1977 family dramaRating: 20/20 (Dylan: 2/20)
Plot: Surviving in the murkiness of a post-apocalyptic nightmare, Henry spends his days watching radiators and the plump-cheeked women within them and hanging out with his girlfriend Mary. After a visit to Mary's home, he finds out that he's apparently impregnated his girlfriend. They marry, and a mutant worm baby is born. Mary, possibly suffering from post-partum depression, eventually leaves, and Henry begins life as a single father. An obvious influence on Knocked Up.
Dylan's thoughts: Eraserhead was a terrible movie. The amount of time between different characters' dialogue seemed to increase later in the movie. This was annoying and probably used to make the movie seem longer. The movie was supposedly set in a post-apocalyptic world. Most of the weird events, however, seemed to be dreams. It was hard to discern what did actually happen and what wasn't real. The big reason for this was that the "real" parts were just as strange as the dream parts. The plot of the film was very faint. The basics can be slightly understood, but many elements (mostly the dream parts) had little to do with this plot. There were also many parts that seemed repetitive. These were usually in the night scenes and seemed to be a time filler just like the dialogue. The intended humor in the movie was not actually funny. It was a bit random but did not provoke a response. I found it more weird than funny. The acting was also really terrible. This is one of the worst movies my dad has ever forced me to watch.
My thoughts: This, like Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica and the book Trout Fishing in America, is one of the greatest artistic achievements of the 20th Century. And it doesn't even have the word "trout" in the title! This is obviously the type of movie you have to watch with your groin. Your subconscious will get it. That'll explain the internal vibration.
You did warn me that I probably would not like this movie, and by God, you were right!
ReplyDeleteI hated "Eraserhead" and Dylan is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, without going far enough. If this is the kind of thing you force him to watch, I would sleep with one eye open if I were you.
This film is completely impenetrable and endlessly repellant. It is a grand slam of gross. It is ugly to look at, listen to, or think about. The only two reasons for it to exist are as an example of how disgusting a film can be, or as a way to break up with a girlfriend you don't like. I could not possibly tell you what happened, why it happened, or where and when it happened. It is simply a celluloid nightmare that I was happy to wake from.
Creepy is an inadequate way to decribe the imagery. Things spew gobs of dark liquid for no reason, oversized sperm are born, stepped on and thrown. A head falls off (the only thing I liked in this was the funny head and hair of the lead), and is replaced by what looks like the head of a chicken embryo. There is sex in alien soup, and a woman with cheek issues. And there is... what does it matter, it was all awful to look at.
When the crying alien baby appeared, I had to make a choice. I chose to step away for a while. The funny thing is when I came back to it a few days later, I still faced the same quandry. If I were contemplating suicide, this would be the film I would watch to confirm that I was making the right decision.
All of that said, I wouldn't give you too a hard of a time for loving this. "Eraserhead" is famous and has a cult following (proving that cults can be a very scary thing). I was curious to see it, reinforcing a personal axiom that I often get in the most trouble when I'm "curious" about something. This is the most yucky film I will ever see since I will turn off anything else that approaches its level. A 4 for me and an expression of pure amazement at your 20. I also am now sure that I never want to meet David Lynch. Now if you ever question one of my grades, I can simply say the magic phrase "you gave 'Eraserhead' a 20".
I kind of made an assumption and treated this as a "five" from you. If it shouldn't count then please feel free to remove it. After all, you did warn me, and now I will warn others.
Hold on! Did I ever recommend this? Surely not!
ReplyDeleteI love this movie. It's not a 20. I think I was baiting you with that one. But I do think this movie says something (maybe very personal; I don't know anything about David Lynch's personal life) and it's the movie that gets closest to an accurate realization of a dream (nightmare?)...
I could have figured that 'Eraserhead' could be the best example of how we're different movie watchers. What you find repellant, gross, and awful-looking, I actually find visually beautiful and actually very funny. So many of these scenes (the hilarious scene with the family eating those tiny chickens and the guy screaming "Look at my knees!", the scene with the woman in the radiator, the head-popping-off sequence you mentioned) have just stuck with me.
I can imagine most reasonable people watching this in the late-70s and wanting laws to be made to keep David Lynch from ever making a movie again. But for me and the rest of the cult? We'll continue loving it unapologetically.
I loved reading your thoughts. I laughed quite a bit. "If I were contemplating suicide, this would be the film I would watch to confirm that I was making the right decision." Wow. Try out another "cult classic" that I reviewed on the blog--'Begotten'. It's not one that I liked at all. I'm willing to bet you'll change your "contemplating suicide" flick to 'Begotten' if you watch that one. On second thought, don't watch that one.
By the way, I don't think the "baby" is literal, but I'm not sure you actually want to have a conversation about that. If I made smileys, I'd make one here.