“I am not an animal!” Breaks my heart to this day, excellent film, looking forward to your perspective

To think that Joseph Carey Merrick actually lived and suffered his condition, and that he wasn't born this way but started to develop his condition at around age five, so he knew at least a little of what it felt like to be "normal" is heartbreaking.

I love John Hurt's performance as Merrick in this film. Hurt, reflecting on his own performance, felt viewing this film was a basic test of a person's humanity. He thought if you watch this and feel nothing, you're a sociopath. It was definitely not easy for him to portray this character with that level of makeup and prosthetic work, but he pulled it off and then some. I think your initial reaction is what the filmmaker hoped for, but I am curious to see how you would react if you watched this a year from now. On subsequent viewings, I feel the unrelenting horror of humanity heaping so much abuse upon this poor person, but I also feel the humanity of Merrick. As a person with numerous disabilities and disfigurements, and despite initially not being able to speak in any language, and despite of all the pain, suffering, and intolerable cruelty others have inflicted upon him, he was by all accounts an absolutely sweetheart of a human being. He had every right to be cynical and untrusting, but he was kind and gentle. On subsequent viewings, I feel the humanity of Merrick more than I feel the inhumanity of man. Although, the "I am a human being" monologue ALWAYS feels like a knife to my heart. What savage beasts human beings are.

Nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Picture. It's one of the saddest and most powerful films ever made.

That bit where they're forcing him to drink reminds me of a story my dad told about when he was training to be a fireman; One of the other boys who didn't drink alcohol was being bullied by the others, and they started to force booze down his throat. My dad stepped in and punched the shit out of them. Got in trouble for it, but he did the right thing.

22:17 That's Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. It was written in the 1930s, originally for string quartet, but mostly nowadays its played as an arrangement for string orchestra. It's thought to be a portrayal of America during the Great Depression. It's actually used a lot in film, as it has a reputation for being one of the saddest pieces of music ever written.

An utterly superb movie. John Hurt's performance is utterly stunning (especially as he is denied most of his face and has to rely on voice and physicality) as is Hopkins. Lynch's direction is superb and the black and white photography is wonderful. I cannot get through this movie without breaking. A much overlooked classic

The story of Joseph Merrick is truly heart wrenching. I'm glad he found someone toward the end that showed true compassion. Another great true story is MASK (1984) about Rocky Dennis starring Cher and Sam Elliott

This film has a special place in my heart - I cry every single time. John Hurts portrayal is sublime.

Thank you for reacting to this movie. It’s one of those forgotten gems. Too many reactors watch popular, current films, but never delve into the true classics. I appreciate reactors like you dusting them off and reintroducing them to a new audience. Another brilliant, almost forgotten classic I’m sure you would love is “The Miracle Worker” from 1962, about young Helen Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including best picture, with Anne Bancroft winning the Oscar for best actress, and Patty Duke for best supporting actress. Their acting will take your breath away. Based on the stage play, it’s hard to find a more powerful and inspiring true story. I would love to see you react to it.

this was one of the first movies I ever saw that made me just sob uncontrollably. fun fact: Mel Brooks personally hired David Lynch to direct this movie after a private screening of Eraserhead.

The elephants at the start of the film were then thought to have "created" Joseph (not John) Merrick. That is, the shock from a near trampling caused the trauma in the womb. It was what Merrick himself thought had happened. His mother died when he was 11, and the disease hadn't progressed quite that far as shown. He wasn't really treated so badly, in fact, his "manager" shared their profits equitably. But there was originally some exploitation by the medical establishment, although Dr Treves (the Anthony Hopkins character) did come to be very supportive. Once he died, though, his body wasn't treated at all well; his real skeleton is on display at a London hospital. But this is a great film with terrific acting by all involved. But the film didn't receive an award for its makeup as the Best Makeup award at the Academy awards didn't then exist, it DID get set up the following year, partly in reaction to the Elephant Man.

And here is a film that makes you want to reach back in time… to take away the cruelty this man experienced. So heart breaking.

One of the greatest movies of all time. A movie that takes place years ago conveying very very powerful messages for us today. The scene where a single tear drop runs down Hopkin’s face is so moving.

