Fascinating story, fine script, excellent performances
When Hollywood adapts a story about actual people and events to the screen, the results can vary widely. Often, dramatic liberties are taken for narrative clarity and only certain aspects are covered. What matters is whether the movie is true in spirit to the essence of what really happened.<br /><br />“The Elephant Man” is the story of Joseph Merrick (called John in the film), whose severe physical deformities caused him to be exhibited in freak shows in and around London in the late 19th century. Merrick (John Hurt) is the main attraction and primary income source of Mr. Bytes (Freddie Jones), who keeps him in squalid conditions and regards him more as an animal than a human being.<br /><br />Surgeon Frederick Treaves (Anthony Hopkins) sees Merrick and asks to exhibit him to fellow doctors at the Pathological Society of London for medical research. Seeing unmistakable evidence that Merrick has been badly abused, Treaves arranges for Merrick to live at the hospital. This leads to a battle of wills between Treaves and Bytes. Treaves treats Merrick with patience and kindness, trying to understand the man beneath the physical disfigurement. Bytes sees Merrick as his meal ticket.<br /><br />Thought to be incapable of speech, Merrick eventually opens up to Treaves. He speaks well, shows interest in a world he’s never fully known, and regards Treaves as a friend. Treaves arranges visits from prominent public figures, such as actress Mrs. Kendal (Anne Bancroft) and  Alexandra, Princess of Wales (Helen Ryan). Though he becomes a sort of celebrity, he’s still secretly exploited. A hospital guard lines his pockets by charging his friends to gawk at Merrick, who is terrified by these nighttime intrusions.<br /><br />Director David Lynch (“Eraserhead”) does a superb job recreating bleak nineteenth-century industrial London, with its chugging machinery, steam-driven engines, smoke pollution, and dank streets. The carnival show scenes are reminiscent of Tod Browning’s “Freaks,” with the “exhibits” forming a bond and looking out for one another. Freddie Francis’ black- and-white cinematography makes for a grim, often documentary style. Color would likely have made everything look too cheery and undermined the mood.<br /><br />Hurt wears layers of prosthetics to simulate the appearance of the actual Merrick with an enlarged head, distorted face, and tumors on his face and upper torso. Hurt’s performance is a real tour de force. Director Lynch gradually reveals the make-up, building suspense. When it is fully revealed, one can’t help but marvel at its complexity. But Hurt doesn’t rely only on the make-up for his performance. From a wheezing, grunting, masked entity, Merrick shows himself to be far from a monster. Hurt’s manner of speaking is touching, with its air of wonderment as he looks at Treaves’ family photos, chats with Mrs. Kendal, or watches a play in the theater. Hurt portrays this severely disabled individual with honesty and dignity.<br /><br />Hopkins’ Treaves is the epitome of patience and understanding. He speaks softly, never raising his voice, which has a calming effect on Merrick. Much of his performance is in reactions. When he first sees Merrick, for instance, the camera slowly moves into a close-up to show his expression of combined amazement and horror. His dialogue sounds spontaneous as he politely but insistently makes his wishes known to his chief nurse. He keenly observes Merrick when he’s first brought to the London Hospital. Though frustrated by Merrick’s initial lack of response, he gently perseveres. When he addresses the doctors and displays Merrick, he is all business and speaks in technical terms (but ones the audience will comprehend). Hopkins’ eyes project infinite kindness.<br /><br />Freddie Jones’ Mr. Bytes represents the dark side of human nature. He exploits John Merrick and is completely selfish and arrogant in his confrontation with Dr. Treaves, pitting self-righteousness against Treaves’ humanitarianism. Coarse, blunt, and ruthless, he has no concern for Merrick other than as a means to profit.<br /><br />The growing friendship between Merrick and Treaves is what drives the film. From a terrified, non-verbal creature, Merrick, under Treaves care, slowly emerges as a thoughtful, trusting soul. Treaves even takes Merrick to his home to meet his wife. The relationship between the two men illustrates how damaging impressions can be if based on physical appearance alone. Merrick’s acceptance is hardly universal. The well educated and upper classes understand his affliction and accept him, while the lower classes never look beyond the horror he instills in them.