THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980) Review

12th September 2011

This was a courageous film for it’s time. The year was 1980, it was the year of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and The Blues Brothers, and before that, Apocalypse Now, Moonraker, and Alien. The budgets for films were getting bigger and bigger, special effects were improving at an unbelievable rate, and more young and up coming directors were surpassing exceptions. People were going to the movies for cheap thrills and kicks, big budgets and high special effects. Then came along, Raging Bull by Martin Scorsese, and later David Lynch’s The Elephant Man. Two films that proved that you make a masterpiece on a shoe-string budget with the art of film making and the power of performances. Today, I will be focusing on Lynch’s The Elephant Man.

David Lynch had become a cult star with his first film Easerhead (1977) showing it on the underground circuit and at several film festivals around the country. Lynch’s Easerhead came to the attention of producer Stuart Cornfeld and director Mel Brooks, who remarked “I was just 100 per cent blown away… I thought it was the greatest thing I’d ever seen. It was such a cleansing experience.” Brooks made contact with Lynch and asked to be involved with his next project. After Lynch failed to find financiers for his planned film Ronnie Rocket he went to Cornfeld to find him a script written by someone else but which he could direct. Cornfeld came back with four scripts for Lynch in which he immediately knew the first was for him going on nothing but the title, The Elephant Man.

Inspired by the true story of heavy deformed Joseph Merrick living in Victorian London, who was abused as a side show freak but later taken under the wing of a London surgeon, Frederick Treves. John Hurt was cast as Merrick and Anthony Hopkins as Treves. While the film was shot in black and white, it is clearly one of Lynch’s most straightforward and conventional films. Yet, Lynch still brings his stylish surrealistic lenses to the film, and mixes moods of dark tension and music with dialogue about what it means to be human.

Amazingly, the film was only made for five millions dollars, a huge budget jump for Lynch since Easerhead was on ten thousand dollars. Yet it had a box office return of over twenty six million and received much love and praise from audiences and critics. The Elephant Man was so praised that it won the BAFTA Award for Best Film as well as Best Actor for John Hurt’s portrayal of Merrick and Best Production Design. It was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Adapted Screenplay. However it eventually lost the Oscar to Robert Redford’s drama film Ordinary People. On The Elephant Man, Lynch has said, “I think I did the best job that could be done. And I didn’t compromise except maybe two or three times, but no more than that.”

The real beauty and strength of The Elephant Man relies on the powerful performances given by Hurt and Hopkins in the way their detail the close relationship of Merrick and Treves. Merrick’s desires and dreams are fed to him by the Treves, other members of the medical staff, and other people from the outside world. He desires to live a life not bound by his appearance and finds moments of beauty in a world that treats him horribly. Yet, the film is not an uplifting one. While Merrick appears to be a monster he is being of great character and virtue, yet while the “normal” looking people in society are monsters by how they treat Merrick. Sadly, most of the characters are as black and white as the film. They are either very good or very bad, with no real room for gray or in between. The one expection is Treves, who questions whether he has replaced Merrick’s circus cage for another sort.

Robert Ebert struggled to figure out Lynch’s ultimate goal with the film. In his review he commented, “I kept asking myself what the film was really trying to say about the human condition as reflected by John Merrick, and I kept drawing blanks. The film’s philosophy is this shallow: (1)Wow, the Elephant Man sure looked hideous, and (2)gosh, isn’t it wonderful how he kept on in spite of everything? This last is in spite of a real possibility that John Merrick’s death at twenty-seven might have been suicide.” I agree in part with Ebert, that Lynch sends a rather mixed messages with this film. It says a lot about what it means to be a monster, or treated as one at least, but it doesn’t give any resending sense of meaning to the nature of humanity. It’s equally inspiring as it is depressing and confusing. Yet the film is so well written and made, that while it carries some weaknesses, the overall result is too good to be denied. A flawed masterpiece, but still a masterpiece none the less.

ONE SENTENCE RATING:

A FLAWED MASTERPIECE

Facebook

Google

Twitter

We hope you're enjoying BRWC. You should check us out on our social channels, subscribe to our newsletter, and tell your friends. BRWC is short for battleroyalewithcheese.