Review of Eraserhead (1977) by Dillinger P — 09 Jul 2015

In the late 70's David Lynch was born into the world of cinema, it was such a mind bender of an entrance that, I try very hard to imagine what the average cinema goer in 1977, would have thought, grabbing their popcorn, girlfriend and hard earned cash, walking into a cinema and being face with the mind of someone who, very rarely until that day, had the chance to let you into their warped mind.

I remember 13 years ago watching Eraserhead and thinking to myself, what did I just witness, was it good, was it a dream? One thing I was certain of is that I had to watch it again and that is one reason this film has had the success it has, it is a huge achievement in genre building, that you will no doubt need to watch relentlessly to enjoy and bring your head round, every aspect of this movie.

To sum it up Eraserhead takes place in a fictional, industrial and deprived town, Henry works at Lapelle's printers and is clearly going through a bit of trouble with his girlfriend Mary. One night he is invited to, what is the most bizarre, dinner to meet Mary's parents, wondering what on earth is going on, Henry soon finds out that Mary has gave birth to their child, if you can even call it a child, and the couple are forced into marriage together.

It soon goes belly up, as the premature "thing" is so much to handle, Henry's life blows up before his very eyes. If that sounds straight forward, believe me it isnt, this film is like the worst nightmare you cannot wake up from, its funny, its scary, it tests your patience and psychological limits, that It's unsure if you will make it out the other side the same person.

The late great Jack Nance, who went onto star in just about everything Lynch done, before his death, is on fire as our protagonist Henry, everything from his cat like mannerisms, his anxiety driven performance and most of all his hair cut, all rattle home a brilliant and unique leading performance, that most well trained actors of this day, never mind one starting out in the 70's, would be able to achieve.

He sets the bench mark for just about everyone and its easy to see inspiration from not only what he achieves as a performer but how Lynch can achieve something so powerful by directing him. The rest of the cast are what you would soon come to expect of a Lynchian back catalogue and although all are wonderfully crafted and have so much character and depth, it is Nance who is running the show here, and what a flippin show it is.

Lynch has clearly got some issues or at least had about family, sexuality and responsibility, the story resonates on a very emotional level that it is hard not to relate in one way or another to the themes here.

An unexpected, disfigured child, forced marriage, male paranoia, the girl next door, dreams, fears, euphinasia... the list goes on and on. And yet its never too much, all of these feelings and themes are slotted in perfectly, none of it feels forced.

Hats off to Lynch for not only managing to convey all of the above, with an astounding lead performance but he also manages to create a world in which we are truly invested in. Its marvelous, it oozes industrial wasteland its like Detroit, baron, toxic, metal and steam.

The world has life and this takes the film to an even higher level of assault on your senses. It's a simply made film, with some very theatrical techniques used in lighting and editing, adding but another layer of sophistication to this piece.

As for downsides, well, the usual if your not a Lynch fan or like your material spoon fed to you, this is probably not going to be for you, its slowly paced, its vastly dialogue free and what dialogue we have is, well, completely hilarious and out there.

I can be drawn out in places are there are a small collection of moments that take far too long to achieve something so simple, however if you are patient, willing to open up or are just looking for something to fry your head, Eraserhead will not only do just that, it will intrigue and guide to closer to the master of making you lose your marbles.

Not for everyone, but a lot more accessable than some of his other work.