Review of The Elephant Man (1980) by Rebecca H — 20 May 2009

Some films are hard to review - ones based on true stories mean that if you dislike the development of plot or character, people can cry 'but it really happened'. That of course is no excuse, as just because something is true doesn't mean it will make a good story, and it is up to the makers to put in the structure needed in a film. However, if a film is about true tragedy, then there is a second wave of cries, 'how can you possibly cast a critical eye over the story? Have you no heart?' But again, this is a film, not the real event, and it deserves as much of a critical eye as any other story.

Here the makers have changed the events of the true story to make it more interesting for us to watch, but mainly thanks to the direction, it just isn't as absorbing as it could be.

It was a mistake to give the film to David Lynch - who just can't help but add in some trippy sequences and off-putting camera angles. Scenes end or cut away abruptly, and the whole film is rather sparse - we never get past the surface level of what is going on; there are no details. The opening is weird - when it should be gripping, and rather than have a proper ending, we get another weird sequence, which undermines the whole experience, as we don't get a payoff.

Lynch always brings a cold, distant and off-putting touch to his films, which is completely the wrong angle for a film that is supposed to be about acceptance and humanity.

It's a sad story, and not bad, but it just isn't very well presented. It could easily have been better. I didn't want to turn it off at any point, but I wouldn't watch it again.