David Lynch on The Elephant Man (feat. Mel Brooks)
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- David Lynch talks about getting hired by Mel Brooks to make "The Elephant Man" (1980).
January 13th, 2006
The full interview is available here : • David Lynch: The Idea ...
You know your first movie is good when Mel Brooks and George Lucas want you to direct their stuff. Plus Stanley Kubrick called Eraserhead his favorite movie.
Finally saw that movie for the first time about a year ago. Wow. That is the strangest movie I have ever seen, but impossible to turn away from.
It’s one f the greatest films ever made, period. It’s wildly original.
@@joesantamaria5874 I don't know if I would go that far, but it certainly _IS_ wildly original.
In an alternate universe, Mel Brooks's The Elephant Man is a timeless comedy classic.
David Lynch's Spaceballs
that was parodied in the Jeff Goldblum movie The Tall Guy, where his character plays an actor who wins the title role in a crass musical of the Elephant Man called Elephant!
@dcanmore That's right, good movie that.
@ very underrated, written by Richard Curtis and with Rowan Atkinson being a wonderfully obnoxious character.
I love how Mel Brooks had the self-awareness and humility to take his ego out of The Elephant Man, so that it would have a better chance of finding an audience and doing well, which of course it did. Then he went and did the same thing a few years later, of course, with David Cronenberg's The Fly. He must be a real mensch.
Mel Brooks was involved in The Fly? One of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies!
@@JustWasted3HoursHere Yeah, his company Brooksfilms produced both of these movies, pretty much independently as I recall. He chose not to put his own name on the credits, though, so people wouldn't think they were one of his usual knockabout comedies. He just wanted to give new young filmmakers a leg-up.
@@JustWasted3HoursHere Oh, and The Fly is my sixth favourite film of all time. 🙂
@@stewmott3763 I knew he had produced The Elephant Man but had no idea about The Fly. I knew about why he kept his name off the credits too, which makes sense.
@@JustWasted3HoursHere Like I said - a mensch. 🙂
Rest in Paradise David Lynch
Holy crap, a. David Lynch Return of the Jedi would be astonishing
We had a glimpse of his visionary power in Dune. Maybe with the unlimited money of George Lucas he could have given us the perfect ending of Star Wars?
Yeah everyone seems to agree that the Return of the Jedi is the weakest of the three movies, I think it's fine but one can certainly imagine a Lynch version that would have taken it into the stratosphere...
@@marcopederzoli4939
As much as I love both George and David, I think it's for the best they didn't collaborate on a project. George kept a tight leash over Empire and Jedi as he hired both Irvin Kershner and Richard Marquard to be like television directors. They did the directing under his guidelines in how things needed to be shot and he was able to focus on the things he likes doing best such as design and editing. As well as according to Howard Kazanjian in his book David wanted to get rid of Ben Burtt and I believe he mentioned John Williams as well. David wouldn't have been given the freedom he'd need to make a truly great film as he'd constantly have George in his ear. He like George is an artist who works best when they have the freedom to do their own thing without interference from outside noise.
David Lynch talked about his meeting with George Lucas at Skywalker Ranch, he had a headache the whole time that got worse and worse, and realized Lucas already had the movie planned out entirely, he would've just been there to point and shoot what was given to him by Lucas and not been expected to give his own directorial or artistic input.
mel brooks: "you got two more questions kid get on with it"...interviewer: asks a genuinely interesting question...mel brooks: "let me tell you all about it"
From anyone else that might have sounded a bit rude, but from Mel Brooks it sounds like a cuddle from your grandad.
He was a sweet man as was (was..my god..!) David Lynch..
@@shawnbingley5433Mel Brooks is still alive
@ I know..
An artist understands fellow artist. Love Mel.
When Steven Spielberg was looking for someone to play famous western director John Ford for his biopic "The Fablemans", he asked David if he'd be willing to do it. And he did!
Lynch did it in favor of a bag of Cheetos apparently
Didnt spielberg say it was because ford was the best director of his generation and lynch is the best director of our generation and thats why he cast him?
@goldengamers937 Not sure, but that sounds about right.
