A baroque masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (29 July 2003)

"Elephant Man" is the 6th movie from David Lynch and probably is most "baroque" work. Staged in Victorian England, directed in 1980 and shot in black and white. Elephant Man might very well be one of the most powerful movies in history so far... The film is based on the true story of John Merick, the Elephant Man. David Lynch adapted this story following a very basic/simple narrative construction, emerging the audience in part of the life of John Merick from the time when he gets noticed in a freak show by a British surgeon to the time...(well you'll find out by yourself). The interpretation of both Anthony Hopkins as the British surgeon, Dr. Frederick Treves and John Hurt as the Elephant Man, John Merick is "mistakeless". The ton is right from beginning to end. Not one dialog is overplayed or downplayed. Overall the actors deliver an amazing performance. Anne Bancroft (Mrs. Kendal) is acting so true, John Gielgud (Carr Gomm) is the archetype of the humanist gentleman and Freddie Jones (Bytes) is impersonating this pathetic drunk vile character to perfection. The picture itself is flawless and very well balanced: few close up, few traveling. Every camera technique serves only one purpose: telling the story. The black and white picture is the perfect fit and reinforces the 'baroque' like atmosphere as well as helps the audience focus on the feelings demonstrated by all actors. Feelings are really what make this 'quest for humanity' an exceptional cinematic experience. It is an 'initiatic journey'. We start with a descent in Horror, dehumanization and monstrosity; we climb back to decency and tolerance to eventually arrive at the door of 'humanism'. We need to remember that how we act is who we are. If we act like animals we are animals and if we act like human beings we in fact become human beings. In other words we are not human by essence but we become human through our actions. In this regards John Merick appears to be the human one among us...
Once again and after 'Eraserhead' (1977), David Lynch is demonstrating his skills in terms of 'mise-en-scene'. He is comfortable handling weirdness and monstrosity and he does so with maestro, triggering our deepest fear, our darkest side and eventually the more human part of our body: our heart