Delayed Reaction: Eraserhead

Premise: A man attempts to take care of his deformed child and... that’s pretty much it.

 

One of my favorite things about the David Lynch discourse is how much disagreement there is about it. There are just as many people saying that Eraserhead is a messy start that Lynch grew from as there are fans who say that he lost what made Eraserhead great the longer he worked in the Hollywood system. This works with my theory that people don't really know what they like about David Lynch's work. They like to point to surrealism and commentary on suburban decay or identity confusion, but really, they just like following his nutso whims. That's fine. I mean, I don't do a good job explaining my love of David Lowery's pretention A Ghost Story either. That doesn't mean I'm making up that I like it. I just don't act like other people are lesser movie fans for not getting the movie.

 

Eraserhead is a weird movie. It's made on a shoestring budget, but I think that helps it. This basically looks like a really good student film. I don't get many of the decisions Lynch makes in the movie. They seem intentional though. And the film is very eerie and unsettling. For Lynch fans, this is a nice origin story for his work.

 

I'll admit, I'm still not a fan. The best way I can explain it is this. If I tasked a mediocre filmmaker to rip off Eraserhead, I'm not convinced I'd be able to tell which one was genuine and which was the rip off. I think Lynch's work is too often protected under the shield of surrealism. I mean, if I say something doesn't make sense, I'm met with "it's not supposed to make sense." How the hell am I supposed to argue with that? I was bothered by the sound design of the film. It's punishing, which I know is the point. The way it's punishing though is that most of the film sounds like someone forgot to shut the window. There's a constant howl of wind that grated on me. Is that great sound design or is it playing an annoying sound long enough to irritate me?

 

Successfully doing something is not the same as doing something well.

 

Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend