The Elephant Man (film)

The Elephant Man
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	David Lynch
Produced by	Stuart Cornfeld
Screenplay by	Christopher De Vore Eric Bergren David Lynch
Story by	Sir Frederick Treves Ashley Montagu
Starring	Anthony Hopkins John Hurt Anne Bancroft John Gielgud Wendy Hiller
Music by	John Morris
Cinematography	Freddie Francis
Editing by	Anne V. Coates
Studio	Brooksfilms
Distributed by	EMI Films Columbia-EMI-Warner (UK) Paramount Pictures (US)
Release date(s)	3 October 1980 (1980-10-03) (New York) 10 October 1980 (1980-10-10)
Running time	124 minutes
Country	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$5,000,000
Box office	$26,010,864 (USA)

The Elephant Man is a 1980 drama film based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London. The film was directed by David Lynch and stars John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Michael Elphick, Hannah Gordon and Freddie Jones.

The screenplay was adapted by Lynch, Christopher De Vore and Eric Bergren from the books The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences (1923) by Sir Frederick Treves and The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity by Ashley Montagu. It was shot in black-and-white.

The Elephant Man was a critical and commercial success. The film received eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor. Christopher Tucker designed and applied the make-up and prosthetics to Hurt and outrage was expressed that the Academy would not honour his work, which at the time was considered revolutionary in the industry. In response to this, the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling was introduced the following year. The film also won the BAFTA Awards for Best Film, Best Actor and Best Production Design.

Plot

London Hospital surgeon Frederick Treves discovers John Merrick in a Victorian freak show in London's East End, where he is managed by the brutish Bytes. Merrick is deformed to the point that he must wear a hood and cap when in public, and Bytes claims he is an imbecile. Treves is professionally intrigued by Merrick's condition and pays Bytes to bring him to the hospital so that he can examine him. There, Treves presents Merrick to his colleagues in a lecture theatre, displaying him as a physiological curiosity. Treves draws attention to Merrick's most life-threatening deformity, his abnormally large skull, which compels him to sleep with his head resting upon his knees, as the weight of his skull would asphyxiate him if he were to ever lie down. On Merrick's return, Bytes beats him severely enough that a sympathetic apprentice alerts Treves, who returns him to the hospital. Bytes accuses Treves of likewise exploiting Merrick for his own ends, leading the surgeon to resolve to do what he can to help the unfortunate man.

The ward nurses are horrified by Merrick's appearance, so Treves places him in a quarantine room under the watchful care of the formidable matron, Mrs. Mothershead. Mr. Carr-Gomm, the hospital's Governor, is reluctant to house Merrick (who has thus far remained mute), as the hospital is not designed as a residence for "incurables". To persuade Carr-Gomm that Merrick has potential, Treves coaches him to recite a few polite phrases. Carr-Gomm sees through the ruse, but as he walks away, both men are astonished to hear Merrick recite the 23rd Psalm. Shocked by this display of intelligence and literacy, Carr-Gomm allows Merrick to remain.

Merrick is gradually revealed to be sophisticated and articulate. Carr-Gomm arranges a suite of rooms for him to reside in at the hospital, and Merrick passes his days reading, drawing and making a model of a church visible through his window. One day, Treves brings him to take afternoon tea at home together with his wife, Ann. Merrick, overwhelmed by the familial love he perceives in the domesticity about him, shows them his most treasured possession, a picture of his mother, and expresses his wish that she would love him if she could only see what "lovely friends" he now has. Later, Merrick begins to receive society visitors in his rooms, including the celebrated actress Madge Kendal. He becomes a popular object of curiosity and charity to high society. As these connections and visits increase, Mrs. Mothershead (who has charge of Merrick's daily care) complains to Treves that he is still being treated as a freak show attraction, albeit in a more upper class, celebrated style. For Treves' part, this observation (and his role in this situation) deeply trouble him, and he begins to question whether or not he has done the right thing. And while Merrick is treated well during the daytime, the Night Porter secretly makes money by bringing punters from nearby pubs to gawk at Merrick.

Threatened dissent at a board meeting toward the decision to keep Merrick indefinitely is overturned when the hospital's Royal Patron, Alexandra, pays a surprise visit with a message from Queen Victoria, stating that Merrick will receive permanent care at the hospital and the necessary funds have been arranged. But Merrick is then returned to his old life when Bytes gains access to his room during one of the Night Porter's late-night "viewings". Bytes abducts Merrick to continental Europe, where he is once again put on show and subjected to cruelty and neglect. Treves, consumed with guilt over Merrick's plight, takes action against the Night Porter with the help of Mrs. Mothershead.

