"The Elephant Man" -- How does the film holdup today?

[AFEK ESLCAFE W]

"The Elephant Man" -- How does the film holdup today?


There are fans of the film who consider it to be one of the greatest film ever made, while there are detractors (Such as Roger Ebert) who do not believe this film deserves the acclaim it is praised.

Sure, it's a black-and-white film from the 1980's and the Victorian era setting isn't everyone's cup of tea, but how does this film holdup for those who have seen it over the years?

 

[Seven of Five]

Well I only saw it for the first time last year, but thought it was brilliant and moving.

 

[byron lomax]

Excellent film. Really, really moving. Very straightforward for Lynch, which makes me wish he did more straighforward films!

 

[J.T.B.]

It was a very stylistic film for the time. Now we are used to David Lynch's "touches" but then they were very fresh and quite arresting. The movie was marketed in a suspenseful way, almost to make you afraid of what was under that hood. When I saw the film I was quite impressed. The alienating and dehumanizing side of the industrial Victorian era was depicted brilliantly, I thought. While there were certain "fantasy" elements around the central character I though he was treated with a lot of heart. Dr. Treves' motivations were examined without making him too much of a hero or villain. The performances were excellent. The last time I watched it was probably seven or eight years ago, and I thought it held up.



Justin

 

[Kirkman1987]

It's a very good movie. It's a very mainstream movie coming from David Lynch, but his style is evident throughout. Hopkins and Hurt are both excellent.

Can't say I wish Lynch made more straightforward films. He worked best when mixing the real and unreal imo, such as in Blue Velvet or Twin Peaks.

 

[marillion]

I have a confession to make... I was 9 or 10 when this movie came out and nothing I had seen before or since scared me as much as this movie did.. I've only seen pieces of it, but the imagry frightened me like nothing else.. The image of him walking around town with the mask on his head haunted me and gave me nightmares...

And then to top it all off, when the movie came out, there was a big article in one of those little edu-tainment magazines they used to pass out once a month in school that had actual pictures of Merrick and talked about the disease he had. That put it over the top for me..

I'm ashamed to say that at 41, I still avoid this movie and even have a hard time talking about it... It's an irrational fear, to be sure, but it's there and very real for me.

I know one of these days I just need to sit down and force myself to watch it, just to face my fears, but it ain't going to be any time soon.

 

[J.T.B.]

^ I am the same age and felt pretty much the same at the time. I remember seeing a trailer for it at the movies (I can't remember the movie but I remember the other trailer was the now-forgotten Frank Sinatra movie The First Deadly Sin) and was really creeped out. The first time I saw what the character looked like was when they showed a clip on the Academy Awards telecast, and I was pretty shocked. I watched it on video a few years later almost like a horror movie dare, but that passed quickly and I got into the movie and found myself enjoying it. A few years later, when Blue Velvet came out, I went through a David Lynch phase and saw The Elephant Man on the big screen (also Eraserhead) and was quite impressed.



Justin

 

[marillion]

^^ So there's hope for me yet.

Just not today..

 

[Owain Taggart]

I think it's an underrated classic. I think the fact that it's in black & white helps it age better too.

 

[Seven of Five]

Agreed. I think more films should be in black and white today. For that matter, has anyone seen trailers or reviews for The Artist? A fun looking black and white silent movie that's out now.

As I mentioned before I saw the film last year - actually, I suppose that it was the year before, I sort of forgot it's 2012 now! Where does the time go?

Anyway, I was on a big David Lynch kick. I'd been given Mulholland Drive for Christmas, so was introduced to his strange but wonderful world. I wanted to see more of his work, so I then saw Twin Peaks. That blew my mind, so I then bought a few other movies. I saw Eraserhead and Blue Velvet before I finally got round to The Elephant Man, which would turn out to be his most normal movie! I think it would be his best film for me if not for Blue Velvet, but that was a totally different one altogether.