Eraserhead - David Lynch

A local theatre is showing the films of David Lynch over the course of this year. I went into Lynch's feature film debut blindly and exited it nearly as blinded.

The movie is an exercise is showing rather than telling. So therefore, there can be many takeaways and interpretations for what its core themes and morals are.

I can see it being understood as a Midwestern horror film: The main character doesn't talk much, but dialogue scenes take longer than expected. There is a theme of a footlight stage performance of a Beauty Pageant queen with cheeks like a chipmunk stashing walnuts. Sometimes the characters just sit around and wait for someone to signal them with a cue. A neighbor shows up unexpectedly and hospitality and courtesy are imposed upon to challenge how far "Midwest Nice" can be pushed.

It is a film which explores the relationship of parent and child - how having a little one rewires the brains and lives of both parties. You are suddenly responsible for new life whose needs are dependent on your intervention to be met.

But it is also a film which explores the question of "What if your kid has such bad vibes that it absolutely wrecks both parents' sleep schedule and sanity, maybe to the point of straining your relationship as a unified team?" Yes, everyone tells you that life is a miracle, but this child is really giving a new definition and understanding for what that looks like. It is alien with its cries, its ability to generate waste at a volume like a reverse black hole, it is stubborn and doesn't accept help or feeding in a reasonable manner.

One overall theme is that the movie is shot at such an unexpected and unconventional pacing throughout. The visuals and sound in the theater environment were immersive and overwhelming at times, as it did not feature consistent dialogue to drive the plot. The protagonist's approach to life is as if on a zoom or podcast recording with an out of sync delay for any question asked of him. Often, the viewers witness the internal calculations of characters as they process what their next action will be. The protagonist's facial expressions flit between being worried, concerned, and pensive, all of which with wide guileless eyes.

It is a film which probablyis a foundational example to other directors for how and what a filmmaker can decide as important in presenting a film on screen. It messed with my expectations for what I thought it would be under typical film structure and conventional narrative beats. It is jarring for the dialogue to be so straightforward and the actions of the characters to be layered with only some of their intended meanings revealed over the context of the rest of the runtime.