THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980) / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: DAVID LYNCH / SCREENPLAY: CHRISTOPHER DE VORE, ERIC BERGREN, DAVID LYNCH / STARRING: ANTHONY HOPKINS, JOHN HURT, JOHN GIELGUD, ANN BANCROFT, WENDY HILLER, MICHAEL ELPHICK / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 6TH
David Lynch’s most accessible film celebrates its fortieth anniversary with a glittering new 4K release that not only serves to remind us what a wonderful piece of filmmaking it is in its own right but also, in these difficult times, it reminds us about the importance of kindness, humanity, and dignity in the face of unimaginable and terrifying adversity.
Based loosely on the memoirs of Sir Frederick Treves, the surgeon who rescued horribly disfigured Joseph Merrick (renamed John Merrick in the movie) from a grisly life of squalor in a Victorian freak show, The Elephant Man is a touching, deeply poignant, and achingly sad real life story. Yet it also manages to be uplifting and hopeful and, in the end, it speaks volumes for humanity’s capacity for compassion as much as its propensity for vulgarity and cruelty. Born in Leicester in 1862, Merrick became blighted by a terrible disfigurement and yet he still managed to achieve some measure of happiness and contentment in a short and painful existence in a society typically minded to regard him as some unthinking, unfeeling monster to be gawped and laughed at. Anthony Hopkins plays Treves who finds Merrick exploited and mistreated by the sadistic, alcoholic showman Mr Bytes (Freddie Jones). Treves takes Merrick back to the London Hospital where, despite the initial resistance of the governor Mr Carr-Gomm (Gielgud), Treves is able to secure Merrick comfortable permanent lodgings and when it transpires that he is actually a well read, educated young man he becomes the toast of a largely kindly, fascinated high society. However, he finds that he is unable to escape his past when he is further tormented by loathsome hospital porter Jim (Elphick) before being kidnapped by Bytes who takes Merrick on the road and out of England as a circus attraction. In time, of course, Merrick makes his way back to London where he finds some final peace after his first visit to the theatre.
The Elephant Man – filmed in moody monochrome and looking incredibly sharp in this stunning 4K transfer which accentuates the subtle use of light and shadow – is in many ways a two-hander between Anthony Hopkins (years before he turned into a slab of prime Welsh ham) and John Hurt, unrecognisable under heavy layers of stifling prosthetics. Hopkins brings a quiet, conflicted dignity to his role as Treves, determined to do what he feels is the right thing for the tormented Merrick and yet agonised over whether his well-meaning exploitation of his charge is any more benign than that of Bytes at the freak show. But there’s no mistaking the fondness and tenderness and genuine concern he has for Merrick, played by Hurt with astonishing poignancy and delicacy. We feel everything Merrick is going through; we share in his fear, his bewilderment and his simple delight when exposed to the curious culture of 19th century society and we do it through Hurt’s incredible, nuanced performance, culminating in the iconic moment when, back in London, he is cornered and hounded at Liverpool Street Station and he turns on his would-be attackers and delivers the heartfelt, heart-wrenching cry “I am not an animal… I am a human being.”
Forty years on and The Elephant Man is still a towering milestone in British cinema. It’s never looked better than it does now on 4K and it is as essential a purchase as it’s possible to imagine for any serious cineaste.
