Blue Velvet is a picture.
Blue Velvet is a 1986 American neo-noir mystery film , written and directed by David Lynch . Blending psychological horror with film noir , the film stars Kyle MacLachlan , Isabella Rossellini , Dennis Hopper and Laura Dern . In the years since , the film has generated significant academic attention with regard to its thematic symbolism , and is now widely regarded as one of Lynch 's major works and one of the greatest films of the 1980s . In 2008 , Blue Velvet was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest American mystery films ever made .