The Elephant Man (1980)

"I am not an elephant! I am not an animal! I am a human being! I am a man!"


In his review of The Elephant Man, Roger Ebert raises philosophical questions about the film's portrayal of John Merrick's life, questions regarding the emphasis on courage displayed by the man with the disfigured body. He asks, 'What type of courage is Merrick really displaying?' Is it courage based upon going against the easy choice and facing up to hardship or is it just the courage to deal with the cards that Mother Nature dealt you? Ebert chooses the latter and concludes that this is really nothing special.

I disagree. Sure, fate has dealt Merrick a huge inconvenience. He is heavily disfigured and upon first glance (and maybe even second, third, fourth, fifth and so on and so forth...) is a visual displeasure. But Merrick is couragous. Why? Because in the beginning he is obviously lacking an any faith in the human race. Gradually however, throughout the course of the film this faith is increased.

The first fourty minutes or so in David Lynch's emotional powerhouse of a film captures this well and is a frustratingly curious opening to the film. We never really glimpse Merrick's body in all it's glory(?). He speaks very little, even when under the care of Doctor Treves. Merrick is a sheltered man who is rarely treated like a person should be treated. We see many examples of this: he is treated like a zoo animal by the hoards of people who pay to stare at his unusual body, he is called an 'it' and his 'owner' beats him with a stick and verbally abuses him. In the beginning, Merrick's personality seems non-existent.

The courage arises in his willingness to open up and eventually he shows us that he is in fact the most human-like character in the whole film. He is intelligent, polite, kindhearted and really would just like to enjoy the finer aspects of living. Furthermore it is the most human looking people that display the least human like traits. Consider for example the drunken mob who ransack Merrick's accomodation taunting him in the process. These physically perfect examples of human beings seemed anything but so.

I can't help but think that this role of John Merrick must have been a terribly difficult role to play but John Hurt is fantastic in it. To get the walk, the talk and the emotions across of a man so unlike any other man in such a perfect way is a real credit to Hurt and it is amazing that he didn't collect an Oscar for it. In fact, it's only when you realise that Hurt was up against Robert De Niro for his brilliant performance in Raging Bull that you start to understand why he was overlooked. Nevertheless, he produces one of the most likable characters I've ever come across in film.


It's quite easy to forget that The Elephant Man is a David Lynch film. After all, I approached the films of Lynch from the surreal side. I started off with Mullholland Drive, a film I declare perfect in every sense. I moved on to the equally surreal Eraserhead, a film joyously heavy on symbolism which is also a feature of his 1986 film Blue Velvet. I rounded up my initial foray into Lynch's works with Inland Empire, an amalgamation of Lynchian ideas built up throughout his career in to a bizarre but beautiful three hour epic. But my most recent Lynch films, this and The Straight Story, really show his sensitive side. OK, The Straight Story isn't too great but The Elephant Man feels nothing like your typical Lynch film. It grabs you emotionally and doesn't let go. The creative side of Lynch, a side to him that in 1980 we had only glimpsed at in Eraserhead is for the most part none existent although there is a bizarre opening to the film in which we see Merrick's mother trampled by elephant's in a bizarre dreamlike sequence and an equally bizarre but strangely moving ending where she pops up again floating through space uttering words that really moved me. And I really didn't think I'd ever need to hold back the tears during a Lynch flick.

I guess the only question that I was left thinking about was 'Why did Merrick choose to sleep lying down at the end of the film knowing what it would do to him?' This looks like an apparant suicide and may seem to somewhat knock my defense of the negative questions raised by Ebert. Nevertheless it is a conclusion that left me metaphorically speechless and emotionally drained and further strengthened my opinion that David Lynch is one of the best director's to have ever graced this earth.

Rating: 9/10