086 The Elephant Man (1980)
“I’M NOT AN ANIMAL! I’M A HUMAN BEING!”
As you may already know, we lost one of the great ones this year. In honor of David Lynch, we decided to go back to one of the earlier films in his career, The Elephant Man from 1980, starring John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, a critical and commercial success in what would have been David Lynch’s second film and put a lot of eyes on his future, incredibly influential body of work. However, despite Lynch being Austin’s favorite director of all time, he has never seen The Elephant Man! Well, on this episode, we fix that.
The Elephant Man is not known to be an incredibly surreal film, but we discuss the various similarities and signature iconography Lynch can’t help but include in all his films, including The Elephant Man. We talk about the use of dreams, the use of sound, and how his sense of humor shines through in a film that more linear than his other body of work.
We also talk about how the film approaches the topic of how society treats an outcast with a deformity/disability. It’s not uncommon for the Academy to pay attention to this genre of film, but something about The Elephant Man is very different. What might be contrived and cliche in other films feels deeply moving in this one. How does The Elephant Man stand out and distinguish itself from “Oscar bait“ films?
We also talk about the way the film was made and how the film differs from the reality of life for Joseph Merrick, the real life person who lived with this condition that lead people to refer to him as The Elephant Man. How does David Lynch go from making a surrealist art film, Eraserhead, to a narratively linear biopic that tugs on the heart? How does comedy legend Mel Brooks go from making Blazing Saddles to producing The Elephant Man? How did a babysitter get her boyfriend nominated for an Oscar? How did this movie invent an entirely new category the Academy had to pay attention to? We talk about all of this and more!
This episode was very special for us and took a little bit of time to brew. With the changes in technology one would think more films would be more accessible to view at our convenience, but in fact that not the case for some films that are culturally significant like The Elephant Man. As of recording the episode we couldn’t find the film digitally streaming/renting anywhere, but with luck we did manage to find the film on DVD at a reasonable price. After watching the film we might actually spring for that premium Criterion Collection version, because this film really is that special. In fact, the late John Hurt said in the making of documentary “If anyone isn’t moved by the end of the film, I don’t think I’d want that person in my life.“ We hope you enjoy this episode and seek the film out yourself, or hit us up about a potential screening!
You can listen to this episode on:
Spotify: HERE
Apple Podcast: HERE