I think one of the main points of the film is that being ugly on the inside is more “beastly” than being ugly on the outside. Merrick had a beautiful soul, while many in the film portrayed some of the very worst of what “humanity” has to offer

The small gentleman who expressed solidarity with John in that one scene was played by Kenny Baker, the actor inside R2-D2

Powerful, devastating masterpiece. Consider that a subtext can be: what it means to be a spectator, in a cinematic sense. When Hopkins says “am I a good man, or a bad man,” the question is directed straight at us, the audience. You’re watching the spectacle too, just as the carnival audience and the hospital patrons are.

The song at the end is Adagio for strings by Samuel Barber. It was written in 1936. It's a pretty popular piece for film scores. It was used in Platoon as well.

This is one of my all time favorite films, ever. Obviously, I don’t watch it very often, as it’s a lot to get through but it says so much about how we treat each other and how cruel humanity is to this day.

I was so sh!t scared watching this film as a kid, but watched it again last year & just couldn't stop weeping

John Hurt: first he gets his stomach exploded in "Alien", then he has to act under fifty pounds of makeup for "Elephant Man"! And this is one of my favorite Anthony Hopkins performances. Other than " The Straight Story", this is David Lynch's most "normal" movie. Unbelievable that he goes from making "Eraserhead" with some friends in a building on a college campus to directing "Elephant Man" at Shepperton Studios in London, with heavyweight, trained, English Shakespearean actors like Anthony Hopkins, John Gielgud and John Hurt (not to mention all the other actors).

To answer your question, the movie was well-received, everyone saw it, it got nominated for a bunch of awards (which is unusual for a David Lynch movie). This was only his second movie; his first was the indie (and super weird) "Eraserhead". Mel Brooks, of all people, was producing this movie, he loved "Eraserhead" and offered him the directing job for "The Elephant Man". Like I said in my other comment: directing Anthony Hopkins, John Gielgud and John Hurt after doing only "Eraserhead"....I can barely wrap my mind around it!

The "song" is by Samuel Barber, an American composer - Adagio for Strings. Beautifully haunting piece of music.

The cast is stacked with performers from well before 1980, like Wendy Hiller, the nurse that states "he's only being stared at all over again", and who was nominated in 1938 for her performance in "Pygmalion" as Eliza Doolittle, the non-musical stage hit that spawned "My Fair Lady". There's also Anne Bancroft (The Graduate, The Miracle Worker) and John Gielgud (Becket, Julius Caesar, Arthur), among others.

This is one of my favorite movies. John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins are incredible.

One of David Lynch's most accessible films, and it is superb. I love the atmosphere he creates.

Can't beat yerself over not 'getting' or mentioning the concept of whether the Hopkins character is just a replacement for the carnival people and is he no better than they were in their treatment of Merrik, it's not like that trope or whatever is used all that often for us to recognize it on the tip of our tongues. It is a testament to lynch really, I mean, he pretty much nailed the thesis. Hopkins and Anne Bancroft would act 'together' again in '87 with 84 Charing Cross Road, a quiet true story film worth checking out. Also, Remains of the Day is a fantastic gem if you want more Hopkins in the gentlemanly-manners role.

My parents and I watched this together when I was younger, round 9 or so. They saw it in the movie theater when it came out and realized how important it was to see the humanity in others regardless. This movie still touches me everytime I see it and have shown it to my son too at 11.

This movie makes me openly weep at the idea of such suffering.

This is one of the few down to earth movies by David Lynch. Based on a true story. No creepy plot twists, person swaps or crazy time jumps. John Merrich was a real person and that makes this movie even more sad.

Fun fact: the actor that played Bytes is Toby Jones' father... best known as Dobby the House Elf from the Harry Potter series. The short man who helped Joseph escape the Circus was Kenny Baker... also known as R2-D2 from the classic Star Wars trilogy.

Greatness! Cinematography is off the charts. Atmosphere same. Acting is incredible. Haunting depiction of man's inhumanity, juxtaposed with man's struggle for compassion. Difficult, but well worth it.

Saw this on release in a packed cinema in London and had to sit in the front row, as this was the only seat available at that screening. I remained seated during the end credits as I was overwhelmed with emotion. When the credits finished and the lights came up, I thought that I was the only one, together with a few others either side of me, that were left in the cinema as it was so quiet. When I stood up and turned round the cinema was still FULL. No one else had left and the only noise that disturbed the eerie silence were sounds of gentle sobbing.

