Review of The Elephant Man (1980) by Cj W — 05 Oct 2013

The Elephant Man is an extremely poignant meditation on physical deformity, on how people deal with it and how others treat it. David Lynch creates his trademark surreal atmosphere to depict this man's held in despair and the scrutiny he is constantly under.

John Merrick is a normal man who has a terrible terminal deformity, and for that one reason alone, he is treated as inhumanely as possible; the story takes place in Victorian England, a very prim and proper time, however, everyone shows him no manners and speaks bluntly to him about his ugliness.

People just barge into his home, as if he has no right to privacy, merely to taunt him and make money off of his unique appearance; this exemplifies the way others perceive him, they perceive him as an object, an animal who has no meaning in his life other than for monetary gain for them and their own self-amusement.

Hopkins' character is dealing with this same struggle, he does not know whether he is doing these things for Merrick out of kindness, or for his own career advancement and self-satisfaction. The screenplay for this film is one of the best of all time, it is so thorough in its examination of Merrick's daily and lifelong struggles, while it also creates characters that are so human it makes the film feel extremely authentic and makes the meditation that much more accurate.

You'd be hard pressed to find a film that is so well crafted in its study of the human condition. I definitely recommend a viewing of this film for all film buffs.