A human being

Rating: 9/10 (15 May 2000)

It's incredible to see that the same author of the visions of "Blue Velvet" and "Wild at Heart" is the same of two poetics operas like "The Straight Story" or "The Elephant Man". Me, I prefer this kind of David Lynch, a man who shows us the hypocrite and cruel society: if John Merrick (a wonderful John Hurt) is an external ugly, the Victorian society is much more ugly in his cruelty against him. His shout: "I'm not an animal! I'm a human being!" it's still deeply and sadly actual. Great performances by Anthony Hopkins (it is fantastic, but this performance is not valued), Anne Bancroft and the 2 old glories John Gielgud and Wendy Hiller. Fantastic and moving!