The Elephant Man (1980)
A director or a creative in any medium rarely presents a fully grown sense of style and craft with their first work. David Lynch presented a fully mature version of his vision in 1977’s Eraserhead. Although he had plenty of short films under his belt before that film, for a feature it stands tall as an excellent and challenging debut. Following it up three years later with The Elephant Man (1980) and reigning most of that style for the sake of the story takes a level of understanding almost no young director has.
The Elephant Man is a historical drama loosely based on Joseph Merrick and Frederick Treves. We watch Treves (a doctor in the 19th century) as he discovers Merrick in a freakshow, shows off the medical anomalies that Merrick is suffering from to his colleagues, and then befriends Merrick, restoring his humanity. The movie being a tight two-hour run time, does not leave the audience to linger too long on any of the tragedies in Merrick’s life, but does not shy away from the brutality of our society (even today) on the unnatural. Although the movie takes place in the 19th century, being made in the 1980s captures the real fear we as humans have for the unexplained or the different. There are moments when people are suddenly presented with Joseph Merrick’s presence and reactions range from fear to sadness, to uncontrollable laughter. Lynch’s direction only lingers on these reactions, letting them sink into our minds.
For performances, I had mostly been familiar with Anthony Hopkins's post Silence of the Lambs (1991), but he was already such a skilled actor at this point. There was never a moment where Treves’ thoughts were not fully telegraphed from his body language and face. Even in the unspoken moments, the actions were clear. John Hurt, who I believe is wonderful in everything, really stunned me as Merrick. Once the hood was revealed, we are introduced to Hurt in a large amount of facial makeup & prosthetics. To use his eyes and voice to act through the unmovable makeup is an incredible feat. Just endless amounts of humanity in the role. Lastly, Anne Bancroft was beautiful. Her role as Madge Kendal was small, but I believed every word she said.
John Morris, who was a frequent collaborator with Mel Brooks, composed a wonderful, haunting, beautiful score that lingered with me even after I put the movie away. Freddie Francis’s cinematography is beautiful. When Treves is in the ally when he first meets Merrick, the framing of that whole scene is so intimate and intentional. As much as the Elephant Man is nothing like Eraserhead, this doesn’t stop Lynch from having small moments of the ethereal in the film. The dream-like sequences throughout the film still feel like an honest Lynch expression without derailing the natural feel of the film.
The Elephant Man is an outstanding sophomore film from Lynch. I understand why he was handed the keys to the kingdom, but at the same time, to go from such a grounded story to something so massive like Dune might have been impossible for any director. I should note that I watched the newest 4k release from Criterion. This version looks incredible, but as for a lot of movies made in the pre-HD era, the flaws in John Hurt’s makeup are much more noticeable.
The Elephant Man is a movie all about how easily our humanity is taken or given to us by the society around us. A film about something that happened over 100 years ago, a film that is nearly fifty years old, but the message, the meaning, so relevant to who we still are today. -10/10
