Mask is one of Peter Bogdanovich’s saddest movies, yet also the most uplifting. Despite attempts at various genres and styles, the intersection of tragedy and authenticity is where his greatest achievements lie, and Mask is a tremendous example. The message of the movie is quite familiar to anyone who has ever seen or read these sorts of stories before, but Bogdanovich heightens the emotions by mixing in family dynamics, the joys and difficulties of adolescence as well as illustrating the complexity and, ultimately, divine worth of every human being. If ever there was a person who exemplified such ideas, it was surely Roy “Rocky” Dennis.

The screenplay for Mask is based upon the life of Rocky Dennis, born to Florence “Rusty” Tillis, who was diagnosed with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, an extremely rare bone disorder that causes calcium to build up in the skull. This gave Rocky’s face a very elongated appearance, sometimes termed lionitis, and doctors did not expect him to live past age seven. Yet Rocky achieved many other feats no medical expert thought possible including learning to read, excelling in school and eventually living to the age of sixteen, at which he passed away in his sleep. Before he died, Rocky met Anna Hamilton Phelan at a hospital who then contacted Rusty to get the rights to Rocky’s life as the basis for her screenplay. According to Phelan, Rusty only had two objections to the first draft: she didn’t want to be depicted ironing clothes, and she wouldn’t allow herself to be shown drinking because she only abused drugs.

For Bogdanovich, the journey to Mask occurred for little reason other than he needed money after the tragic and costly results of his previous work, They All Laughed. When discussing his career, Bogdanovich spoke little about Mask, suggesting he didn’t think of it as anything more than a job, but an inferred interest in Rocky and his situation stems from an instance involving the director’s former girlfriend, Dorothy Stratten. Stratten showed an interest in the story of Joseph Merrick (the “Elephant Man”) and saw parallels in her own life regarding how people would point and stare at her in public, as they certainly did in the case of Merrick and Rocky. For Bogdanovich, then, extreme beauty can be as difficult to deal with as extreme deformity, but the ‘masks’ of external looks do not reveal a person’s inner characteristics and abilities. Ultimately, people like Stratten, whose beauty could alienate others, and Merrick and Rocky, who feel alienated for not looking like others, simply desire to be treated as equals among their peers. Despite being a for-hire director, Bogdanovich demonstrates a genuine affection and appreciation for Rocky (Eric Stoltz) and his substance-abusing but loving mother, Rusty (Cher). Their relationship is built on frustration, disappointment, and anger with life but is countered with humor, sarcasm and a defiant will to live. This notion, of course, has become so ubiquitous in our culture it is thought of as trite, but if it continues to hang around, perhaps we haven’t gotten the message quite yet?

Mask explores Rocky and Rusty’s lives, both separately and together. For Rusty, life has become a kind of inescapable tragedy. Indeed, the movie makes it clear that one of the biggest reasons she abuses drugs and sleeps with various men is to deal with the pain which stems from being unable to help her son. Yet, the greatest gift she gives Rocky is the lesson that the world cannot and will not change for him. Rather, he must bravely face his unique challenges with truth, kindness and empathy for others who do not reciprocate the feeling. Soon enough, everyone in the movie, and the audience, is won over by this remarkable, intelligent and gentle young man whose unusual facial features merely cover the humanity within. This is the central theme of Mask and it is illustrated through the warm and inviting performances of Stoltz and Cher, whose chemistry is believable and moving. Supporting them is Rusty’s on-off boyfriend Gar (Sam Elliott), a gentle tree trunk of a man who cares for the pair and treats Rocky as if his own. As part of a group of hard partying but lovable and inviting bikers, Rusty and Rocky perform songs together and bask in the group’s friendliness and camaraderie. In these scenes, Bogdanovich emphasizes how these people have created a safe haven for Rocky to feel as normal as any other sixteen-year-old. Rocky forges a best friendship with one of the biker’s sons, and the gang quickly comes to his defense if anyone tries to treat him differently. Rocky has no misgivings regarding his status in the outside world and, as a result of his mother’s unconditional love, rarely gets upset if people make fun or point and stare at him. He knows his inherent value and what he brings to any interaction, and this is pointedly what draws us to him.

In the screenplay, Phelan doesn’t go for many of the outrageous or provocative scenes typical of movies about marginalized characters trying to fit into society, such as Rocky being physically assaulted or put in danger, but one moment that could have been played this way is when he tells his mother how he feels he will never find a girl who can see past his looks. She (in her drug-addled wisdom) goes to a bar, finds a prostitute and brings her back to Rocky’s bedroom. Bogdanovich plays this sequence straight and uses it as a prime example of Rocky’s infectious benevolence and personality. The two young people simply talk; the woman bemoans her misfortune while Rocky attempts to give her some advice on how to view life more positively and effectively. Despite having every reason to be, Rocky is not hostile or resentful of others or even his own circumstances. He knows he is different but also knows that focusing on this will not improve his life. By illustrating to others his abilities at humor, memorization and tutoring, people are forced to reconcile with how they really feel about his deformity and soon the realization that his face is merely a different kind of mask than theirs breaks down the social barriers and exposes his true and shared nature of humanity.

To emphasize this point is important but it is not the entirety of Mask. Despite the simplicity of the story arc, Bogdanovich maintains interest by cutting between Rocky’s safe haven at home and the difficult wilderness of the world which includes plenty of positive encounters. Beyond the sweet caring of his encounter with the prostitute, Rocky falls in love with a blind girl (Laura Dern) he meets at a summer camp, and their scenes together are the heart of this movie and everything it stands for. In these few encounters, Stoltz and Dern capture the essence of two young people who have had fundamental elements of their normalcy stolen from them by tragedy but find solace in the fact that they can rely on the other person to bolster them through difficult times. In these quiet and touching moments, Bogdanovich gives us a powerful example of what is perhaps the greatest ambition of all people: to help fellow people through impediments and, by doing so, lessen their own suffering.