Unforgettable Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (14 March 2014)

The Elephant Man touched me emotionally. I can't say I have watched many films that have done that. At first, I was reluctant to watch the film because I find most black and white films to be slow paced and quite boring. I know, unpopular opinion, but I am a mere sixteen year old boy and have grew up with all the newer stuff. But I digress, I watched the film because I came across the train station scene by accident on YouTube, which may have spoilt it a bit but it left me shattered and I knew that I had to watch the entire film. Knowing it was in fact a 1980 film, I assured myself that it wouldn't be like the black and white films I have watched. I was beyond correct.
I thought I'd feel sorry for John Merrick (John Hurt) and have a respect for him, but it was more than that. I found myself connected to John Merrick and to Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins). The characters were not only wonderfully wrote, but were also wonderfully acted. I was literally clenching my fist when the mob attacked Merrick wrecked his room. And that single tear running down Treves' cheek at the beginning of the film when he first saw Merrick was just so heartbreakingly perfect; you can see his feelings towards this new discovery without him saying anything at all.
Before watching the film, I found out that most of the film is in fact fictional, and that the name of the character was changed from Joseph Merrick to John Merrick (possibly due to it being in Treves' diary). This originally put me off slightly as I expected The Elephant Man to get everything wrong and send the wrong message. But I came to learn that that didn't matter at all. If this film were entirely fictional, it'd still be absolutely brilliant.
Every scene of The Elephant Man was essential, I believe. We slowly began to love and feel happy for Merrick, before he's chucked back into chaos and we're thrown into a state of both sadness and anger for the character we had grown to love and care about. The entire thing came together perfectly, thanks to the writers, Christopher De Vore, Eric Bergren and the great David Lynch, who also directed this brilliance of a film.
Another powerful thing to note is John Morris' amazing, perfectly suitable circus music. Each time it is used is in the perfect scenes where Merrick is being used like a circus freak. For example, the scene where Merrick is being thrown around and played with by the mob has this great music in the background. The harsher the mob gets, the more intense the music gets, which just adds to your anger at the people using Merrick for fun.
I like to imagine that the scene where Merrick dies isn't merely sad because he's trying to be like everyone else. It left me happy. Merrick didn't know whether he'd survive sleeping like that. He died believing that he was loved by so many. He was so happy. The only person I feel sad about in the end was Treves, because he'd have to continue living knowing that his friend was dead. Merrick died a happy, hopeful death.
This masterpiece of a film left me filled with so many different emotions. I swear I came out of this wiser and more fulfilled. It made such an impact on me, an indescribable impact. Not once did I find myself turning away, I was enthralled by it. I knew what I was going to see before watching it and knew of what basically happens in the film, but somehow it still left me amazed and touched. I never expected it to be this great. I would say more, but I think other reviewers have said everything else I have to say already. What a truly remarkable masterpiece.