very slow with an interesting performance from John Hurt

Rating: 6/10 (27 September 2014)

London surgeon Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins) tries to see the Elephant Man in a freak show. The police closes down the show for being degrading. Bytes (Freddie Jones) is the man in charge of John Merrick (John Hurt). Treves is able to pay Bytes to let him see Merrick. A drunken Bytes brutally beats Merrick and Treves brings him back to the hospital. He scares the nurses and is an oddity for his colleges. Everybody assumes Merrick to be an idiot. The drunk Bytes demands to have his meal ticket Merrick back. Treves convinces the hospital governor Carr-Gomm (John Gielgud) to allow Merrick to stay. It turns out that Merrick is quite a well spoken man. Famous actress Madge Kendal (Anne Bancroft) is fascinated with news story of Merrick while the hospital's low life Night Porter brings people over to gawk at him.
There is a lot to admire about this movie. John Hurt is able to project innocence through all that makeup. Hopkins is fine but I kept wondering what the movie is trying to say. There is a lot missing from this. The twisted style of David Lynch is missing. The black and white looks good but it doesn't elevate the style. The story lacks tension. It's all very flat. And the movie is horribly slow. I imagine if this movie was in color, the critical raves would disappear. I think the black and white simply covered up a lot of bland movie-making with an artistic veneer.