The Elephant man
David Lynch has always been a controversial figure in the film industry. His movies are both confusing and with a deep meaning and at the same time quite clear to understand. Even after being widely criticized, his work, Eraserhead, draw the attention of some major producers and in 1980 Lynch directed the movie claimed by many to be the peak in his career, the best movie ever made by the director.
The Elephant Man was released in 1980 and was nominated for more than 10 awards at different movie forums. The cast includes stars such as Anthony Hopkins and the director, Lynch, made one of his best works with so many influential elements that the modern day movie producers still mention that work as a piece of inspiration and great influence.
The plot is centered on a physically deformed person, based on the true events from London, described by several authors in the 19th century (far before the time of corrective cosmetic surgery). Merrick is that deformed man mentioned above -he is exposed at a freak show in London and there is no single person who considers him a normal human being. The owner of the show is cruel and demanding on Merrick, using him as an attraction and treating him as an animal.
However, a London surgeon sees Merrick and, from pure professional curiosity, takes him under his cover in the hospital he is working in. Gradually, Merrick reveals that he might be physically disturbed and deformed, but he is gifted with great mentality, pure mind and intellect that is hardly seen among normal people. He completes models, draws and writes and reads in the hospital, becomes part of the surgeon’s family and people slowly start to accept him as the way he is.
However, different circumstances prevail in the movie, the main character is exposed again in front of the audience of the public and when finally returned to his home, the hospital where the surgeon works, he has no life left due to an incurable disease. He dies at the end of the movie bu his life is an example -how to treat people, to appreciate them not only because of their capabilities, but to see deeper and turn to the common beginning of every man. A true masterpiece, the movie is more than an entertainment production -it is a work with dense moral lessons, a sparkle to show people their true nature.
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