Elephant Man

[Find Your Magali]

I must have watched this a half-dozen times on cable in the early 1980s, but probably not since. Recently revisited it, as with most movies I watched as a pre-teen, it's amazing how much of it was ingrained shot for shot in my memory. (Though I had forgotten about the part with the Princess of Wales and a couple other moments that veer more toward humor.)

It's really stunning how good this is a mainstream, straightforward, Oscar-worthy film for Lynch's second feature. I can only imagine how much Mel Brooks' experience behind that scenes helped with a smooth production, paving the way for Brooks not interfering with Lynch's artistic vision (beyond casting his own wife, perhaps).

Kind of surprised that Ebert only gave it 2 stars, but then we know of the Ebert/Lynch history, he didn't come around on him until The Straight Story.