A tribute to the spirit and humanity of people who are physically different from the average: very tall and very large men and women, a bearded woman and her long-time husband, Siamese twins joined at the midsection, and several little people including actor Billy Barty. We meet some at Gibsonton, Florida, where carnival folk winter. They talk about their lives and accomplishments. The camera also goes on the road to visit a grandfather with a distinctive face, a legless mechanic from Kentucky on a second honeymoon in LA, a marathon runner and motivational speaker who has no feet, a karate student with partial limbs, and an armless, down-to-earth mom in Texas.
Direction
Rasky refuses exploitation; his camera waits, listens, loves.
Acting
Billy Barty's charm offensive—career spanning 50+ years.
Writing
Plummer's narration: poetic without patronizing.
Director
Harry Rasky
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Gibsonton, Florida was a real winter haven for carnival performers—complete with anatomically-specific zoning laws. The town still celebrates this legacy.
Rasky filmed this after the 1980 Elephant Man phenomenon; his subjects knew Lynch's film and actively negotiate with that iconography throughout.
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