“Blue Velvet” is a cult classic and somewhat controversial film by eccentric director David Lynch, and the film’s star, Isabella Rossellini, has spoken out about some of the negativity associated with it. It is being corrected.
In a new interview with IndieWire, Rossellini responded to the late Roger Ebert’s one-star review of the 1986 film.
“I didn’t read the reviews at the time. [‘Blue Velvet’] It came out. I try not to read reviews. They are always depressed.Even if it is, there is always something [the review is] Okay, there’s always one sentence that’s negative and stays with me forever,” she told the magazine.
She continued, “But I remember hearing Roger Ebert say this.” [Lynch] I was an adult, so they exploited me, and I was surprised. I was 31 or 32 years old, so I decided to play that character. ”
In an interview with IndieWire, Isabella Rossellini denied being “exploited” for her role in Blue Velvet. (Alessandra Benedetti – Corbis/Corbis, via Getty Images)
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In Ebert’s review at the time of the film’s release, Rossellini said, “This movie requires real nerves…She is degraded, slapped, humiliated, and undressed in front of the camera. If you ask her to put up with them, a good rule of thumb is to leave a deal on your side by casting her in an important movie.”
Blue Velvet was a breakout role for Rossellini, the daughter of Hollywood icons Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini. Although she had previously worked as an actress and model, her role in “Blue Velvet” catapulted her to stardom.
In the film, she plays Dorothy Valens, a nightclub singer who is mentally and physically abused by sadistic gangster Frank Booth, played by Dennis Hopper. After a college student played by Kyle MacLachlan stumbles upon her severed ear in a field, he is drawn into the dark underworld inhabited by Rossellini and Hopper’s characters.
In Blue Velvet, Dennis Hopper’s character imprisons a nightclub singer played by Rossellini and physically and mentally abuses him. (De Laurentiis Entertainment Group/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
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Rossellini and “Blue Velvet” director Lynch dated during the film’s release, and she recalled having a good working relationship with him.
“When I read the script, I understood that it could be controversial and difficult,” the 71-year-old said. “I said to David, ‘You don’t have to say the lines, but I’d like to rehearse all the scenes together and rephrase the lines.’ We rehearsed for a full day because I wanted to make sure it was in character. I felt comfortable that he was what I saw in the character and how I wanted to play it.” ”
Rossellini and David Lynch dated during the release of Blue Velvet and ended their relationship after filming another film together, Wild at Heart. (Gerard Julien/AFP via Getty Images)
The pair broke up in the early ’90s after making another movie together, Wild at Heart.
The nature of the abuse her character suffered has led some to question whether a male director is the right person to handle the film.
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When asked about this by IndieWire, Rossellini disagreed with “the rigidity that if you make a movie about a woman, it has to be a woman.” [director]. ”
He added: “First of all, Blue Velvet is also about a man, so who’s going to make this movie? If you’re going to make a movie about aliens, you have to have an alien direct it? That doesn’t make sense. ” he continued.
Rossellini recalled having a good relationship with Lynch on Blue Velvet. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Rossellini added, “I’m glad that ‘Blue Velvet’ was directed by David Lynch.” “This is one of his best films. He’s such a great writer. I think my character is the first to paint a portrait of an abused woman, an abused woman, but she’s also a sought after woman. “She’s sexy and beautiful and singing, and she’s following orders, and she’s also the victim of them. That’s the complexity of Blue Velvet,” David says.・It’s also Lynch’s great talent. I thought he made a great movie. I love “Blue Velvet.”
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Rossellini recently starred in Adam Sandler’s Netflix film Spaceman, and has two more films awaiting release, Silent Retreat and Conclave, the latter starring Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci. are co-starring.
