鈥淚 am not an animal. I am a human being. I am a man,鈥 John Hurt screams late in The Elephant Man while being chased by a mob.
How can people be so cruel to one another?
David Lynchsa国际传媒 projects have always been polarizing and selecting a title which all film lovers can appreciate is a challenge. This leaves one of his earliest works, 1980sa国际传媒 The Elephant Man as mandatory viewing.
Warning: this film is so sad, itsa国际传媒 nearly impossible to watch.
It holds its place in history for shaming the Oscars into having an award for best makeup and hair design. The next year, a new award was created (the first winner: An American Werewolf in London). The stage version where Joseph Merrick doesn鈥檛 wear makeup is at times far more effective.
Hurt plays the title role ably supported by Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins, Wendy Hiller and Freddie Jones -- all in subtle performances.
Shot in black-and-white, the tone is mesmerizing.
The man who brought this to the screen was none other than Bancroftsa国际传媒 husband Mel Brooks, but he demanded no credit fearing that audiences would attend thinking it was a comedy.
Lynch has a bizarre dream sequence in the epilogue and itsa国际传媒 packed with historical inaccuracies (mainly the main charactersa国际传媒 name and his relationship with his master).
We forgive him. Itsa国际传媒 unpleasant, but also unforgettable.
This column on overlooked or sometimes forgotten films, as selected by our editorial department, appears in our weekend edition.
