Eraserhead + Twin Peaks (Season 3, Episode 8: Gotta Light?)

David Lynch – An Evening in Black and White

David Lynch is often associated with vibrant colors: the deep blue velvet of Blue Velvet, the orange flames igniting the opening of Wild at Heart, or the crimson of the mysterious “lodge” in Twin Peaks… But Lynch is also a master of black and white, of light and shadow, and of striking contrasts. His filmography begins with the black-and-white, dreamlike feature debut Eraserhead… and, in a way, it ends with black and white, as the eighth episode of Twin Peaks’ third season, aired in 2017, is for many the ultimate aesthetic coda to his work. Join us for an evening with David Lynch in black and white. Let’s celebrate together his early cinematic masterpiece and his late television magnum opus – immersed in images that shift between silvery hues, tar-like darkness, and absolute, blinding white.

Michał Oleszczyk, SpoilerMaster

Eraserhead

Potentially melodramatic elements abound: young Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) is dating a girl named Mary X (Charlotte Stewart). When Mary announces that she has given premature birth, Henry is forced to marry her and look after a screaming, horribly deformed infant. The parents’ disgust with their offspring drives this murky, phantasmagorical opus, which quickly established itself the most artistically accomplished incarnation of the midnight movie.

Wrapped tight in a suit, suffocated by his tie, plump Henry Spencer looks like a distant cousin of Fritz Lang’s M. – bulging eyes seemingly on the verge of popping, tall hair reminiscent of the Bride of Frankenstein… Henry is a true heir to German expressionist cinema, not unlike his creator, David Lynch. Eraserhead is built on startling contrasts of black and white, while its futuristic sets call to mind something resembling a Dr. Caligari nightmare vision.

When this debut feature from Lynch was screened in New York’s Cinema Village in 1977, critic J. Hoberman, incidentally making his own debut in The Village Voice, wrote: “Eraserhead’s not a movie I would drop acid for, although I would consider it a revolutionary act if someone dropped a reel of it into the middle of Star Wars”.

Catalog MFF Nowe Horyzonty 11. edition

David Lynch (1946 – 2025) – an American director, screenwriter, producer and visual artist, born in Missoula, Montana. He studied painting in Philadelphia, before moving to Los Angeles to make films. He began production on his feature-length debut, Eraserhead, while still a student at the American Film Institute’s Centre for Advanced Film and Television Studies, which initially provided funding for the project. Lynch was one of the most original and influential cinema visionaries. His signature mix of surrealism, genre tropes and experimental narration found favour with a wide audience. Lynch’s films relied heavily on striking visual and soundtrack elements, which always function as integral parts of the complex structure of his works. In addition to directing, he has practised painting, photography, meditation and experimented with new media. A three-time Oscar nominee, Lynch was awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Wild at Heart (1990).

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