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Release Date: 1980-10-09
Post Views: 4
TMDB Rating: 8.1/10 from 4,127 votes on TMDB
FILMORIA PICK
This places it among the top-rated Drama films of 1980 on Filmoria, based on current TMDB user ratings.
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A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity.
Tagline:A true story of courage and human dignity.
Genres: Drama|
History|
Browse more Drama movies on Filmoria →
Release Date: 1980-10-09
Movie Revenue: $26000000
Movie Runtime: 124
Language: English
The Elephant Man Box Office Collection: $5000000
The Elephant Man was released on 9 October 1980. It is a Drama, History film with a running time of 124 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Our team at Filmoria keeps this page current with the latest streaming, cast and trailer information for The Elephant Man.
Filmoria's Take: Reviewers have responded strongly to it, and the numbers back that up. Now an established part of the catalogue rather than a new release. If you are into Drama, it is worth a look.
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Streaming availability provided by JustWatch via TMDB for the UK region. Availability can change — please verify before you watch.
_**The ultimate outcast**_ In 1884 London, a doctor (Anthony Hopkins) meets Joseph Merrick, aka The Elephant Man (wrongly called John Merrick in the film) who was being exploited as a freak show attraction. Treves (Hopkins) tries to help Merrick (John Hurt) for the last six years of the latter’s life wherein he becomes cultured, but he inevitably remains an object of curiosity, to high society as well as low society. Anne Bancroft plays a winsome entertainer who is warm toward Merrick. Directed by David Lynch and shot in B&W, “The Elephant Man” (1980) is a melancholic biographical movie, and understandably so, but Merrick’s story is worth checking out despite the fact that it inspires pity. It calls into question the concept of beauty: Natural beauty is something one is born with and did nothing to acquire, but so is physical unattractiveness. Then there’s inner beauty. The charismatic actress (Bancroft) displays both. Of course there’s also inner ugliness, like the carnival huckster. A myth developed about Merrick’s disfigurement that his mother was raped by an elephant, probably started by sideshow hawkers. The opening conveys this in an artistic manner, but it’s not to be taken literally, which is why it’s surreal. Meanwhile the factory scenes with the pipes and corresponding dangers exhibit the reality for workers in Victorian times. The score by John Morris is noteworthy with one piece being ripped-off for the moving parts of “Platoon” (1986), e.g. Elias’ melodramatic death scene. The film runs 2 hours, 4 minutes, and was shot entirely in London and nearby Shepperton Studios, just west of the city. GRADE: B
Review via The Movie Database (TMDB)
Saw this, recently up-converted to 4K at the London Film Festival and, apart from the clear improvements to the quality and detail of the image, I was reminded of just how good it is. Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft play their roles with engaging sincerity - very ably supported by Sir John Gielgud and Dame Wendy Hiller. Prosthetics aside, John Hurt captures both the despair and optimism of Merrick with empathetic style; and Freddie Jones is just downright evil as "Bytes". His son Toby was at the screening and I couldn't help but wonder when he watched this portrayal by his father whether the pride in the performance must have been tempered by a disgust in the character, itself!! This film doesn't seem to do the rounds very often, nowadays, but it holds up very well after almost 40 years and is really a gem.
Review via The Movie Database (TMDB)