The Elephant Man Review- By Michael Carlisle

 Title: The Elephant Man

Year: 1980
Director: David Lynch

Country: U.S
Language: English

Before I saw this film, I was warned by several peers that David Lynch’s Elephant Man would be the saddest film I have ever seen and it would be impossible to contain my films. Though I have seen sad films like Sansho the Bailiff and Germany Year Zero I decided to take their word for it and get ready to cry rivers of sorrow. After the film my eyes were tear free, I was confused. Perhaps I had missed something, so I watched it again and again hoping that I didn’t completely understand the film. Nope, it was quite clear to me, I could definitely understand the film. Perhaps Elephant Man isn’t that great of a film, perhaps David Lynch isn’t that great of a director.

The Elephant Man is quite odd, it paints Joseph Merrick as a courageous hero simply because of his condition that has left him hideously transformed. In this case, isn’t anyone who has ever had a disease or been in an unfortunate situation  a “hero”? I was born with a heart condition that has limited my ability to do physical activities, should I be praised just because of that? I say, and I’m sure many other can agree with me, hell no!  We should admire those who choose to do great things in the face of adversity. We should admire Terry Fox, not because he had life threatening cancer, but because he chose to jog around Canada despite having cancer. I’m not suggesting that Joseph Merrick was a bad guy who did absolutely nothing in his life, I’m just stating that David Lynch portrayed Joseph Merrick as a hero for the wrong reasons.

Lynch is the real dumbo

The reason The Elephant Man didn’t work for me is because it focused too much on the relationship between doctor and patient,  Dr. Frederick Teves (Anthony Hopkins) and Joseph Merrick (John Hurt). The film took place after Merrick’s horrible treatment and eventual escape from the circus. If Lynch dug more into Merrick’s past I would be more impressed. If we could see Merrick’s struggle to communicate with people, his need to be like everything else. All we really understand is that doctors are kind, Merrick is ugly and we assume that he decided to live despite the odds against him but that isn’t exactly clear when we realize that he eventually committed suicide. Did he want to commit suicide all along? If then, how is he a “hero”?  I expected great things out of this film, but then again, I should have realized that David Lynch was at the helm of this film.

At best you could make a case that this film was essentially about a doomed figure but I felt quite distant and lacked any real sympathy for Merrick the character. As a person with a disability, I know how it feels to feel isolated but this didn’t really show any truth about the nature of isolation. Nor does it show any truth about the nature of perseverance. Merrick the character did not chose to keep living despite the odds against him. I’m sure Merrick the man, would be quite unhappy with the film about his life.

In conclusion, I am not impressed with this un-sympathetic film. To make me feel empathetic about a person with a severe disability should be incredibly easy but to my surprise Lynch did not deliver at all. This film will only bring a tear to your eye if you really value your time, because this is a complete waste of it. The opening scene, where Merrick’s mother is raped by elephants is completely ludicrous. Lastly, I wouldn’t recommend checking out any other Lynch films, his filmography only gets worse from here. Piss on it! 1/5