Film review by Kevin Patterson
The Elephant Man (PG, 1980) Written by Eric Bergren, Christopher DeVore, and David Lynch. Directed by David Lynch. Starring Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt.
The Elephant Man is based on the true story of John Merrick, a man born so horribly disfigured that he was put in a carnival freak show, where he got his nickname "Elephant Man." Assumed to be a complete imbecile and exploited by the freak show owner, his plight was ignored until he was taken to the hospital for beatings from his owner. It was there that Dr. Frederick Trieves discovered that Merrick was in fact quite intelligent and could hold conversation like anyone else; painfully aware of his own humiliation, he had always been afraid to speak.
Fine performances are turned in by Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Trieves, the well-meaning physician who nevertheless realizes he is walking a fine line between genuinely helping Merrick and using the case for the sake of notoriety among the medical community, and by John Hurt as Merrick. Hurt successfully plays his character as someone who is very grateful for the chance finally to experience life as a human rather than as an animal in a zoo and approaches everything with both the wonder of a child and the wisdom of an adult. It is this characterization that, more than anything else, makes The Elephant Man such a powerful story: it is impossible not to sympathize with Merrick. Director David Lynch, who is well-known for his bizarre films, appropriately puts aside his usual weirdness here to concentrate on the story; he in fact possesses an almost equal flair for emotional intensity, which serves this film well.
There are two minor flaws in The Elephant Man- first of all, the sequence in which Merrick is kidnapped by his former owner and put back in the carnival is merely glossed over; he escapes and returns to Dr. Trieves almost immediately. I can't help but think that to be dragged back to his status as a circus freak after years of building up his self-respect from nothing must have been more significant in the life of the real John Merrick; this deserved more time. (On the other hand, this part does at least pave the way for what is perhaps the climax of the film, when Merrick finally has the courage to declare, "I am not an animal! I am a human being!") Second of all, many of the transitions between scenes suffered from inexplicably choppy editing. I am not someone who usually notices that kind of thing in a film, but it's kind of hard not to notice that the screen is starting to fade out while a character is still talking.
These small problems, however, do not change the status of The Elephant Man as a classic drama and a wonderfully told story of the strength of human dignity. Hats off to Hurt, Hopkins, and Lynch for this one.
Grade: A-
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