"The Elephant Man"

Just saw "The Elephant Man" as part of the Anne Bancroft retrospective at Lincoln Center. I am kind of ambivalent about David Lynch; I love some things he does and get really annoyed at some things he does, often in the same film or even in the same scene. I learned to love him as a person from his brief cameos in "Twin Peaks" ("SORRY COOP! CAN'T HEAR YA!"), and as a film-maker I am conflicted. Some films (like "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive") are endlessly interesting, some (like "Lost Highway") I have no patience for, and some (like "Fire Walk With Me" and "Eraserhead") have moments of terror and brilliance combined with a ton of missteps.

"The Elephant Man" was a very tasteful, beautiful, and sad biopic of John Merrick, better known as the Elephant Man, a famous "freak" from Victorian England known for his enormous and dangerously deformed head. (Apparently his real name was actually Joseph Merrick... look up "Joseph Merrick" or "The Elephant Man" on IMDb to see photos of the man.) The make-up for the film was apparently based on actual casts of his skull (which Michael Jackson bought?) and look just like the actual photos. As usual in Lynch films, the sound design was unbelievable. A handful of scenes were incredibly touching and a few were scary and memorable -- my favorite scene was the one in which Merrick's "owner" locks him in the cage with the baboons. There were just enough genuine David Lynch stylistic touches to whet my appetite, but the plot was linear and the film was largely narrative and I could follow along, which was a great and unexpected surprise for a Lynch film. All the performances were stunning, and the make-up was truly perfect. The film was not without complaints, but pouring Lynch's style over a linear story creates a great final product.