"Touching" doesn't begin to describe it.

Rating: 10/10 (13 May 2015)

This wonderful, heartrending drama stands tall as one of the finest hours for filmmaker David Lynch and actors Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt. Hopkins stars as Frederick Treves, an eminent surgeon in Victorian era London. While attending a carnival, he becomes aware of the existence of a sideshow attraction, John Merrick (John Hurt). Merricks' face is grotesquely distorted due to a congenital disease, and Treves's heart goes out to the poor man. He tries to give Merrick every comfort he can, and for the first time in Merricks' life, he's treated with respect and caring by people. Of course, there will still be those damnable individuals who merely seek to exploit Merrick for their own selfish reasons.
Hopkins is absolutely great, but it's Hurt who commands your attention, and for good reason. He plays Mr. Merrick as a kind, gentle soul, who struggles mightily to maintain some dignity yet has a heartbreaking vulnerability about him. He also does an impressive job of conveying emotion beneath the amazing cranial makeup devised by Christopher Tucker. Hopkins and Hurt are supported by a peerless, mostly British cast, although Anne Bancrofts' role as stage star Mrs. Kendal is really no more than an extended cameo. John Gielgud and Wendy Hiller are particularly fine as the supportive Mr. Carr Gomm and the head nurse Mothershead. And on the other side of the coin, where we see "humanity" at its worst, we have solid performances by Freddie Jones as the possessive Mr. Bytes and Michael Elphick as the sleazy night porter.
The film is well made in every respect, with Lynch and his crew creating a very rich and powerful period atmosphere. It's beautifully shot in black & white and Panavision by the great Freddie Francis, and receives a lovely music score by John Morris.
Long but engrossing, "The Elephant Man" earns its emotional responses from the audience in an honest and memorable way.
Unrelated to any previous telling of the real-life story or to the Broadway play.
10 out of 10.