Review of The Elephant Man (1980) by Dawdlingpoet — 20 Nov 2021

This is a really thought-provoking film, based on a true story. I had wanted to see it for some time and it lived up to my expectations, with a great, solid performance from both John Hurt as the titular character and Anthony Hopkins, as the doctor who comes across him and does his best to help him.

Of course, there are some awkward moments, with Merrick struggling to be heard coherently thanks to his deformed mouth causing him to make quite a lot of sucking and otherwise garbled noises, while he struggles to speak. This may be quite off-putting for some. I can't imagine how anyone couldn't feel some level of sadness or sympathy towards this character though. It's sad how much emphasis society still, even to this day, places on physical appearance. There is some quite touching dialogue. This is a solemn watch, in terms of the themes but its not a visually gory film, with little in the way of actual violence depicted in any real detail. There are some slightly sinister moments but their not gratuitously gory as such. This is a very good film to see, if you want to start a debate about the importance of physical looks in society, I'd say and so I would definitely recommend it.