It's very clear watching both Eraserhead and The Elephant Man why George would be interested in him for Return of the Jedi. Both of their films are filled with strong visual imagination, empathy for the human condition, major focus on sound design, music that intertwines seamlessly with the image, and countless other things in common. They have their differences of course, but it's very clear watching both of their films why George would be drawn to him. People often forget how experimental his films really are as they've become so engrained into popular culture.
I remember the first time I saw The Elephant Man in Baltimore, probably shortly after the NY premiere in October 1980. Looking back, I really feel like I was at the tail end of a period were film could be (but of course didn't have to be) fine art. Sure, there was a story and there were sympathetic characters, but I mostly remember how the film was photographed, composed in a very creative and artistic manner. There have been many great films since, exciting or funny or moving, but very few of them approach the status of art quite in the way that The Elephant Man did. I miss those days. Everything seemed possible.
Mel really is a class-act... to have the integrity to say to himself: "this is a great film, but I'll hurt it by putting my name on it." That sort of thing just does not happen very often.
The Elephant Man is a beautiful film. Anthony Hopkins is just astounding
Two classy amazing artists
Mel Brooks is not recognized enough for his brilliance. He's every bit as good as any of the great directors/producers.
Mel Brooks: This David Lynch character says what he wants to _clearly_ without any ambiguity.
Everybody Else: I wonder what this shot means, the symbolism is so ambiguous, Lynch is so abstract...
Everyone else thinks too hard. Mel just feels it and understands it that way which is what Lynch wants
@@Charles12 👏
Lynch uses pretty tangible themes and symbolism. Lynch is smart but isn’t trying to trick audiences.
Ive found myself feeling exactly like mel when it comes to Lynch’s stuff. To me he’s telling me very precisely how I’m supposed to feel, but not what I’m supposed to think. I can think whatever I want about how I feel, but I’m feeling exactly what I’m supposed to be feeling.
It was wise to downplay Mel Brooks' involvement, especially with a title like The Elephant Man it could sound comical, especially for those of us who had no idea who John Merrick was and the horrible affliction he had to endure. In those lovely days before the internet there were no leaked images of John Hurt in his make-up and we were shocked when he is revealed for the first time. I saw it in 1980 and it was an unforgettable experience. It was the first David Lynch film I had the opportunity to see. I had read about Eraserhead in a couple books about cult movies but I wouldn't actually see it for a few years later. He was the ideal director for this and really gives this period a gritty and grimy realism.
awesome video. Well done.
I miss David Keith Lynch.
I think a big reason David turned down ROTJ is because so much of the world of Star Wars was pre-created by George Lucas. David is a world-builder himself and working on a Star Wars movie would have reduced him to a TV director basically, a director that directs an episode and goes away. Probably explains why he took Dune because Dune didn’t exist on film yet and it gave him a chance to invent an exotic world and how the characters looked from scratch.
The Elephant Man is a great film, and it's really quite remarkable that David Lynch directed it. It demonstrates his considerable talents in directing, that story's not in his mileu at all.. Only Stanley Kubrick could direct films with precision and originality that were totally unrelated. That's the mark of a truly great director.
I imagine Lucas thought he was going to micromanage Lynch in he did accept Return of the Jedi. Just imagine what Jabba the Hutt might have looked like if Lynch had any say in the design. It might have been a distant kin to the baby from Eraserhead.I doubt this collaboration would have lasted very long before Lynch quit.
@@madahad9 George was heavily involved on both Empire and Jedi. Both Irvin Kershner and Richard Marquard were hired directors to fufill his vision. They didn't have much wiggle room to do their own thing as George kept a tight ship. David wisely understood this and stepped away. Having said that, you can tell they both have a lot of respect for each other. George mentioned David fondly in the TCM fantasy special he hosted back in 2015, while David had very kind things to say about George in his book Room to Dream. So, there's definitely a mutual respect for one another even it wasn't meant to be for them to collaborate on a project together.