This is probably the most "normal" movie of David Lynch in therms of film making, but I personally consider it a masterpiece. It shows the true essence of what humanity is in its most beautiful and most disgusting aspects. The "I am not an animal!" scene broke me when I saw it. For days and even weeks, every time I was thinking or talking about that scene, the emotion was coming right back up, making me tear up all over again... This is one of the movies - even though it is not an easy watch - that I say everybody should see at least once in their life. It hits you right in the heart.😭💔

Based on a true story. Loosely. Both Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt are brilliant in this. Heart-breaking.

I was only a teenager when my dad showed me this movie. And even though I paid attention and watched respectfully, I don't think I fully appreciated it as I do now. The most I remember at the time was that when Maverick said regarding his mother, "I must have been a great disappointment to her," my dad burst into tears.

An interesting thing of note about the prosthetics: The Elephant Man's make-up took seven to eight hours to apply each day, and two hours to remove they also unintentionally hampered the breathing of John Hurt when he was in certain positions just like the real John Merrick. The prosthetics he was wearing on his head were very heavy, weighing in at about twenty pounds. When he tried to lie down for a nap for a few hours before going on-set, he practically strangled himself due to the weight of his head on his neck. Hurt was subsequently forced to nap while sitting down. David Lynch originally tried to do the make-up for The Elephant Man but wasn't able to. When Lynch's prosthetics were applied to John Hurt, he could not move; he described them as "a valiant effort, David". After receiving widespread criticism for failing to honor the film's make-up effects, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was prompted to create the Academy Award for Best Makeup the following year. Sir John Hurt kept the prosthetic cast of Joseph "John" Merrick's head after the shoot. He stored it in a cupboard in his house. Several years later, his house was burgled while was out, a friend phoned him and said, "There has been a burglary at your house." John asked what was taken, and the reply was, "Nothing! The robber must have opened the cupboard and the mask fell out! The burglar must have fled the scene in fright!" Finally, it should be noted that many of the events shown in this movie never happened. Joseph "John" Merrick was generally not ill-treated by his managers, and he certainly was never abducted from the hospital, as depicted in this movie. The despicable night watchman never existed either. Merrick had a peaceful and generally uneventful if short, life at the hospital, and the real Merrick's London showman, Tom Norman, was not a brutal drunk, like the fictional "Bytes". Norman was a well-respected showman and founder of a temperance society. He and Joseph "John" Merrick were friends and business partners. Norman paid all of Merrick's expenses and split their earnings fifty-fifty. In a few weeks, Joseph saved up fifty pounds, as much as a typical working family made in a whole year. Ever since Treves wrote his memoirs with the character of the cruel showman, the Norman family has been appalled and embarked on a campaign to clear Tom Norman's good name. His granddaughter, Valerie, is eighty-two and hopes to see his reputation restored before she passes away.

Fun fact: Anthony Hopkin's performance in this is what convinced director Jonathan Demme to cast Hannibal Lecter for Silence of The Lambs. Lecter has a very deep empathetic side to him if you pay close attention to his character (and also read the novels), and this role showcased what Demme was looking for. Also helped that (as Jodie Foster stated), if it were the typical Hollywood actor of the time, they would've hammed it up. Hopkins' nuanced performances are always powerful to watch!

You will never guess who produced this movie and picked David Lynch to direct - it was MEL BROOKS!!!

Lynch really takes the viewer on a roller coaster with this one. He starts us off by not showing us a full view of Merrick, thus putting us in the shoes of the voyeuristic freak show audience that goes in blind to see something different that they've only heard about as a shallow curiosity. Then John goes to the hospital and becomes a medical anomaly and we're put in Hopkins place questioning if this is any more humane or if motives to keep him there are pure. But as Merrick becomes more vocal and visible he becomes more sympathetic, complex, admirable, and most importantly of all human.

David...you creative monster why!? Haha, had a great time with this. Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema Revisiting Django Unchained Friday! Enjoy the day!

ABSOLUTELY ADORE this film. We go from seeing this "monster" to seeing him as a beautiful soul and the true monsters are those that mock and abuse him. The humanity Merrick demonstrates is superior to all the other so-called normal people... This film is perfect evidence that the word ugly should be reserved for those that treat others in this manner. The fact that he died sleeping like a human being... lying down.. was, as deaths go, one of the better ways to show his constant pursuit to be equal... but he showed how much better he was than most of humanity. Based on a true story. Thanks for watching and reacting to this classic.

