I am not an Animal, I'am a human being...

Rating: 10/10 (19 May 2001)

David Lynch's the Elephant Man is one of the most beautiful films anyone could imagine to see. It tells the story of John Merrick (Hurt), a sideshow performer cursed with Neurofibromatosis, an illness that causes the victim's bones and muscles to swell and distort. After he is affected by bronchitis, his "owner" places him in the care of Doctor Frederick Treves (Hopkins).
This is where the main part of the story takes off. Treves thinks that his findings with Merrick will make him a celebrity in the medical world, but little does he realise that he is forcing Merrick to exchange one freak-show for another.
Lynch's vision for the story is very dreamlike, drawing on the black and white abstract nature of his debut ERASERHEAD (1976), he paints a portrait of Victorian England in such a modern way that it feels so real you can almost taste the smoke that hangs in the air.
Boosted by the great performances (notably Hurt) the film can drive the most jaded audience to tears without ever resorting to sentimentality, taking us on a fantastic journey of hatred, friendship and the human spirit... The closing moments of the film, making excellent use of Barber's Adagio For Strings should go down in history as one of the defining moments of film history...
A modern classic *****