The Elephant Man (1980, David Lynch)
I’m sure you know about The Elephant Man already. This movie is based on the true story of Joseph “John” Merrick (John Hurt), a man who lived in 19th-century England. Merrick was severly disfigured through a congenital disease (which exact disease, we still do not know till this day) and spent most of his life as a sideshow freak. Dr. Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins) then comes along and takes Merrick under his wing, giving him treatment and helping Merrick regain some dignity and a decent standard of living. Throughout all this, Merrick is revealed to not be an imbecile as his “owner” would have Treves believe, but a person of intelligence and great sensitivity.
First of all: John Hurt. Wow. What an amazing performance. The movie was nominated for 8 Oscars in 1981, but didn’t win a single one. Hurt was nominated, but lost to Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull (a movie I’m not particularly fond of). Hopkins, Anne Bancroft, and John Gielgud also do well, although Hurt clearly owns this movie.
Applying that makeup must have taken an absolute age, and it works amazingly well. If I hadn’t known it was Hurt, I never would have guessed. Yet through the disfigurement, he managed to really convey the sensitivity, humour and intelligence of Merrick, an amazing feat.
Lynch also does an impressive job here. Shooting in black and white, it looks gorgeous (yet bleak). I was completely engrossed in the story, and while I knew where we’d eventually end up, I felt satisfied with it. I can’t speak to its accuracy, but I felt I got a complete picture of Merrick’s life.
This movie is absolutely beautiful, and positively tragic. It both lifted my spirits, and broke my heart.
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