does not appeal to my "taste buds"

Rating: 2/10 (11 September 2008)

The only reason I gave this movie 2/10 is because of Anthony Hopkins. Other than that, it is repulsive. It made me feel sick. Made me feel hollow and depressive. There isn't one little spark of the delightful in this movie. There is only the bottomless indulgence in the bizarre and noir. This is not a portrayal of the human misery. This is a wretched exploitation of it. The fine line, after which this stops being sincere and pure, in a way it should have been, and starts wallowing in the ordure, only for it's own amusement and pleasure, is crossed. The elephant raping a woman at the very beginning is a clear indication that Lynch, in this case at least, was more distorted than it was suitable and necessary.
I am not so convinced in Merrick's inner beauty either. I simply do not know what this man was like. This movie didn't appoint me to that. It was not about his personality at all, he couldn't have been a living machine that endures that much terror with absolutely no consequences to his innocence? If it was to show the contrast between the ugliness of the world that fit so well with his external ugliness, and the splendor of his persona on the other side, it failed. One extreme doesn't necessarily bring the other to life. He was presented as a puppet with no real human trait, a disposable fiction. Him shouting "I am a man!", as sad as it is, is simply not enough... So in a way this movie isn't black & white. It is black & gray.
But real Merrick was probably more prudential and clever. He took advantage of his own deficiency the best way he knew. It was probably the only thing he could have done in order to survive. By giving people exactly what they need.