Eraserhead
(1977)
In Heaven Everything Is Fine.
Director
- David Lynch
Writer - David Lynch
Starring - Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph, Jeanne
Bates, Judith Anna Roberts, Laurel Near, V Phipps-Wilson,
Jack Frisk, Jean Lange, Thomas Coulson, John Monez, Darwin
Joston, Neil Moran, Hal Landon Jr, Jennifer Chambers Lynch
Review by Noel Baily
There
are surreal films, then there is ERASERHEAD
David
Lynch redefines the phrase "free-expression" here,
matter of fact he redefines the art of film. Is it film? Is
it art?
No way
does one watch ERASERHEAD to be "entertained" -
the very word demeans its purpose! Lynch made this film firstly
because it expressed HIM and what he stood for at that time
(and judging my MULHOLLAND DRIVE, still does!)and secondly
- because he COULD! It really doesn't matter whether you find
it "interesting, "pointless," "innovative,"
"pathetic" or "the second coming of Jesus,"
it IS WHAT it is, WHEN it was! (I trust that is implicitly
clear to you all!)
As interpretive
surrealism it interprets nothing because nothing you are watching
can be! But in a DREAM state all bets are off. Henry could
be you or I! The girl in the radiator, every desire - sexual,
imagined or beyond realisation! Perhaps Lynch was mocking
the viewer and indeed the images mean nothing - I don't think
so however! The whole point IS, the director WANTS you to
try and interpret it, that at least shows your alive, the
question is? was Henry?
Review by Jack Gatanella
Eraserhead (1977)
The Strangest film I Have Ever Seen,
David Lynch's Eraserhead makes Being John Malkovich, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Lost Highway (another Lynch flick) combined look like they are chicken feed. Believe me, you will not see a stranger and more terrifying film in your lifetime until you see this. The plot (which if you can find you win a prize in your mind I think) has a weird zombie like man (with a Al Sharpton like hair-do) who accidentally gets his spastic girlfriend pregnant and what comes out is a creature that is probably the unwanted child of King Gimp and Leatherface. For most of the film though are images and scenes of macabre and fright that are authentic. Lynch, while as mentally balanced as The Monster in Frankenstein, can make a film so weird, evil yet good, that it boggles the mind. Very low budget and very cultish, this is definitely Lynch's best. A++
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