David Lynch's Eraserhead -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 110)

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Disclaimer: All reasonable comments are welcome, including reasoned disagreements. You will be banned for foolish talk, harassment, and hate speech on sight; it's a tremendous waste of life. I believe in freedom of association and, by extension, freedom of dissociation from you.

[zeppo]

When Lynch was asked what Eraserhead was about he replied, "about 80 minutes"

[prophismusic]

The entire world of this movie haunts you like a nightmare you can never forget

[mrrrl]

Stanley Kubrick once stated that Eraserhead is one of his favorite films.

[dominichemphill]

I love this film for its absurdity and creativity. It’s one of the most unique films I’ve ever seen and it truly fascinates me.

[AlonsoRules]

Eraserhead is one of the oddest movies I have ever watched. It is almost a silent movie with little dialogue and mostly driven by the amazing sound effects.

[simonemancuso]

Eraserhead, to me, has alsways looked like the literalization of the fear that the protagonists of a silent film must deal with, when, out of the blue, sound arrives, as if Eraserhead were a corrupted silent film, corrupted by sounds ( the 'baby''s cry, characters that aren'used to talk and are afraid to do it, so they make long pauses between lines of dialogue and, consequently, the dialogue is sparse and fragmentary) and turned into a hellish suburban, industrial (Modern Times) nightmare.
Not to mention that 'the baby', i.e. the 'soundtrack', comes out of Henry's mouth.

[prilljazzatlanta]

When my wife and i were about to become parents we watched 3 movies focused on children…Monster’s Inc, Good Morning (Ozu), and Eraserhead. It was both of our first time seeing Eraserhead and we loved it. When we were in the hospital with our newborn every time he made noise in the middle of the night we just laughed because it sounded like the baby

[prashunpcchakraborty]

I'm a huge David Lynch fan watched everything from him and loved all of it but to me nothing tops Eraserhead, it's perfection, Kubrick loved it as well. Babies are generally portrayed as cute/wholesome in films and in this a grotesque alien further alienating the connection between our protagonist and his child. When he finally manages to seduce the neighbor but fails to "close the deal" the child mocks him and is seen as the reason he can't enjoy the full freedom of bachlerhood. I had an explanation to the weird fantasy elements when i first watched Eraserhead but now they are lost to me, time for a rewatch!

[mrrrl]

I like the comment you made regarding the man with the levers and the anti-existentialist message of the film, that the protagonist is not really free, is trapped and is not really living his own life because of forces beyond his control.

Also, I would be really curious to hear your take on The Holy Mountain.

[brianbohmueller]

Eraserhead felt like a visceral experience of being human in a world out of control.

[SuperBrictson]

Eraserhead was my first movie of not understanding anything at all and the same time enjoying every bit of it. With many reviews, it makes more sense but Lynch stated no one has reached the exact meaning but only partially. Truly a fascinating audiovisual experience!!!

[ethankovnick]

Hi Dr. Josh Matthews, long time watcher first time commenter and so glad you decided to cover this film. It is one of my all time favorites, I feel that the level of abstraction that it goes into allows for plenty of different interpretations to be drawn from viewing. I had never even considered your theory about this movie's relationship with the formulaic TV sitcom. I fully agree with your point that this movie is all about insecurity, and for me specifically I find it to be about existential dread. It is the outside looking in and reminds me of a bad psychedelic trip, a nightmare, dysphoria. A profoundly deep level of discomfort that is innately part of the human experience and David Lynch manages to capture it in a way like no other. Great video, keep it up man!

[MatheusMPL]

I watched "Beau is Afraid" a couple of weeks ago, and then yesterday I watched "Eraserhead". Not that they can be compared toe to toe, but it's notable that Ari Aster took some sips from that fountain, specially the "nerdy disturbed dude in a crazy surreal world" choice of protagonist.

[tokyoangelswonderland]

The continuous buzzing sounds remind me of Japanese summer - you live here long enough, you get used to the cicadas screaming non-stop, sounds EXACTLY like the sound in the movie.

Also when Harry's head is lopped off and taken away by the kid to the factory, where his brain/head is then made into pencil erasers, THIS exact moment makes him 'Eraserhead'...

[bqgin]

It's one of those movies that were on my "to watch list" for a long time. Still haven't watched it.

[jfreshig]

my favorite channel talking about my favorite movie! This must be heaven and David Lynch told me "In heaven, everything is fine"

[tibudako]

The second time I watched the movie it didn't seem so confusing, it just wasn't very obvious whether it was showing a dream or the "reality" (if it can be called that). I noticed that in the beginning there was a floor design of the black lodge.

[sclogse]

Lynch adding that dust mist behind his head is so inspired...watching the film now I see a connection to season 3 of Twin Peaks. Radiation, twin peaks, and that steamer.

[carlramos]

eraserhead is not a movie, it's an experience

[gulpispulp]

Didn’t understand anything in the movie but I LOVE THE LIL BABY he’s so funnee