Characters who initially seemed brusque or cold-hearted take on a very different tone, including Wendy Hiller's matter-of-fact matron and John Gielgud's upstanding chief doctor.Īnthony Hopkins would later say he found his role as the unfailingly decent Doctor Treves a bit dull, but his performance is gentle and subtle, miles away from his most famous roles. Hurt gives a painfully vulnerable performance, acting under prosthetic make-up that still holds up today, and manages to imbue his character with a child-like dignity that only occasionally veers into sentimentality. Poignant without ever being too maudlin, "The Elephant Man" is that rare thing: a biopic that is also a great film in its own right.Ī big factor in the negative reception to "Twin Peaks" was the lack of screen time for series star Kyle MacLachlan's Dale Cooper. Once Lynch reveals John Hurt's Merrick, and he demonstrates his intelligence, his vulnerability, and his humanity, the film warms to him as well. We are just as guilty as they are of wanting to see what's beneath the burlap sack he wears over his face. Shot by Freddie Francis in crisp black and white, Lynch keeps Merrick at a remove, obscuring his face for the first half hour of the film, essentially putting the audience in the shoes of the gawking sideshow audiences.
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