June Film Club #1

 Our first film of our Summer Series: Weird and Wonderful, is David Lynch's weird and wonderful directorial debut, Eraserhead.

Eraserhead is a 1977 American surrealist body horror film written and directed by filmmaker David Lynch.  Shot in black-and-white, Eraserhead is Lynch's first feature length film, coming after several short works.  The film was produced with the assistance of the American Film Institute (AFI) during the director's time studying there.  Starring Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Jeanne Bates, Judith Anna Roberts, Laurel Near, and Jack Fisk, it tells the story of Henry Spencer (Nance), who is left to care for his grossly deformed child in a desolate industrial landscape.  Throughout the film, Spencer experiences dreams or hallucinations, featuring his child and the Lady in the Radiator (Near).   Initially opening to small audiences and little interest, Eraserhead gained popularity over sever long runs as a midnight movie.

Since its release, the film has earned positive reviews.  The surrealist imagery and sexual undercurrents have been seen as key thematic elements, and the intricate sound design as its technical highlight.  In 2004, the film was preserved in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".  The film currently holds a 91% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes out of 55 critical reviews and Mike D'Angelo, writing for the A.V. Club, gave it an "A" saying this of the film, "While it's certainly possible to find metaphors in Eraserhead's bizarre imagery, the film works on such an intensely visceral level that attempts to analyze it seem counterproductive.  Can any words evoke the flesh-crawling queasiness of Henry's visit to Mary's parents' house, in which he sits uncomfortably on the couch exchanging forced pleasantries with Mom while some ungodly squeaking/squelching noise threatens to drown out the dialogue?  Is it worse when the source of that sound is unknown, or is it inexplicably worse when the source is revealed and it's not the horror show conjured up by your imagination?  Then there's that infant...thing, which hits the precise amalgam of repulsion and vulnerability that's capable of ripping one's soul apart.  See Eraserhead once and it'll lodge itself firmly in some dank recess of your brain and refuse to vacate." 

We will be meeting Thursday, June 20th at 5:30pm

Here is a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0Eq5GtCYdA&ab_channel=criterioncollection

Hope to see you there!