The best and worst of humanity

Rating: 10/10 (12 March 2012)

...are to be found in The Elephant Man, David Lynch's masterful follow-up to his debut, Eraserhead. In many ways, this is an enormous departure from the utterly bizarre Eraserhead - it is a polished drama with well-developed characters and a clear-cut storyline. However, there are certainly artistic similarities, and maybe even thematic ones. There are a few strange Lynchian flourishes to be found in The Elephant Man, and the black-and-white images and industrial sounds are reminiscent of Eraserhead. Both films also are sympathetic portraits of outcasts.
However, The Elephant Man is ultimately a very different beast than Eraserhead, and distinctly different from most of Lynch's other works. This is a deeply compassionate, achingly sad film. John Merrick's story is heartbreaking enough on its own, but when told with Lynch's intimate, graceful approach and John Hurt's entirely believable and dignified performance, it's just about too sad to bear at points. But The Elephant Man also shows the moments of beauty and joy in Merrick's life. It may be a movie about the tragedy and injustice of human cruelty and ignorance, but is equally about human compassion, love and faith. This is one of those rare movies that everyone needs to see.