In my Top Ten of all time, and that slow dolly in to Anthony Hopkins face when he first sees John, and then that single tear falls out of his eye, is one of my favorite shots of all time. Coming off of 'Eraserhead' and this being his first studio release before we really discovered what the term 'Lynchian' would mean, Lynch's use of sound, in particular, in this film is really under noticed, I think.

One of my favourite films. Thank you for picking a hidden gem.

The tune was Adagio for Strings, by Samuel Barber, and the little guys who wished him luck, was Kenny Baker, or R2-D2 from Star Wars.

This movie makes me cry every time. Brilliant performances, heartbreaking story. Notice that those "creeps" as you appropriately called them, are less human than Mr. Merrick? An interesting contrast on "who is human" and "who is not human". I saw this when it first came out and bawled my eyes out. It was moving and horrific at the same time, watching him get abused by those scum. So glad you reacted to it, James. It should not be forgotten.

Such a quotable and thoughtful film. Some interesting facts about it: 1) You’ll notice a constant sound in the background of this movie, and that’s the sound of the gas lamps used back then. That’s great sound design. 2) Mel Brooks, the great comedy writer/director/actor responsible for Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, and much more was one of the producers. 3) IRL, John was named Joseph, and he was a very kind and sensitive soul who loved to read and write. He was born normal, and had to start working at a very young age as he had a shitty family life, and as his condition grew more grotesque and debilitating, had to resort to working for the circus. He was played by the late John Hurt, whose more recent and well-known roles include Ollivander the wandmaker in Harry Potter, the Chancellor in V for Vendetta, and Professor Broom in the Guillermo del Toro Hellboy movies. 4), An Elephant Man play unrelated to the film debuted the same year. In productions of the play, the actors cast in the title role are always handsome and don’t use any specialized makeup or prosthetics of any kind to recreate Merrick’s appearance. This is so that the audience sees him as a beautiful person while the other actors/characters act as if he looked like the real life Merrick.

I was fortunate enough to see this in play form at the Kennedy Center in the 70s. The actor playing Merrick wore no prosthetics. But believe me we all knew from the actors’ reactions to him how horrific his condition was. Fascinating.

One of the most effective movies that shows us who the real mosters are but still leaves us some hope for humanity.

John Hurt was so well rounded. This was just after his role as an astronaut Aliens.

You are the only person I support on Patreon. It's because of your love for the arts and creative incites and commentaries. Keep up the great work James. I am an artist-musician and relate to you in many ways.

An underrated film. Nice one!

This movie never fails to make me cry like a baby.

The end of the movie when Joseph "John" Merrick laid back was LITERALLY the end for Merrick himself. When he laid down his head backwards, it killed him by breaking his neck due to the weight of his head.

Watched this in my late teens really helped sculpt who I am today.

I really love your channel & reactions - you always take the road less travelled by movie wise and your content is all the better for it......this is a heartbreaking & beautiful film.....

I first saw this movie in the theater when I was about 19-20. It wrecked me. I walked away with such a deep, dark, sad, creepy feeling. Unfortunately, the college buddies I went with were terribly immature and just mocked the movie and made stupid jokes the whole way home. So much so that I questioned my own reaction. Thank you for explaining how intentionally dark and off-putting the director portrayed so many of these characters. I feel validated.

The Elephant Man was a real person. The movie takes a lot of liberties, but loosely follows his life after meeting Dr Treves. He passed away at 27. It's believed that either he fell, or as shown in the movie slept on his back, which caused a dislocation of a vertebra in his neck leading to asphyxiation. His condition remains undiagnosed, though several theories exist. The make-up was modeled from real casts taken of Merrick, and reportedly took over 7 hours to fully apply and around 2 hours to remove.

The fact that this is a true story is so crazy! Man

This was David Lynch's first mainstream film and only his second after Eraserhead. Two very different movies but there is still a lot of Eraserhead in The Elephant Man.

