Pencilling in "Eraserhead"

Last evening, CineVerse tried to dissect the dessicated carcass that is "Eraserhead." For those intrigued to learn more about this puzzling picture, here are some of the major talking points of our group discussion:

WHAT STRONG IMPRESSIONS DID ERASERHEAD MAKE ON YOU?

• Creates an unsettling feeling with disturbing, surrealistic images and sounds
• It’s hard to discern fantasy from reality in many scenes
• The film plays as more of a nightmarish dream than any kind of consistent representation of factual reality
• The title character barely speaks, and the film features little dialogue
• We feel disoriented and alienated from characters and information (or lack thereof) given in the movie: Lynch seems to make an intentional decision to isolate us and his characters and make us feel unsure and uncomfortable
• For a film that can be sometimes horrifying, disgusting and in questionable taste, it has moments of outright bizarre hilarity

CAN YOU IDENTIFY ANY POSSIBLE THEMES THAT DAVID LYNCH IS ATTEMPTING TO EXPLORE IN THIS FILM?

• The dehumanization of people in a highly industrialized world
• Blame: Henry appears to be the scapegoat for and cause of the problems he encounters
• A fixation on biology and how disgusting and grotesque the human body can be: the film depicts sperm, worms, orifices, dessicated bodies, organs, swollen cheeks, etc.
• Growing up and maturing physically is a frightening idea
• A disgust for sex: The act of reproduction and procreation has terrifying repercussions
• Fear of fatherhood: The thought of raising children, especially as a single male parent, can be terrifying
• Male impotence
• The possibility of a parallel universe that exists besides the one we know, one that can be accessible via dreams

FOR A FILM THAT IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO INTERPRET, WHAT ARE SOME POSSIBLE INTERPRETATIONS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT LYNCH MAY BE TRYING TO SAY HERE?

• One theory is that Henry has lost his virility. He desires sex with Mary, but fears the consequences will be a nagging wife and a monsterish child.
• One theory is that paternity kills Henry. According to one critic, “his little worm can no longer randomly explore the cracks and crevices of available love. His only choice is to accept the fine nature of heaven and take his own life" (original review found here).
• One theory is that the baby is actually Henry, who may be recalling a troubled childhood: Mary symbolizes Henry’s mother, who left him behind with a deadbeat father; while the lady behind the radiator stands for the adoring family he always dreamed of.
• This could be a demented take on the Bible: we have a Mary and a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, and a worm, like the snake in the garden of Eden. Perhaps the man pulling the lever in the beginning of the film is God, and the swollen female represents death.
• Henry, the “eraserhead”, is both creator and destroyer, just as a pencil can create on its tip, it can destroy with its eraser on the other end

DOES THIS FILM OR THE STYLE OF DAVID LYNCH REMIND YOU OF ANY OTHER MOVIES OR FILMMAKERS?

• The dark yet comical visions of Terry Gilliam
• The odd characters and situations featured in films by the Coen brothers
• Films by David Cronenberg, such as The Fly and Dead Ringers, where there is a seeming obsession with physical mutations and deformities
• The bizarre, surrealistic images of past likeminded directors such as Luis Bunuel, Federico Fellini, and Alejandro Jodorowsky

OTHER WORKS BY DAVID LYNCH

• The Elephant Man
• Dune
• Blue Velvet
• Wild at Heart
• Twin Peaks the TV series
• The Straight Story
• Mulholland Drive