Merrick escapes with the help of his fellow freak show attractions, and makes it back to London. However, he is harassed by a group of boys at Liverpool Street station, and accidentally knocks down a young girl. He is chased, unmasked, and cornered by an angry mob, at which point he cries out, "I am not an elephant! I am not an animal! I am a human being! I ... am ... a ... man!", before collapsing. When the police return Merrick to the hospital, he is reinstated to his rooms. He recovers a little but it is soon clear he is dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. As a treat, Mrs. Kendal arranges an evening at the musical theatre. Resplendent in white tie, he rises in the Royal Box to an ovation, having had the performance dedicated to him from Mrs Kendal. That night, back at the hospital, Merrick thanks Treves for all he has done and finishes his model of the nearby cathedral. Imitating one of his sketches on the wall—a sleeping child—he removes the pillows that have allowed him to sleep in an upright position, lies down on his bed and dies, consoled by a vision of his mother, Mary Jane Merrick, quoting Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Nothing Will Die".

Cast

• Anthony Hopkins as Frederick Treves
• John Hurt as John Merrick
• Anne Bancroft as Madge Kendal
• John Gielgud as Mr. Carr-Gomm
• Wendy Hiller as Mrs. Mothershead
• Freddie Jones as Bytes
• Dexter Fletcher as Bytes' boy
• Michael Elphick as the Night Porter
• Hannah Gordon as Ann Treves
• Helen Ryan as Alex, HRH The Princess of Wales
• John Standing as Fox
• Lesley Dunlop as Nora
• Phoebe Nicholls as Mary Jane Merrick

Production

The film was produced by Mel Brooks, who had been impressed by Lynch's earlier film Eraserhead at a private screening. Brooks made sure that his name was not used in the marketing and promotion of the film because he did not want fans to expect that the film would be a comedy. It was Lynch's second feature film, and his first studio film.

Hurt's makeup was made from casts of Merrick's body, which had been preserved in the private museum of the Royal London Hospital. Lynch originally attempted to do the make-up himself, but the results were not filmable.^{[citation needed]} The final make-up was devised by Christopher Tucker. It was so convincing that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — which had earlier refused to give a special award to Tucker's work on The Elephant Man and received a barrage of complaints – was prompted to create a new category for Best Make-up for the Oscars.

In addition to writing and directing the film, Lynch provided the musical direction and sound design. During its depiction of the final moments of Merrick's life, the film uses Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber.

Reception

The Elephant Man was generally well received by critics; the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 91% "fresh" rating with an average review score of 8.2/10.

Vincent Canby wrote: "Mr. Hurt is truly remarkable. It can't be easy to act under such a heavy mask... the physical production is beautiful, especially Freddie Francis's black-and-white photography. Conversely, Roger Ebert awarded the film 2/4 stars, writing: "I kept asking myself what the film was really trying to say about the human condition as reflected by John Merrick, and I kept drawing blanks."

In her book The Spectacle of Deformity: Freak Shows and Modern British Culture, Nadja Durbach said that the film was "much more mawkish and moralising than one would expect from the leading postmodern surrealist filmmaker", and that it was "unashamedly sentimental". She blamed this sentimentality on Lynch's reliance on Frederick Treves' memoirs as source material.

Awards and media listings

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by The Elephant Man

The Elephant Man was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role (John Hurt), Art Direction-Set Decoration (Stuart Craig, Robert Cartwright, Hugh Scaife), Costume Design, Director, Film Editing, Music: Original Score, and Writing: Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. However, the film did not win any.

It won the BAFTA Award for Best Film, as well as other BAFTA Awards for Best Actor (John Hurt) and Best Production Design, and was nominated for four others: Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography and Editing.

Home media

There have been many releases of the film on both VHS and DVD. The version released as part of the David Lynch Lime Green Box includes several interviews with John Hurt and David Lynch as well as an extensive documentary on the life of Joseph Merrick entitled The Real Elephant Man. This material is also available on the exclusive treatment on the European market as part of Optimum Releasing's StudioCanal Collection. Thus far, the film has only been released on Blu-ray Disc in the UK, however this disc will play in both Region A and B players.

See also

• The Elephant Man (play)

References

• Durbach, Nadja (2009), "Monstrosity, Masculinity, and Medicine: Reexamining 'the Elephant Man'", The Spectacle of Deformity: Freak Shows and Modern British Culture, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-25768-5, OCLC 314839375 

External links

• The Elephant Man at the Internet Movie Database