Over the years, David Lynch has proved himself to be, if nothing else, an acquired taste. Sure, he can put his weirdness aside and cook up an Elephant Man once in a while, but at his core, Lynch is known for doing whatever he can to alienate casual moviegoers with his off-putting visuals and mixed-up narratives. His signature style began with Eraserhead, one of the strangest films ever made. If you're here for a compelling story, character development, and, God willing, a point, this is not the director for you. Lynch showed exactly what kind of filmmaker he was going to be with Eraserhead, so really, if you're upset about it, it's kinda your own fault at this point.
Having said all that, I did not enjoy Eraserhead. Somewhere in this mess is a metaphor for a fear of parenthood, but it's buried under an hour and a half of blank stares, inexplicable vaudeville, and a lot of mutant excrement. Jack Nance does a surprisingly good job as reluctant father to a premature mutant baby Henry Spencer. But the cast really isn't worth talking about here. Nor is the script, if there even was one. Lynch is a visual filmmaker, and boy oh boy does he show off his unique eye from beginning to end. You can see Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet right around the corner. If you have a strong constitution and a weakness for visual storytelling, you may find something to write home about with Eraserhead. But if you're like me, and the story is your primary concern, you will go home disappointed. |
I consider myself a person who can understand symbolism, metaphors, and hidden messages in films but I just don't know. This film doesn't horrify in the traditional sense, this film isn't like a dream film in the traditional sense, heck this film isn't avant-garde or artsy in any sense.
This film is just weird. I can see it has a symbolism about rebirth and other things but the symbols get mixed up in the fact the film is to blunt and cryptic about this message at the same time. I don't know how to judge this film. I've seen David Lynch's other work and I think he is a great filmmaker but this is just too deep into his psyche for me. |