder, and to no good end."<ref>{{cite news | last = Attanasio | first = Paul | title = Blue Velvet | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] |date=September 19, 1986 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/bluevelvetrattanasio_a0ad54.htm | access-date = October 30, 2006 }}</ref> A general criticism from US critics was ''Blue Velvet''{{'}}s approach to sexuality and violence. They asserted that this detracted from the film's seriousness as a work of art,<ref name="ebert">{{cite news | last = Ebert | first = Roger | title = Blue Velvet | work = [[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=September 19, 1986 | url = https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/blue-velvet-1986 | access-date = October 30, 2006 }}</ref><ref>''Blue Velvet'' review at the [http://www.themoviesnobs.com/blue-velvet/ "Movie Snobs"]. Retrieved September 30, 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014155915/http://www.themoviesnobs.com/blue-velvet/ |date=October 14, 2007 }}</ref> and some condemned the film as pornographic.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/dec/07/artsfeatures1|title=A touch of evil|last=Logan|first=Brian|newspaper=The Guardian|date=December 6, 2001|access-date=April 18, 2017}}</ref> One of its detractors, [[Roger Ebert]], stated that the large amount of "jokey small-town satire" in the film made it impossible to take its themes seriously. Ebert praised Rossellini's performance as "convincing and courageous" but criticized how she was depicted in the film, even accusing David Lynch of [[misogyny]]: "degraded, slapped around, humiliated and undressed in front of the camera. And when you ask an actress to endure those experiences, you should keep your side of the bargain by putting her in an important film."<ref name="ebert"/> While Ebert in later years came to consider Lynch a great filmmaker, his negative view of ''Blue Velvet'' remained unchanged after he revisited it in the 21st century.<ref>{{cite web|title=At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper: Webchat with Roger Ebert |date=August 2, 2007 |access-date=August 24, 2009 |url=http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/ebertandroeper/chat/transcript-ebert-070802.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017161603/http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/ebertandroeper/chat/transcript-ebert-070802.html |archive-date=October 17, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Roger Ebert's Twitter Feed | date = January 20, 2009 | access-date = January 20, 2010 | url = https://twitter.com/ebertchicago/status/8010331149 }}[[Wikipedia:SPS|{{sup|[''self-published'']}}]]</ref>

The film is now widely considered a masterpiece and holds an approval score of 91% on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] based on 138 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critical consensus states: "If audiences walk away from this subversive, surreal shocker not fully understanding the story, they might also walk away with a deeper perception of the potential of film storytelling."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blue_velvet/|title=Blue Velvet|work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media]]|access-date=January 22, 2025}}</ref> The film also has a score of 75 out of 100 on [[Metacritic]] based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blue-velvet|title=Blue Velvet|publisher=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=July 9, 2019}}</ref> Looking back in his ''Guardian/Observer'' review, critic Philip French wrote, "The film is wearing well and has attained a classic status without becoming respectable or losing its sense of danger."<ref>{{cite news | last = French | first = Philip | title = Blue Velvet | work = [[The Guardian]] | date = December 16, 2001 | url = http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Observer_review/0,,619471,00.html | access-date = October 30, 2006 | location=London}}</ref>

[[Mark Kermode]] walked out on the film and gave the film a poor review upon its release, but revised his view of the film over time. In 2016, he remarked, "as a film critic, it taught me that when a film really gets under your skin and really provokes a visceral reaction, you have to be very careful about assessing it ... I didn't walk out on ''Blue Velvet'' because it was a bad film. I walked out on it because it was a really good film. The point was at the time I wasn't good enough for it."<ref>{{Citation|last=kermodeandmayo|title=Kermode Uncut: Blue Velvet|date=December 2, 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=251DlvLXzD4| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211110/251DlvLXzD4| archive-date=November 10, 2021 | url-status=live|access-date=May 12, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>