It was actually the princess who gave him a picture of herself in real life. In 1887 the hospital had just opened two new buildings and the Prince and Princess of Wales were there for the opening of them. The princess wanted to meet the Elephant man. She shook his hand, gave him a signed picture of herself and sent him a Christmas card every year. It's unknown whether Madge Kendal (the actress) ever actually met him, although she did help him Treves get the trip for Merrick see the show arranged and she was instrumental in raising public sympathy for him

Casts were taken from John Merrick (post mortem I believe), and the prosthetics worn by John Hurt were based directly on them. John kept the mask after shooting ended.

In the Oscars I heard that makeup artist Christopher Tucker who did the makeup for the elephant man and the original casting stage musical of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The PHANTOM of the OPERA (1986 in London for turning Michael Crawford into the title character) passed away last year.

James it’s a pleasure having you watch the films of David Lynch. He has made maybe 10 feature films. I hope you complete his filmography as his films are really memorable and moving.

FYI that Mrs. Mothershead was the great and wonderful Wendy Hiller, who had a long and extremely distinguished career on stage and film - she was in the 1930s adaptation of "Pygmalion", which was the original play that "My Fair Lady" was based on; she played the wife to Thomas More in "Man for All Seasons", among other wonderful roles. Always a strong, intelligent force. John Gielgud was Gomm. Though probably most famous as the butler in "Arthur", he was also a classically trained actor with a great movie and stage career. The music you are asking about is Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings", the most well known part of his String Quartet #11, and here is the whole adagio: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jaeff61prMilZI0.html

I love that you feel the rage. Love your reactions!

About to chill and watch! Love this movie with my heart. Love the channel too 👍

He was born just around the corner from me in Leicester, England. What a difficult film to watch, fantastic acting and such a heart wrenching story.

one of my flavorite movies ; ) The actual guy (Joseph) had friends and it was his idea to become a sideshow because he couldn't make ends meet. It is however, an excellent display of humanity shunning something or someone that is different. We're all just animals in nature.

The tune you hear at 22:05 is Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" from 1936. In 2004, listeners of the BBC's Today program voted it the "saddest" classical work ever.

Happy you watched this, great reaction xx

He wants to help, study but knows people will be scared of his appearance. Compassion, empathy.

That final music piece is Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings.

This was a great film. It was produced by Mel Brooks who kept his name off of it because he didn't want people to think it was a comedy. It was Brooks' idea to hire David Lynch to direct after he saw "Eraserhead" (this was Lynch's second film).There was an award winning Broadway play by the same name, but this was not a direct adaptation. However, it was a fairly accurate portrayal of events in John Merrick's life. The make-up was made from actual casts of Merrick's skull so his appearance was very accurate. It's interesting to note that John Hurt is the same actor that had the creature pop out of his chest in "Alien". He gets all the fun parts. Micheal Jackson was obsessed with the Elephant Man and attempted to buy his remains, but I don't think he was successful.

You don’t address it in the video but John dies in his sleep as he removed his pillow and lied flat. He wanted to end this perfect night by sleeping like a “normal” person would. So that cosmic visual of his mom is his last vision.

When the doctors wife meets merrick and shows him kindness and he weeps…. Wow.

I remember this 😔 movie. Thank you for this video and your reaction.

David Lynch's first film is a study of a horrendous urban nightmare. The sound and visuals are extraordinary and the images will stay with you a long time. That film was "Eraserhead". He made it while still in film school. I loved The Elephant Man". Though more drama than horror. I think it fits well in both genres and the acting and sets/costumes was superb. PBS showed the Broadway play of this film and it starred David Bowie WITHOUT makeup. Still, Bowie was believable as John Merrick.

Glad you discovered this amazing film. I watched it as a kid in the early 80s and at the time was scared of Joesph knowing he was a real person, but even so, I have always felt a affinity to Joseph Merrick, an affinity and respect that has become stronger as I get older and learned he is not to be feared. Maximum respect to him. I have watched the film an handful of times in my 47 years, but it never fails to get me tearing up, even watching your reaction video had the same effect on me, thanks. Recently bought the film on 4k bluray, I will be watching it tonight. Adagio for strings is the perfect music to end this film, even now that music gets the goosebumps up on my skin, be it in this film or the more recent Trance remake of the song. It's amazing to think we would not have this film today if not for the brilliant Mel Brooks who produced the film.

