There’s Nearly Another Hour of ‘Blue Velvet’ You Haven’t Seen … Yet

A new Criterion release features previously lost footage

February 20, 2019 9:00 am

“It’s a strange world, Sandy.” As protagonist Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) once opined in Blue Velvet, that world is about get nearly an hour stranger. David Lynch’s disturbingly brilliant 1986 film will join the Criterion Collection this May with 51 minutes of extra footage in tow.

The “Lost Footage” on the Criterion Blu-ray/DVD set features deleted scenes and alternate takes as chosen by the director himself. Among the recently rediscovered footage: Jeffrey’s first scene is now him observing a sex act in a dark basement, as opposed to visiting his father in the hospital.

“Some of these scenes on their own would be beautiful to see again,” said Lynch during a 2011 interview with KCRW, when some of the footage was about to land on a special edition Blu-ray. “So I find out that Dino, the producer, doesn’t know where they are. They’ve gone. His company went bankrupt, it was taken over by another company, and then it was sold to other companies…. So depressing. Lately, those have been found. Somewhere up in Seattle. It’s incredible. I’m seeing stuff I thought was gone forever.”

Other new features in the re-release include a behind-the-scenes documentary, a feature-length meditation on the film by Peter Braatz and a 4K digital restoration of the film. The new Criterion set will be released on May 28.

No word on whether it’ll feature more Frank Booth bon mots.

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