Battle #70: Eraserhead (1977) VS Possession (1981)

Oh yeah? Explain the film's plot. Intelligibly. (Sober.)

 

It's not a "plot" movie, it's an exploration of a "theme" movie and that theme is pretty clear I think.

 

No, it is not clear.

What the hell does the tearing apart of a husband and wife with a child have to do with either alien invasions, doppelgangerism, mutant / inter-species infidelity, or freaky religious men who know martial arts???

 

I somehow voted in this years ago not having seen Possession. While both masterpieces, I would like to retract my vote for Eraserhead and move it to Possession.

 

That's like asking what do aliens from outer space have to do with the red scare re: Body Snatchers. It takes a real world relationship drama and embeds it in another genre. It's one of my favorites. I don't think it is subtle, at all, but it is powerful.

 

Recently saw Possession for the first time and rewatched Eraserhead for the first time in over a decade. I don't love either, but the power of the performances in Possession makes it take the lead over Eraserhead. I really enjoy a lot of Lynch stuff, but Eraserhead is always one I've admired more than actually enjoyed. Near the bottom of his filmography for me.

 

They are both in my top 100 films of all time, and I am having a tough time deciding.

 

Just cut them up like regular chickens!

Eraserhead, very obviously. It doesn't even have to do with the plot making sense or not. Eraserhead is a very intimate, personal film reflecting something universal about the impossibility of being a father. Possession.... eh. It's a good film, but that's it.

 

Well, when you put it like that, I can't blame anyone voting for Possession instead.

 

Eraserhead I found depressing and fascinatingly weird. Possession, though well-acted and competently made, has a coldness to it that left me disengaged.

 

I love how films which are not accessible to large audiences are just inherently depressing.

 

It IS a depressing movie, accessible or not. The main character, Henry, leads a joyless life with a dehumanising job and a child with special needs that he is left to care for alone because his wife can't cope with the emotional stress. Henry can't either, and he eventually kills the grotesque yet pitiful child. Come on, that's pretty depressing. It may wrapped up in dreamlike imagery, but at its core it's very human story.

 

I wasn't criticizing what you said. I'm the last person to recount either of the above mentioned films as "rousing good" times.

I've heard Withnail and I described as depressing. I've Heard the Mermaids Singing. Anything with Parker Posey in it (shy of You've Got Mail).

Yet, I'm more naturally apt to find the ones that try to be joyous to be the most bumming out / least cathartic, ala- Pecker.

 

I didn't mean to imply that you were refuting what I said, merely affirming that it isn't a movie that leaves you feeling good in any way, whether or not you view casually or analytically.

 

It's Eraserhead. That goes without saying.

 

That's what I loved about it. I loved how Sam Neil's character seemed to want to logic his way out of his wife's "issues" and "cheating". Love how clinical it all feels.

 

How did it all get to be her fault?

 

I didn't say it was, but Neil's reaction, largely, is very "how do I solve this" which lends a cool feel to it all.

 

Why's it all about his reaction? Why is he put in the position of solving anything?

 

I'm not sure where you want this to go. What are you asking?