Eraserhead (1977)

Jack Nance as Henry Spencer in Eraserhead

A young David Lynch never divulged details about the making of his films. Lynch has also maintained and fed mysteries about his debut film Eraserhead (1977). David Foster Wallace was talking about David Lynch's influence during one of his interviews with Charlie Rose and that's how I learned about this filmmaker. Wallace was talking about Blue Velvet (1986), I thought I should start with David Lynch's ‘most spiritual’ cinematic work — a horror film, Eraserhead, which Lynch wrote during his first year at a film school.

I saw Eraserhead last week but am still humming ‘In Heaven Everything Is Fine’. Actually, this is the only thing I'd like to recall from the movie. Lynch introduces the ultimate comic relief with this strain but not in less disturbing way. The chipmunk-cheek woman could remind many the women they hate but have been forced to live with no end in sight. If you're talking about aesthetics, the song is beautiful but how many could possibly find aesthetics beautiful?

On the set of Eraserhead, David Lynch makes up Laurel Near as the Lady in the Radiator (1977)/Galen Young

Lynch's alien baby brought chill running down my spine. This whining baby mocks its father Henry while he desperately seeks the seductress across the hall. What follows is sickening distorted human desire that culminates Eraserhead into a cult classic. How can one be so true to his thoughts? But artists do propel minor emotions to an exaggerated proportion: a dining scene where a nervous Henry is sitting next to his girlfriend’s father across the cooked chicken that spurts dark liquid and wiggles ‘obscenely’ on its plate. All this reminds the tension one faces at the house of a girlfriend who has bore a deformed ‘baby’ prematurely.

Eraserhead seems to have multiple climaxes which make it obvious that Lynch was confronted with far too many ideas and faced dilemma to give a conclusive end to his film which took five of his productive years mainly due to inadequate funding. And fund is something every new director lacks! Lynch’s ‘Philadelphia Story’ and the period in-between the making of Eraserhead is more ghastly.

The film lacks coherence and its symbolic ‘spiritualism’ could be out of normal heads unless you’re on drugs. Here, another fictional spiritual classic, Bible, could be of some help. Brave hearts can sit and enjoy the thrill while neurotics might as well relate to Lynch’s ‘beautiful’ depiction of the life spent in seclusion and constant fear. Lynch introduces bizarre ideas in a brilliant fashion that scares less and seduces more. But Eraserhead isn’t a must-watch unless you’re a movie freak and find black and white stock really appealing.

Links:
Wikipedia
NYT Review

Here are the youtube links to part I and II of a short on Eraserhead.