Mel brooks while a hilarious person really loves the horror genre and always cares about giving a work the best foot forward
I will always respect Mel Brooks for giving David Lynch final cut when contractlly he didn't have to he respected Lynch enough to trust him cause Mel knew he hired an artist not someone who does it for the money
Never respected Mel Brooks more.
“Kill her, Elephant Man!”
😂
So selfless and self aware on Mel Brooks part
Just imagine how much more interesting return of the jedi would have been if David Lynch would have directed it?!?!
Pity that didn’t happen.
It would only have been interesting if Lucas had let Lynch do whatever he liked, let him have total control over the script etc but that was never going to happen so it would probably become another “Dune”
Maybe he would have done away with the teddy bears as they let the film down somewhat.
@@fordprefect80 the "teddy bears" were originally meant to be Wookies in the script.Then George thought about all the merchandise he could sell if they were lovable little "teddy bears". And that's how Ewoks ruined Episode VI.
@@johnp515
George had tight control on both Empire and Jedi. Both Irvin Kershner and Richard Marquard were hired directors like television. They were the first to say that they're George's films and they were hired hands to fufill his vision. The reason both David Lynch and David Cronenberg declined is because they knew they wouldn't have much wiggle room to experiment or do their own thing. Star Wars is George's baby. So, while it's unfortunate we never got to see either take a swing at Star Wars it's certainly for the best.
@@msh6865
The Ewoks show us what Yoda taught us of size not mattering. This is a theme throughout George's films. He often shows the little guy being far more powerful than the big guy. This can be seen with Luke blowing up the Death Star, Willow in Willow, R2-D2 being the bearer of knowledge, and even the Whills concept we never got in his Sequel Trilogy. Plus he went with Ewoks instead because he wanted to go for a more primitive society as he felt Chewbacca showed the wookiees are more than that. He played with this again in The Phantom Menace with another primitive society. Both it and Jedi are the most closely linked between the two trilogies. It wasn't a merchandising decision but a storytelling decision.
Mel deserves all he got
I never knew Mel produced The E Man 'til yesterday buck figured he did cuz his wife was in it..🤓😎✌🏻
The Elephant man was total comedy compared to most of the stuff Mel Brooks did from the 80s onwards
"I don't really think George likes to... direct."
RedLetterMedia (circa 2007) entered the chat.
The new lynch is me
damn
Opinion: Brooks could of made movies like Woody Allen however chose not to...made hugely funny films but there is pathos there. Brooks saw a young Hitchcock in his gut. Look at Young Franky...he filmed it authentically...funny as hell though
Only way to improve on a classic film is to remake it with the muppets. No film can`t be improved with muppets
If Lynch had directed maybe they could have gotten rid of the teddy bears. Movie starts with Princess Leia in bondage and boba fett thrown into a pit and ends with teddy bears.
Yoda taught us size matters not, Leia in the gold bikini is following many classic B Movie and pulp magazine traditions, and there's many pits in Star Wars. It's symbolism for rings within rings.
My mind is exploding imaging a David Lynch "Return of the Jedi"! It would be radically different, no doubt, but in what ways...who's to say?
I think the story would be exactly the same, and I think a lot of the tatooine and Endor stuff would be similar to why we saw. But definitely the death star and Palpatine would be a lot scarier/and surreal.
@@Gildedowlmedia338Sounds about right. But imagine if he were making one of the sequel trilogy movies, where the directors are given TOTAL control over not just directing but the story as well. Hard to say how strange it would be, if at all. The original trilogy had one vision because they were written by one man, but the sequel trilogy is all over the place because they were essentially allowed to do whatever they wanted no matter what came before or would have to follow after.
@@Gildedowlmedia338
Most likely not actually because Richard Marquard was a hired director. He had to follow George's guidelines in how the film was to be shot and made. George edited, designed, and had final say on all aspects. Same with Irvin Kershner on Empire. This is the very reason David Lynch, and also David Cronenberg, declined the project. They didn't want to be a hired hand fulfilling someone else's vision. Likewise Lynch even wanted to replace Ben Burtt. Ultimately, some are comfortable being hired directors like Kersh and Richard, while others like George and both David's are auteurs who create their own universes.
Ahahah