ERASERHEAD (director/writer: David Lynch; cinematographer: Frederick Elmes/Herbert Cardwell; cast: Jack Nance (Henry Spencer), Charlotte Stewart (Mary X), Allen Joseph (Mr. X), Judith Anna Roberts (Beautiful Girl Across the Hall), Jeanne Bates (Mrs. X), Hal Landon Jr. (Pencil Machine Operator), Jack Fisk (Man in the Planet), Laurel Near (Lady In Radiator), V. Phipps-Wilson (Landlady), Allen Joseph (Mr. X), Jean Lange (Grandmother), 1977)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
David Lynch's nightmare debut film is shot in wonderful B&W (in the expressionist mode of a German horror film). It took him five years to complete the film. It features a unique soundtrack that is mostly made up of constant shrill sounds that might destroy your inner peace (clangs, hissings, whistles, street noise, etc.), but it also has a lovely little song tract, sung by the deformed Lady in the Radiator (Laurel Near), with the catchy lyric, "Everything is fine in heaven," as it is meant to offer hope to the despondent hero of this dream, who is probably thinking about suicide as an answer to his problems.
The film is a long dream-sequence about an awful urban smoke-infested industrial city and other terrible things. The illogical story gives way to a surreal world of fantasy, covering feelings about loneliness, sexuality, nuclear families, love, urban decay, and an inhuman monster for a child. This weird tale is an original, personal, and provoking work, capturing the darker side of modern urban life for the have-nots and the dark side of the dreamworld for the dreamer. The story makes little sense in the real world of things, but has its own logic within the contexts of the film. At least, certain experiences drawn from its little episodes can be related to one's own experiences, as it makes a striking impact on one's fragile modern psyche.
This is what a cult film is supposed to be like, and in that sense, there is a certain ready-made audience for this film, who should be accepting of it even if they don't know what the film means in total. And, that's not so bad a thing in the case of this movie. Those who like their films with a solid narrative, will not find what they are looking for here.
The film is about a loner, Henry (Nance), who is walking home in the dark and sordid confines of the railroad tracks and the factories, until he reaches his cheerless apartment building. He has a distinct nerdlike look, featuring a Bride of Frankenstein hairstyle and in his lapel there is a plastic-holder for his pencils and pens. In the hallway, his neighbor (Judith Anna Roberts) tells him that Mary (Charlotte Stewart) called on the pay phone and wants him to come over to her place for dinner and to meet her parents.
The forced dialogue between Henry, Mary, and her parents at their dinner engagement, is insipid, as Henry appears to be both serene and up-tight about the triviality of it. The conversation is so slow in coming forth, that it is painful to listen to. Mary's mother (Jeanne Bates) finds out that Henry is a printer in Lepell's factory, and this is his vacation. That this is how he spends his vacation (dreaming), showing no interest in doing what most workers do, such as travel, makes him appear to be even odder than he looks, as he seems to be without any friends or things to do. Mary's father, Mr. X (Allen Joseph), is a plumber with a numb arm and is very talkative and seems to have a permanent simpering grin, while saying nothing that is important. In fact, by Henry's stiffened expression, you can tell Henry doesn't really care for him or his perverse wife, who tried to sexually come-on to him. And speaking about stiffs, there is the shot of Mary's grandmother (Jean Lange), who seems like she's as stiff as a board, sitting in the family chair. She could be dead.
Finally, the point of the visit is disclosed, as Henry is informed that Mary gave birth prematurely to his baby and that he will have to marry her. The baby is a devouring monster, who is always crying after they are married, which drives Mary away from the apartment to live with her mother.
Being a loner, with no one to talk to about his problems, he is troubled by Mary's rejection of married life, and he is also troubled about his responsibilities as a father.This inward tension, results in a dream within a dream, which shows Henry's head being lopped off and made into a pencil-eraser, whereby the film gets its title from.
There is also the man in the planet (Jack Fisk) to be explained in Henry's vision, who is some kind of higher force that Henry is controlled by. He is seen appearing in a rock, slightly above Henry's facial features.
As for the twisted worm Henry plucks from between his teeth, that could mean a lot of different things. This is a film not made for strictly entertainment value, and to get the viewer involved in thinking about what all these symbols mean, requires some imagination on their part to interpret the dream. I would hazard a guess and say that the worm has something to do with the deformed baby and the concept of Original Sin.
What it all means, is probably anyone's guess. But it is visual and shocking to the intellect. It is one of the more imaginative efforts put forth in an American film, reminding me most of a Bunuel film. That as illogical, tedious, and repulsive as it may be, there is still something there that grabs our attention before we can turn away from it. It's the simpatico feeling we have for Henry, as he seems to be a rather civil chap, willing to do the right thing, have a nice steady job, lead a normal and quiet life, and yet he is subject to being a victim of an environment that is not friendly to the urban people who live there and to a wife who can't offer him her love, and worst of all, he is subject to his own worst fears. Somehow I get the feeling there are lots of people who can identify with Henry, even if they will not admit to being nerds.
I just loved the idea of the film, admittedly more than I loved watching the film (I saw it on video, where the images were sometimes too dark). Yet I found this imaginative work to be one of the more interesting films to come out of the '70s.
REVIEWED ON 1/11/2000 GRADE: B+
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
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