It has become quite the thing to do reruns of old movies in the Swedish cinema scene. While the big cinemas go for reruns of old blockbusters Spegeln is going a different route. They are showing some of the smaller films such as one of the first David Lynch movies called The Elephant Man.
The Elephant Man is based on the sad story of John Merrick. An intelligent, compassionate and horribly disfigured man. Because of his disfigurement he earns his pennies being a freak show attraction. That is until a local physician catches an interest in this medical wonder.
The physician (played by Anthony Hopkins) really shows the scope of emotions that this movie has to offer. Starting with morbid curiosity and ending with heartfelt compassion. I would actually argue that this is one of Hopkins strongest perfomances and that’s saying something!
The director David Lynch is an excellent storyteller and I find myself getting very involved from the get go. The initial shock of seeing the elephant man on display quickly turns into compassion and humanization of the freak. John Merrick becomes a character you can connect with. He becomes something human and loving.
Out of all of David Lynchs’ movies The Elephant Man is the most accessible of them. It still has its Lynch branded cryptic messages but not to the full Lynch insanity which we are used to today.
If you are just starting out on your Lynch journey or want to just see a really good movie that’s both morbid and beatiful I cannot recommend this movie enough!
