Lynch’s adaptation of the Victorian tale is a surprisingly tender one. It is underpinned by Hurt’s performance as the sensitive monster, who never raises his voice. In a sense this is the anti-monster film, where the monsters are those who would take advantage of John Merrick, and the society itself. The film becomes a beautifully realised Victorian fever dream, full of dissolves to black and vignettes. Lynch takes great care over these set pieces. The cinematography feels like an extension of the fierce monochrome of Eraserhead, fleshed out with a glorious array of tremulously sensitive British actors. Gielgud, Freddie Jones, Hannah Gordon, etc all complementing Hopkins’ beautifully restrained performance as the doctor who discovers the humanity of the elephant man and saves him. In a way the film seems to signpost a path that Lynch chose to forego, using a more classical narrative structure and leaving the surreal on the surface, as a kind of false lead. Because this isn’t so much a film about deformity as it is a film about humanity, its kindnesses and its cruelty.
Interesting IMDB note: The actor Frederick Treves appears in The Elephant Man (1980) and shares the same name as the doctor who took John Merrick into the hospital (Frederick Treves 1853-1923). Dr. Treves was actor Frederick Treves' great uncle in real life.
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