David Lynch's powerful and poignant film The Elephant Man brought the true and hitherto obscure story of the shockingly disfigured John Merrick to a worldwide audience. Released in 1980, its central performances - from John Hurt as Merrick (aka the Elephant Man) and Anthony Hopkins as Frederick Treves (the surgeon who rescues him from a fairground freak show) - are high-class acts indeed. Hurt, almost unrecognisable beneath the heavy make-up, is quite superb, while Hopkins's performance is relatively restrained, and all the better for it.
If that wasn't enough, the quality support cast - including Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller and Freddie Jones - lock in tightly, providing excellent underpinning. And look out for a super little cameo from Michael Elphick as the night porter.
Sympathetically shot in black and white by Freddie Francis, the film stoically delivers Merrick's story, faithfully recreating the horrors of Victorian England and exposing the social prejudices of that time. Nominated for eight Oscars, it's probably Lynch's most conventional movie. Highly recommended.
The Elephant Man is a Film programme that first aired in 1980 and has been classified a PG certificate.
