: Eraserhead
Author: David Lynch
Director: David Lynch
It’s been probably more than ten years since I first saw this movie. The first time it made me physically ill, a claim I cannot make about any other movie. And that’s a compliment to the film, since its purpose is to be repulsive. It’s a remarkable film, unusual in many aspects, and enigmatic like much of Lynch’s work. On this second viewing I found that the story seemed much simpler, almost simplistic, but that there was lots of depth in all the bizarre imagery and symbols presented. It’s not a pleasant movie (there is humor but it’s very dark), but it is fantastic, though in a different way from anything else Lynch has done. This is probably his least understood work, though to me it seems clearer than anything else he has done. The “plot,” if you will, is about a couple who give birth to a deformed baby. The mother even has a line where she says the doctors aren’t even sure if it is a baby. The baby looks like a cross between a miniature ET and a snake or something, very alien. The baby’s crying eventually drives the mother away, and in the end the dad kills the baby. In the midst of all that we have strange dreams, fantasies, and weird imagery. But Lynch’s goal here is clear: he wants us to be simultaneously repulsed and sympathetic toward the baby. He wants us to sympathize with the confused father, yet be horrified by what he does. Lynch wants us to feel both sides of the horrible dilemma and Lynch succeeds brilliantly. You both hate and care for the baby. You feel for the father, yet are repulsed by his actions. That’s the whole point of the film: to put yourself into the film and think about how you might act in similar circumstances. How do you feel as the parent of a monster? What do you do? Is killing the monster a mercy or a crime? Complex questions that don’t have an answer — you’re simply supposed to think about them. Most people don’t want to face those questions, but the genius of Lynch is that he comes up with a way to make you do it anyway, and that’s what’s really disturbing about this movie.
Topic: [/movie] |
