Eraserhead
(1978)
David
Lynch didn't set out to be a film director. His first
dream was to be a painter and artist. This lead him
into filmmaking. One of his first "short" film was shown
on a sculptured screen. It was with this same idea of
mixing art and cinema that Lynch made "Eraserhead, his
first feature film.
"Eraserhead" is a bizarre, absurdist nightmare.
The meaning of the film can be different to each person.
After you see the film, you can read my interpretation.
But watch the film first and see what you think it is
about. Then read my interpretation and see if they are
similar.
While you watch the film, think of it as an extension
of artwork. Look at it as beautiful black and white
images with ambient sounds incorporated into the piece.
"Eraserhead" is like visiting some strange, bizarre
haunted acid house. Each scene is like entering a new
room with new images and new sounds. All of these images
and sounds are designed to make you feel uneasy and
uncomfortable. This is not a film to watch while you
are tripping on acid. The scenes here are eerie and
disturbing. Most of the time it is the marriage of the
images to the sounds of the strange soundtrack that
is so unsettling. The sounds, most of which are not
music, are the defining quality of the film.
That's not to say that the images are not startling.
The climax of this film is one of the most unusual and
distressing sequences ever filmed. Lynch paints brilliant
and striking images with his camera. The style of this
film foreshadows the eerie quality of "Elephant Man."
But "Eraserhead" is 100 times as bizarre.
It is hard to imagine someone watching this film and
saying, "this is the guy we need to direct "Elephant
Man" and yet whoever made that connection was a genius.
(Mel Brooks hired Lynch to direct "Elephant Man" for
his production company Brooksfilms and Lynch used Anne
Bancroft, Brooks' wife, in a minor role).
If you watched "Twin Peaks," the TV series, then you
are familiar with Jack Nance, he played Pete Martell,
the grey- haired man who discovered Laura Palmer's dead
body at the series opening. In "Eraserhead"
Nance (credited as John Nance) stars as Henry but he
looks very different with his large, black hair-do and
quiet eerie demeanor. As the films "star" he adds volumes
to Lynch's odd portrait. Nance proves himself a brilliant
actor and, much like Lynch, a master of patience.
And it takes a lot of patience to watch this film. In
fact, at times, the whole film seems like an exercise
in patience. An early scene of a building front stares
at us unmercifully. Finally Nance walks past, and then
the image returns to the same unflinching, lingering
shot of the building. Lynch is testing our patience
and making a joke at the same time. Like a beautiful
painting we are drawn to the images, then we watch it
change and then return to it's original beauty. Lynch
demands a lot from a viewer.
When you watch "Eraserhead" think of it as going to
an art gallery to see black and white pictures with
sound. Much like Laurie anderson's initial LP "Big Science,"
for the intelligent and patient, "Eraserhead is
pure gold.
My thesis on "Eraserhead" - Do not read until after
you have seen the film.
This is a film about what happens when two empty-headed
people have a child. Henry is so slow-witted that his
head is sold to be used in the manufacture of erasers
(hence the title). Mary (Charlotte Stewart) is just
as dim and neither of them has any idea how to raise
a child. Their lives are so dreary and mundane that
it simply breaks both of them. Lynch is making a statement
about the drudgery of our everyday lives. He is also
making a statement about what happens when morons are
allowed to raise children. The baby doesn't even look
like a baby to them. It whines and cries and keeps them
up at night. It eats and gets sick but they never hold
it and they very rarely show it love. Mary abandons
the baby and Henry twice. After watching this film it
is hard to hear a baby cry and not be reminded of the
"deformed" baby here. This disturbing similarity still
causes me to feel uneasy when I hear a baby cry and
even more uncomfortable when I witness a parent becoming
angry if a baby cries for no apparent reason.
What is odd about the baby in Lynch's film is it's relation
to his own child Jennifer (later a director too). The
baby in the film is wrapped to the neck in bandages.
Jennifer had severely deformed feet and wore constrictive
braces as a child. There are other clues that prove
my theory. How about the scene where Henry throws the
ugly slimy creatures, from under his bedcovers, up against
the wall. Is this symbolic for masturbation. Are these
his sperm that he is tossing away. He treats them as
if they disgust him. Also, the "chicken" that they eat
for dinner bleeds when it is cut open. Is this Mary's
deformed egg broken and bleeding from Henry's "knife."
Is this a metaphor for Henry's "deflowering" Mary?
"Eraserhead" means different things to different
people. One of my friends pointed out the mundane quality
of Henry's life to me. He really felt that what drove
Henry to kill the child was the monotony of his existence.
It finally overcomes Henry and breaks his spirit. Another
friend of mine truly believes that this film has no
meaning. That it is a joke and that if you try to make
any sense out of it at all, you are part of the punchline.
Lynch himself has never stated what the film is about
adding immensely to the ambiguity and the beauty of
the film.
What do you think?
Note: It has been said that actress Sissy Spacek helped
finance the film.
Cinematography by Frederick Elmes and Herbert Caldwell.
Sound Effects by Alan R. Splet.
The film took many months to lens during which Nance
had to keep his ridiculous hair-do in tact.
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