Eraserhead 2000

Last week I had the pleasure of viewing David Lynch's Eraserhead for the first time on DVD. I've seen most of his films/shows, but knew little about this first feature of his, which definitely heightened my experience. For those that haven't seen the (somewhat) newly released "Eraserhead 2000" (available only through Lynch's official site and Netflix), you are in for a treat.

The first text that appears on the screen is a prompt letting you know that you will need to adjust the brightness of your television for optimum viewing of the film. After turning the brightness all the way down I pressed the forward button and was prompted to turn the brightness up until I could see the image on the screen. Now I was ready to watch the film in its intended contrast of black and white. (This type of dedication is probably only possible when you have thr rights to release the DVD yourself.)

I won't get into the specifics of the film, but suffice to say it was one of those times where I couldn't believe I'd waited so long to see it. Anxious to check out the bonus features (something Lynch is notorious for not including--the guy doesn't even allow chapter tracks), I was totally amused by the 90 minute documentary, mostly featuring Lynch sitting in a chair and telling anecdotes about people that helped him make the film. A typical excerpt is something like "oh, he was such a good driver--you never were jerked around in your seat when you were in the car with him, because he would feather his braking just perfect."

In addition to these stories you do occasionally hear pertinent tidbits about the production, such as the fact that it took so long to film that there is one shot where the transition between opening the door and walking into the room actually comes from two different time periods 18 months apart.

So, for the netflixers that haven't seen it yet--add this to your queue!