PANACEA 2020

The Elephant Man (1980)
David Lynch, the director, chose to film this in black and white which was a great choice but does make it
look older than its years. Despite his initial surrealist film effort, Eraserhead, he manages mostly to
keep his renown 'weirdness' under control. The cinematography was by Freddie Francis and enhanced the
period look of the sets. The writers were Lynch, Christopher De Vore and Eric Bergren. Production was by
Jonathan Sanger and Mel Brooks who declined to be credited so as to avoid the expectation of a comedy.
It is based on the true story of Joseph Merrick, born with a still unknown congenital disorder which caused
progressive disfigurement. One of the few options for him in Victorian times was to appear in a travelling
circus, until a curious surgeon, Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins), shows an interest, initially in his
disorder and later in him as a person. It is to be noted that Hopkins’ Hollywood career did not really take
off till “Silence of the Lambs” 11 years later, in 1991.
To this day, in some societies, disfigurement is still taken as a sign of evil, either committed in this
life, or perhaps, a previous one. This attitude still persisted in Victorian England. Although, writers,
journalists and politicians had their role to play, it was the medicalisation of these disorders and the
personalisation of those who suffer from them that was pivotal in changing community attitudes.
Despite layers of make-up, the amount of expression that John Hurt conveys in his role is astounding.
Apparently the make-up took 7-8 hours to apply and 2 hours to gently remove! Christopher Tucker, the makeup
artist, used original casts taken from Merrick's body for greater veracity. With him on screen are a
young Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud and Freddy Jones, all supplying thoughtful performances.
Despite being nominated for 8 Academy Awards, it received none, losing out largely to Robert de Niro in
Raging Bull. So upset were some by the result that it caused the Academy to list a future award for film
make-up and hairstyling. It did score well at the BAFTAs though and also at the box office. IMDb gives it
8.2/10 and Rotten Tomatoes a 90% rating.
The reasons I feel that it should be seen by all medical students?
It will certainly make them hesitant about complaining of their lot in life. It may hopefully make them
look beyond the superficial when dealing with patients. They can be proud of the role that the medical
community had in changing community attitudes and it may spur them to uphold this tradition. In these more
enlightened times, it will caution them to the xenophobic trait still embedded in the human psyche.
But my lasting impression, and I theirs, is that it is one of the ultimate film portrayals of human
dignity.
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