Elephant man movie analysis

In actuality, the creature on display is indeed a man, twentyoneyearold joseph john merrick, who has several physical deformities, including an oversized and disfigured skull, and an oversized and disfigured right shoulder. The elephant man 1980 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. The film of the elephant man is not based on the successful stage play of the same name, but they both draw their sources from the life of john merrick, the original elephant man, whose rare disease imprisoned him in a cruelly misformed body. Analysis of the elephant man with a psychological touch. Lynchs film was celebrated and spoofed in its time, not least in richard curtiss comedy the tall guy, the plot of which featured a gobsmackingly. The elephant man is full of ugly, cruel people tormenting the grievously deformed merrick, who at the outset of the film is the cowering, oftenflogged captive of a circus showman in victorian. Frederick treves with the london hospital comes across a circus sideshow attraction run by a man named bytes called the elephant man. Time and time again lynch is true to his characters, and its no more apparent than his final scenes. David lynchs relatively straight second feature finds an admirable synthesis of compassion and restraint in treating its.

The subject matter of the elephant man and its implicit themes make it a drama with meaning for young people. The film of the elephant man is not based on the successful stage play of the same name, but they both draw their sources from the life of john. The malformed young protagonist is a lonely outsider encouraged to pursue social. The scenes are among the most heartless in cinema history.

David lynchs the elephant man begins with its lead character being treated little better than an animal in a cage. But it soon finds a cleancut hero in the ambitious young surgeon frederick treves, who rescues the hapless merrick from his keeper and gives him permanent shelter at the london hospital. The elephant man is a perfect movie and, as john hurt once said if youre not moved by the time the elephant man is over. The elephant man is a 1980 britishamerican historical drama film about joseph merrick whom the script calls john merrick, a severely deformed man in late 19th century london. Merricks life entered the american popular consciousness when the elephant man debuted on broadway in 1979. David lynchs the elephant man and the pathology of physical appearance. The film is loosely based on the life of john merrick, a man that lived in 19th century london and also suffered from severe deformities that plagued his body. The closing moments of the elephant man are tragic, forceful, and ambiguous all at once, but more than anything, lynchs final scene can be viewed as the ultimate culmination of events and the suppressed psyche of his main character john merrick john hurt, aka the elephant man. Explaining the end of the elephant man film colossus.

Despite being one of his most famous films, the elephant man is not often thought of as one of david lynchs definitive films. From a beautifully demented caligula to a mauvequiffed quentin crisp and a disfigured elephant man, john hurts extraordinary talent has been to find the human truth at the heart of a. The weight and pressure of his head crushed his spinal cord, causing instant death. 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. Analysis of the elephant man by olivia nguyen on prezi. John hurt in the elephant man studiocanal filmsalamy a blackandwhite film brought its director to hollywoods attention in 1980. Frederick anthony hopkins notes at one point how john wished to visit the. Dissecting the confusing final sequence of a tragic film. The growths were large and made john look like an elephant and so the nickname. Questions as these hunt the viewer after seeing the movie elephant man 1980 directed by david lynch which is based upon the real story of john merrick.