The two films that I viewed in these past two weeks were, “Blue Velvet” and “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,” both of which have different paces and genres but were still blockbusters. Blue Velvet was directed by David Lynch and released in 1986. The film revolves around a college student, Jeffery Beaumont, who returns to his home town after his father has a stroke and he then discovers a severed ear and then proceeds to follow a lead with the lead detective’s daughter that brings them to a night club singer’s apartment whose husband and son has been kidnapped in order to essentially use her as a sex slave, but in a very odd way. Eventually  roots out a drug operation involving the lead detective’s partner. Blue Velvet often tends to try and swing into a more noire style but also has a thriller element implemented. Whereas Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is more of about the principles and beliefs of those who lived in the Qing Dynasty and plays with the ideas of love and loyalty to a lifestyle. The film follows Li Mu Bai, a well known warrior, who entrusts his sword to the woman he loves to deliver to an old friend as a way of retirement. However, the sword is stolen by a bureaucrats daughter Jen Yu who has learned the ways of Wu-dang through ancient scrolls and seeks to create a life of her own where she isn’t forced into marriage. After Mu Bai confronts the masked thief, Jen, he is impressed with her technique and rather than wanting to turn her in he wishes to make her his disciple. After altercations take place Mu Bai dies protecting Jen and then some plot points happen that only make sense after viewing other parts of the film and leave you with a question and an answer. These films have one similar aspect to them which is that there is some romance in both but other than that they are almost complete opposite but were still loved by their audiences.

These films have entirely different themes and weight to them as critics have proven with the way that they talk about each one. With Peter Bradshaw saying, “Blue Velvet looks even more bizarre than ever, a disorientating palimpsest of moods,” implying that the film is a flurry of emotions and scenes that don’t seem to connect right away but in the and it all pieces itself back together. While Tom Breihen states, “Crouching Tiger is a movie about societal repression, about characters resolutely sacrificing their happiness, and sometimes their lives, to fulfill a set of societal expectations that they hold as sacred as anyone else,” showing that there is a level of depth that is very up front and in your face throughout the film. Both of theses statements reflect the film they are about. With Blue Velvet it can sometimes feel as though the director, David Lynch, didn’t know what he wanted to have as the final genre product but with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon it is very clear the direction that Ang Lee wanted to take and the shape he had in mind for the end product.

Additionally some people felt that Blue Velvet had it’s moments that were great and held depth the same way that Crouching Tiger did, but they were discredited by the way the rest of the film plays out. As Roger Ebert put it, “‘Blue Velvet’ contains scenes of such raw emotional energy that it’s easy to understand why some critics have hailed it as a masterpiece. A film this painful and wounding has to be given special consideration. And yet those very scenes of stark sexual despair are the tipoff to what’s wrong with the movie. They’re so strong that they deserve to be in a movie that is sincere, honest and true. But ‘Blue Velvet’ surrounds them with a story that’s marred by sophomoric satire and cheap shots.” It becomes very apparent that people can recognize that the movie definitely has is emotional and thoughtful points but they fail to carry weight because of the follow through of the film. Ironically people felt the opposite about Crouching Tiger saying that it has a great connection to reality and truth. As SDG puts it, “On a deeper level, Crouching Tiger is not merely a product of Chinese popular culture, but a thoughtful exploration — and critical evaluation — of various aspects of Chinese classical culture.” I would have to agree with SDG and say that there are many times that the fundamentals of Taoism are played with and the characters struggle to see which ideas they should have followed and what they will now knowing what they do.

Even just by looking at the films posters and trailers it becomes apparent that there are very different style choices even though they’re both blockbusters they have a unique way of showing the world around us. In the Crouching Tiger trailer it has that Hollywood style of advertising that the 2000’s had with the deep gritty voice but it can be seen that there is a larger story set up to be told with classic fighting styles and a story that progresses. Whereas with the Blue Velvet trailer gives a vibe of something to be beautiful at first with a darker secret behind it all. Both are representations of the actual films, as Crouching tiger has everything the trailer talks about while Blue Velvet appears to be all lovely and ditsy at first but then it shows it’s true face.