One of the best films of the last 25 years

Rating: Null/10 (18 October 2003)

This is film making of exceptional quality.
As one would expect from David Lynch it is visually impressive. Shot in black and white the film evokes a Victorian world which is dark and sinister.
But what sets this film apart is the portrayal of Jon Merrick by John Hurt. Merrick is a man who has seen and experienced the worst humanity has to offer - indeed his life has consisted of little else. Yet his exquisite appreciation of what is best and most beautiful in mankind is incredibly moving. So moving in fact that the film is at times almost too painful to watch. We see scenes in which a cruel world brutalises Merrick alongside moments when he treasures simple moments of kindness and expresses a fine understanding of aesthetic beauty.
The film reminds us that Merrick was, in its truest sense, a fine and beautiful man.