The Elephant Man
by David Lynch
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VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins, John Gielgud, John Hurt, Wendy HillerDirector: David Lynch
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Running Time: 124 minutes
Release Date: 1999-09-22
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Publisher: Paramount
Studio: Paramount
VHS Movie Reviews of The Elephant Man
Movie Review: Pure and honest; a film that will never leave you...
Summary: 5 Stars
It's hard for me to formulate with mere words the impact this film has had on me. `The Elephant Man' is so much more than a weepy drama about injustice, but in the end it becomes an overwhelming testament to the rarity of genuine kindness, and this is what serves as the catalyst for my falling tears. David Lynch's masterpiece captures the audience, sinking every claw and tooth into the heartstrings of the viewer and relentlessly tearing it to shreds, but it does so with such graceful subtlety you barely realize you're being emotionally manipulated. Some have balked at the idea that `The Elephant Man' does just that; manipulates the audience's emotions; but in my humble opinion I feel that that manipulation is necessary. As a warm-blooded human being none of us want to accept the worst parts of us, and so it becomes vital for directors like Lynch to coax that realization out of us.
What makes `The Elephant Man' and the more heartbreaking is the fact that it is based on actual events, and so the audience is forced to realize that this is no mere work of fiction but an accurate portrayal of what man is capable of. Not even in your worst of nightmares could you make something like this up.
The film tragically retells the story of John Merrick (whose actual name was Joseph Merrick), a man who, while possessing a beautiful soul, was cursed with a horrendous disfigurement that hindered him from ever being embraced by the `normal' people around him. Paraded around as nothing more than a sideshow freak, an animal even, John's life has been reduced to slavery at the hands of Bytes, a ruthless and harsh sideshow entertainer. Then his life is suddenly, and drastically, changed when he is discovered by Doctor Frederick Treves and ushered away from his cruel world and into the warm arms of the hospital.
It's within those small moments of acceptance that the audience can find the most emotional connectivity to the film. Sure, the scenes of unjust violence and mistreatment are bound to well up within us feelings of pain and sadness and overwhelming hopelessness, but it's the gestures of genuine kindness that carries the most weight. I remember in particular a moment when Doctor Treves introduces John to his wife Anne. The moment is so subtle, so tender and pure. It touched me in the most passionate of ways because it confronted a basic need for acceptance, a need that most humans take for granted.
`The Elephant Man' marvelously contradicts those moments of kindness with harsh depictions of hatred and ignorance as John is mistreated by those willing to use and abuse him for their own amusement. David Lynch is able to capture the best and worst sides of human nature so vividly and fearlessly, never simplifying or downplaying anything but keeping true to an honest depiction of humanity.
What helps elevate this film is the brilliant performances by the entire cast. John Hurt is just incredibly moving as John Merrick, captivating the audience with just the glimmer of sincerity in his eyes. While I can't deny that Robert De Niro's Oscar winning performance in `Raging Bull' was glorious and deserved of the Oscar I can't help but wish it would have been yet another Hepburn/Streisand moment and we could have seen both De Niro and Hurt walk away with a little golden man. Anthony Hopkins also delivers an outstanding yet often overlooked performance as Frederick Treves. Sadly his performance takes a backseat to Hurt's, but when one looks deep into the control and dedication in which Hopkins uses to deliver this performance once can't help but become outraged at his lack of awards attention. He compliments Hurt beautifully and it is ultimately his act of kindness that stands as the pivotal message this entire film and its emotional connectivity hinges upon. Anne Bancroft is also memorable as the famed theater actress Mrs. Kendall and Hannah Gordon's scene with John Hurt is so emotionally wrecking I have to single her out as extraordinary here. Even Freddie Jones captivates, despite his unarguable despicability.
Across the board `The Elephant Man' delivers effortlessly. It is beautifully shot in rich black and white, adding layers to the rawness of the subject. David Lynch, who is nothing short of a phenomenal and visionary director, manages to infuse so much honesty into this film I just can't help but become a part of it. In all fairness, 1980 was a very strong year and it sports one of the greatest Best Picture lineups in the history of Oscar. `Ordinary People' is a very well made film and is one that I enjoy immensely, but it did not deserve that Best Picture Oscar. The film, since its win, has garnered a bad rap for `stealing' `Raging Bull's Oscar, but in my humble opinion that Best Picture Oscar rightfully belongs to `The Elephant Man', a superb masterpiece of cinema.
This is the type of film that roots itself in the heart of the audience and resides forever within it. It is a film that will force you to recognize the evil within ignorance but it will also force you to embrace and appreciate the rare moments of warmth and kindness. The other day someone said to me that they only wished we could remember the good things people do. I think that in the end that's what this film does for me. It helps me to realize that there are good people trapped in this world of injustice and hatred. Sadly that kindness is such a rarity, such a lost treasure that one is blessed if ever he were to find it. Lynch beautifully makes that clear in what proves to be a film filled with conflicting emotions; feelings of sorrow, pain, misery and fear as well as hope, happiness, love and admiration. No matter which way to look at it, `The Elephant Man' is an alarming story of humanity in its truest form.
Summary of The Elephant Man
You could only see his eyes behind the layers of makeup, but those expressive orbs earned John Hurt a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his moving portrayal of John Merrick, the grotesquely deformed Victorian-era man better known as The Elephant Man. Inarticulate and abused, Merrick is the virtual slave of a carnival barker (Freddie Jones) until dedicated London doctor Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins in a powerfully understated performance) rescues him from the life and offers him an existence with dignity. Anne Bancroft costars as the actress whose visit to Merrick makes him a social curiosity, with John Gielgud and Wendy Hiller as dubious hospital staffers won over by Merrick. David Lynch earned his only Oscar nominations as director and cowriter of this somber drama, which he shot in a rich black-and-white palette, a sometimes stark, sometimes dreamy visual style that at times recalls the offbeat expressionism of his first film, Eraserhead. It remains a perfect marriage between traditional Hollywood historical drama and Lynch's unique cinematic eye, a compassionate human tale delivered in a gothic vein. The film earned eight Oscar nominations in all, and though it left the Oscar race empty-handed, its dramatic power and handsome yet haunting imagery remain just as strong today. --Sean AxmakerDrama VHS Video
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