The Elephant Man

In recreating the story of John Merrick, the Victorian who was reputed to be “the ugliest man alive,” David Lynch effects a study of prejudice, voyeurism, and human dignity. Merrick was born with neurofibromatosis, giving him an enlarged head, a twisted spine, and facial deformities. As an adult, he is a virtual prisoner of a traveling freak show until the surgeon Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins) becomes his protector, finding funding for a private room in the London Hospital. Here Merrick very gradually reveals himself to be not only intelligent but an intellectual, and finds a measure of happiness equal to his measure of dignity. But he becomes another kind of sideshow—for high society—and Treves must ask if he himself is not a high-class carny. Lynch plays with point-of-view to make his point: aided by the actor John Hurt in an extraordinarily moving performance, he shows us what it must be like to see through Merrick’s eyes, hear with his ears.