Delayed Reaction: The Elephant Man

The Pitch: Is there such a thing as a grotesque Oscar movie?

A doctor takes a man with a very unique deformity under his wing.

I been sort of saving The Elephant Man for a while. The little I've seen of David Lynch's work (Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet) I haven't liked at all. I've looked at The Elephant Man as my best shot at figuring out the appeal of Lynch's work. It's the least "Lynchian" of his major works, which I hoped would help to bridge the gap for me. The reason I've been saving it is because I feared if I didn't even like The Elephant Man, then I'd need to give up on Lynch. I don't want to give up on Lynch. I don't like giving up on a filmmaker. I like understanding the appeal even if I don't share a taste for him/her.

Well, I liked The Elephant Man just enough to keep trying with Lynch. I wouldn't say I liked the movie though. The black and white cinematography works well. John Hurt gives a terrific performance, considering how much make-up he has on. Speaking of the make-up, I like how the outcry from fans when the makeup team for this didn't get a special achievement Oscar led to the creation of a Makeup and Hair-styling Oscar the very next year.

It's hard to appreciate how much this film has been parodied and mimicked over the years. I got bored at points because I somehow already knew the beats of the scenes because of work that has pulled from it since. It's weird when I run into that with famous films.

This is Lynch still trying to play the studio game. The Elephant Man comes off as his attempt to make something that a studio would like. It's still not something I imagine a studio knew what to do with, but it's a good-faith effort. I still need to at least get through the original Twin Peaks before I can make anything close to my final judgment on Lynch. The Elephant Man is definitely my favorite of his movies by a wide margin so far though.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend