Very emotional and cuts deep - for me an unorthodox Lynch film (because it is so straight up narrative and emotional!)

Rating: 7/10 (26 April 2020)

I must say, I was rather surprised by the tone and narrative approach of this film... mainly because I have seen many more WICKED films by Lynch before (Twin peaks, the LA trilogy, ...). This one is super emotional on a few levels. We stay always close to the 'Elephant man' and are taken trough his journey among men and we experience his hardship from first hand.
Visually it transports one into a dark, grey, industrial nightmare of a world, a victorian tough (and hell, I liked the circus bit at the beginning - this is how one imagines those old circuses, don't we?)
The screenplay, acting, direction all come together to create this extraordinary viewing experience. You really feel like you get inside this man and his tortured existence. The actors did a very intense job.
Rarely does a film find a way to leave us with such a sense of closure and lingering fascination. The thing that really makes this film truly great is it changes the way people see themselves, other people and the world. There's a transforming quality about it.
To me, this proves once again and once more that Lynch is a chameleon, slipping in different film maker roles. He strangely stays close to the deeper levels of the soul - sometimes through wicked, mad riddle-tales (LA trilogy), sometimes through mixing soap-and-horror-genres (twin peaks), sometimes through heartfelt and emotional close-to-main-character-plays (this film). He is a very changeable filmmaker that thrives on many levels. He never stops to surprise me and this is maybe one of his greatest qualities: to go deep and surprise us all over again. Wonder and transformation are in his hands.