<br /><br />“The Elephant Man” has a strong screenplay by Christopher De Vore, Eric Bergren, and David Lynch that telescopes many events into a manageable running time while capturing the time period and providing thorough characterizations of both Merrick and Treaves. The movie boasts excellent direction by Lynch and uniformly first-rate performances by Hopkins, Jones, John Gielgud (as Carr Gomm, head of the London Hospital), Wendy Hiller (as head nurse Mothershead), and Michael Elphick (as the night porter). Criterion has done justice to this film with its beautiful restoration and extensive supplementary material that provides information on the real Joseph Merrick and fully details the making of the movie.<br /><br />Bonus materials on the Blu-ray release include a reading from director David Lynch and Kristine McKenna’s book Room to Dream; archival interviews with the film’s star, director, producers, stills photographer, and make-up artist; audio recording of a 1981 Q & A with Lynch at the American Film Institute; The Terrible Elephant Man Revealed, a 2001 documentary about the film; Joseph Merrick: The Real Elephant Man, a 2005 program; trailer and radio spots; and a booklet containing extensive excerpts from a book about David Lynch, photos, cast and credits list, a letter to the editor of the London Times from Carr Gomm, chairman of the London Hospital, and information about the digital restoration.
The movie title "The Elephant Man (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]," available on Movies & TV, has received an average rating of 4.9 from 1094 reviewers. 
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 {"Genre": "Drama, Documentary/Biography", "Format": "Blu-ray, Subtitled", "Contributor": "David Lynch, John Standing, Freddie Jones, Jonathan Sanger, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Helen Ryan, Wendy Hiller, John Hurt, Michael Elphick, Anthony Hopkins, Hannah GordonDavid Lynch, John Standing, Freddie Jones, Jonathan Sanger, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Helen Ryan, Wendy Hiller, John Hurt, Michael Elphick, Anthony Hopkins, Hannah Gordon   See more", "Language": "English", "MPAA rating": "PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)", "Product Dimensions": "0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 3.53 Ounces", "Audio Description": "English", "Item model number": "BR3188", "Director": "David Lynch", "Media Format": "Blu-ray, Subtitled", "Release date": "September 29, 2020", "Actors": "Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt", "Subtitles": "English", "Producers": "Jonathan Sanger", "Studio": "The Criterion Collection", "Country of Origin": "USA", "Number of discs": "1"}

Here is a brief synopsis of the title : With this poignant second feature, David Lynch brought his atmospheric visual and sonic palette to a notorious true story set in Victorian England. When the London surgeon Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins) meets the freak-show performer John Merrick (John Hurt), who has severe skeletal and soft tissue deformities, he assumes that he must be intellectually disabled as well. As the two men spend more time together, though, Merrick reveals the intelligence, gentle nature, and profound sense of dignity that lie beneath his shocking appearance, and he and Treves develop a friendship. Shot in gorgeous black and white and boasting a stellar supporting cast that includes Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, and Wendy Hiller, The Elephant Man was nominated for eight Academy Awards, cementing Lynch’s reputation as one of American cinema’s most visionary talents. DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack • Director David Lynch and critic Kristine McKenna reading from Room to Dream, a 2018 book they coauthored • Archival interviews with Lynch, actor John Hurt, producers Mel Brooks and Jonathan Sanger, director of photography Freddie Francis, stills photographer Frank Connor, and makeup artist Christopher Tucker • Audio recording from 1981 of an interview and Q&A with Lynch at the American Film Institute • The Terrible Elephant Man Revealed, a 2001 documentary about the film • Trailer and radio spots • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing • More • PLUS: A booklet featuring excerpts from an interview with Lynch from the 2005 edition of filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley’s book Lynch on Lynch, and an 1886 letter to the editor of the London Times concerning Joseph Merrick, the “elephant man,” by Francis Culling Carr Gomm, chairman of the London Hospital at the time..