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Excellent but underrated film

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Blistering performances.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

David Lynch is a tough act to get into and The Elephant Man is perhaps his most mainstream work. But even a mainstream Lynch film is abstract and The Elephant Man- based on the true story of John Merrick is filled with imagery and allegories that might bore the watcher. Make no mistake- this is a good movie and the performance of John Hurt as the titular character is so good I think it's a joke he did not win an academy award for it. Hauntingly photographed and well acted by everyone from Anthony Hopkins to Anne Bankcroft this is an artistic film and needs a certain mindset to be viewed.

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous facade, there is revealed a person of intelligence and sensitivity. The Elephant Man is a film that showcases true potential that is a fact and the Elephant Man make up was a bit too realistic perhaps? It's a very hard movie to watch but also a movie that i'm afraid doesn't hold the test of time or just as a movie in general cause i was expecting perhaps a little bit too much from it? Or a little bit more.. (3.0/10)

Even before I realized that David Lynch directed this film and was specifically in charge of its sound design, I immediately recognized his trademark background effects, which reminded me of the constant drone of old industrial machinery, from "Eraserhead", which he had directed three years earlier. Although my unfavorable review of the earlier film has received a mostly "useless" response from IMDb readers, I am not here to win any popularity contests, and that review stands exactly as is. To this day, thanks to "Eraserhead", a film I admittedly couldn't understand or appreciate, I can't look at a roasted chicken in a supermarket without wanting to throw up. Perhaps this was Mr. Lynch's deliberate intention. At any rate, what a difference three years makes as my reaction to this film was totally the opposite. That producer Mel Brooks had the vision to select Lynch as the director here was a stroke of genius. Brooks could see what I could not. That explains his success and my sitting here at a keyboard as a washed-up old geezer passing judgment on the actual, creative achievements of others. Although the subject matter and atmosphere of this film is as bleak as that of "Eraserhead", the visual depiction of Victorian England and the impact of the industrial revolution on the nation as a backdrop was fascinating, as was the unique and compelling story. While the true story of the real Joseph Merrick was fictionalized for the film, I had no problem viewing it as a work of fiction that was based on factual circumstances. It wasn't the first, won't be the last, and no one pretended otherwise.At one point, Dr. Treves (Anthony Hopkins), Merrick's physician, asks his wife, "Am I good man or a bad man?" This is one of the key questions of the film. Once he "discovered" Merrick and began medically treating him, was Treves more interested in the well-being of his extraordinary patient or in his own professional or social standing. If his priority was on himself, how were his motivations different from those of evil Bytes, Merrick's original captor, even if Treves did treat Merrick far more kindly and introduced him to British royalty and high society along the way? While Treves found comfortable shelter for his patient at the hospital, what good was that accommodation when he could not guarantee Merrick's safety from the torment of the night watchman and eventually of the very real threat by Bytes himself. It was almost as if Treves set Merrick up for disaster by failing to protect him from the terrible sequence of events that followed Merrick's admission to the hospital. In answer to Treves' question, I would say that the jury is still out, Doc. I'm just not sure about you or your motivations, dude.The cast was high caliber, but I felt that Hopkins and Bancroft, one of the most talented and versatile actresses of her time, were wasted in their muted roles, preventing them from demonstrating their true potential. John Gielgud and Wendy Hiller, two very experienced veterans, were excellent. Although the Oscars don't sway me one way or another, I will have to view "Raging Bull" again to understand how John Hurt lost out to DeNiro in the category of Best Actor. My memory is shot.This is a film that very effectively illustrates just how cruel humans can be to each other and how even the best intentions can result in disastrous consequences. While humans did not create John Merrick's horrible condition and while some acts of kindness at least partially compensated for overwhelming meanness and selfishness, he deserved much more compassion from us. Now let us go outside and practice in real life what we have learned today. Be kind.

Movie based on the life of John Merrick (John Hurt). He was a hideously disfigured man in a freak show treated like a dog. A kind doctor named Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins) sees him. He wants to teach him how to talk and behave and be accepted by society.David Lynch's second film as a director and it's incredible. It's easily his most accessible film and along with cinematographer Freddie Francis presents us with a gritty and grimy Victorian England. It was shot in black and white which fits the story perfectly. Hurt is wonderful in the title role. He was buried under tons of makeup but he still manages to convey what he's feeling. John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller and Anne Bancroft are wonderful in supporting roles. Only Hopkins was bad in his role.Nominated for eight Academy Awards and it got none. A great film that is rarely shown these days. I give it a 10.