The Best Documentary Ever Made

YouTube is amazing - I'm so glad I've found this documentary about a Japanese professor trying to track down Einstein's Brain. Apparently they removed it in Princeton medical school during his autopsy, and kept it for research - but it went missing when the guy in charge of the project moved on. The Japanese prof just keeps approaching random hospital staff (or doctors with the same name who he's found in the phone book) and saying 'I rooking for Einstein brain', to their complete bafflement.

For years I've had a hazy memory of it, but it seemed so bizarre that I wondered whether I'd dreamed it or imagined it or something. Now I know that the doc exists as I remember it - although whether it's genuine, or a clever pastiche, or a profound art film, I'm still not certain. (Sketchy details on IMDB.)

Where it gets questionable is when he tracks down the guy who did the research to some town in Kansas, but doesn't know where he lives. He asks a local resident if he knows where to find him - and it turns out to be William Burroughs (see part 5 - 2:45)! Then when he does find the old researcher, he has the brain in a jar - and cuts him a slice on his chopping board to take home. You have to take a look.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6
Conclusion