If You Like Movies About Humanity

Rating: Null/10 (6 August 1999)

I saw this film on video in the summer of 1985. Anthony Hopkins had done many things, mostly in Britain, but I remembered "The Bounty"(1984 with Mel Gibson) and "Peter and Paul"(1981 TV) and knew about "Magic" (1978) and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"(1982 TV). He was not yet a big star, but you'd never know it from his high calibre work. He gives one of his best performances of his distinguished career in "The Elephant Man," regardless of his later Oscar-winning roles.
David Lynch seemed to be making a movie about people, rather than just a strange story (as in almost everything else he's done before or since). Shooting it in black and white gave it both an odd feeling of authenticity, and a surreal artistic look. These are words and worlds Lynch is famous for.
The movie is based on the play by Bernard Pomerance, which remains one of the most moving pieces of genuine theater there has ever been. Since the story of John Merrick is mostly true, with some dramatic license added, of course, it affects us even more. We can't imagine having to live a life with such deformity. We can't imagine how he did it. The film moves us by showing that there was a real human being much like ourselves in the body of a side show freak.
In the play, the title character is performed without the aid of make up. Slides are shown of what he actually looked like, and we use our imaginations from there. In this movie, John Hurt is in full make up and prosthetics which is eventually shown on screen. Until then, we only see the other actors' reactions to his looks, which builds tension and piques our curiosity. Amazingly, both actors have an incredible task: Play a freak in human form, and to play a man in freakish form. Each calls for an actor of immense talent. You will not be disappointed.