Forum – Week 8 – Semester 2, 2008: “Eraserhead”
Such a haircut probably deserves this...I have mixed feelings about such abstract art house cinema. Would I have found it more entertaining if I indulged in some form of illicit contraband containing THC? Probably. There is a contentious issue for me with this type of film. Like most of Lynch’s work it projects a fantastically dark and dread inducing environment that is just short of all-consuming. It then proceeds to offset this remarkable achievement by engaging in far too many uncomfortable silences and lengthy scenes of demented abstraction that explain nothing and become tedious very quickly. In short, the film may be a cult classic, it may (and I believe does) contain extraordinarily intricate sound design and low budget cinematography for the period, but it bored me nevertheless. Maybe it’s the same issue that keeps me from enjoying Nosferatu: I can’t view this with the perception of a wide-eyed 1970s film buff. I can only view it as myself, and like others of mine and subsequent generations I have too much exciting and groundbreaking art/media to choose from. I feel like I haven’t been shocked by art for a long time and this film is far from shocking by today’s standards.
Reference:
Harris David. “Forum – Week 8 – Semester 2, 2008: Eraserhead.” Workshop presented at EMU space, level 5, Schultz building,
Labels: Forum IIIB
posted by David J Dowling @ 1:55 PM
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