Simply one of the best films ever made... And to think it was made by "Brooksfilms" which was a new Production Company of Mel Brooks - a venture Mel Brooks was looking to do with serious films not done by him personally...

the bloke that "owns" Merrick is the brilliant actor Toby Jones' father, Freddie Jones. Now I see where the talent comes from.

Been a while since I watched this but if I remember I think my favorite scene is there is this brief moment after he's granted permanent residence at the hospital by Queen Victoria where he's acting very self-important. I forget how exactly it goes, and it happens right before the night with Jim showing him where Bytes takes him again, but for a brief moment he's acting somewhat petty and entitled and for me those were the moments in the film that crystallized his humanity. Once he's brought out of his shell he's sometimes touchy, or emotionally needy, or self-important just like anyone else and it was those moments of characterization that made him reverting to his former state impactful to me more than the parts that showed him acting kind, gentle, emotionally vulnerable, etc.

A wonderful movie, a tragic tale. I saw this in the theater back in the day. I need to rewatch this. John Hurt did such an amazing job bringing the Elephant Man to life. The real story of John Merrick is well worth the read, too.

John Hurt plays John Merrick. John Hurt is the crew member with the chest burster in Alien. I suggest watching every movie he's ever been in. Clear your schedule for about 5 years.

Anthony Hopkins is so mesmerizing. Hope your list of films includes seeing him in The Lion in Winter (1968). One of Hopkins’ first roles. Alongside Peter O’Toole, Katherine Hepburn and Timothy Dalton.

I have seen this movie many times snd I shed tears everytime. 😭

I watched this movie in school many years ago, I don’t feel like schools now a days are comfortable to show these kind of movies. It was hard to watch as a child to be fair such a heartbreaking story. “I am not an animal!”

The kid actor who played the circus man’s helper is Dexter Fletcher who also played Sgt. Martin in Band of Brothers and Soap in Guy Ritchies Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

Another epic film. Thank you. The piece of music both in this film, Platoon and many others is Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings

I also saw it on the big screen in 1980, when I was 22. I remember the silence at the end. Powerful. Five years later, a much different film, "Mask" - 1985 (A teenager with a massive facial skull deformity and biker gang mother attempt to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.) - had me reflecting on this movie and how his mother was the powerful force that protected his humanity with a vengeance! --- As for David Lynch, the biggest surprise for me was his movie "The Straight Story" - A G rated Lynch movie and a MUST SEE! What was striking for me about it, besides the cinematic beauty and performances (especially Richard Farnsworth), is how it treated average midwesterners with dignity and respect, something many films have failed to do.

The music you referenced has been used several times in movies and television. The Adagio for Strings was created by the great American composer Samuel Barber. As a classically trained musician, I can tell you that the work is regarded as a magnificent musical composition-it is both beautiful and haunting. I saw this movie in the theater when it was first released. It was heartbreaking then, and it is still devastating today.

Saw it at the theater, and I just cried. It was so long ago I never realized that was Anthony Hopkins as the doctor. The book was pretty widely read at the time, so we knew the basics of the story. Edit: 1971 book, as there are quite a few books and articles

You're ready for _Eraserhead_ now. I think that is truly an astonishing experience.

An absolute classic and a gem. Great pick EDIT: If you ever watch the Johny Depp movie 'From Hell', Elephant Man makes a cameo.

See the SNL skit "The Elephant Guy" with Steve Martin and Bill Murray. Martin has a foot long trunk for a nose, and says things like "You don't think they call me the elephant guy because of my nose, do you ?"

Fantastic reaction, so glad you chose this film. If you're looking to get more into Anthony Hopkins' fantastic resume, The Remains of the Day is IMO his greatest performance (and also the most heartbreaking). He and Emma Thompson are magic together. Might not get a ton of views if you were to do a reaction vid for it, but I highly recommend it as a film to watch even if on your time off.

9th grade open book report (1986), I chose 'The Elephant Man.' Got a B. Interesting, not compelling. If I watched this film first, A+++. The emotional rollercoaster... Tears of joy, fear, sadness, etc. My Goodness!

You GOTTA see Eraserhead, THE David Lynch Masterpiece. And maybe the weirdest movie ever! But still my Number One off all time.

I’m a mess every time I get to the Psalm 23 scene

Based on a real guy and it's based on a book, film stays pretty close to the book from what I remember, read it in jr high