The Elephant Man (film) use of the title. "The Elephant Man" was met with critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 90% rating, based on 42 reviews, with an average score of 8.4/10. The site's consensus reads, "David Lynch's relatively straight second feature finds an admirable synthesis of compassion and restraint in treating its subject, and features outstanding performances by John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins." Vincent Canby wrote: "Mr. Hurt is truly remarkable. It can't be easy to act under such a heavy mask ... the physical production is beautiful, especially Freddie Francis's black-and-white photography." A small number of critics were less
Elephant (2003 film) second film in Van Sant's "Death Trilogy"—the first is "Gerry" (2002) and the third "Last Days" (2005)—all three of which are based on actual events. "Elephant" was generally praised by critics and received the Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, in which Patrice Chéreau was the head of the jury. The film was controversial for its subject matter and allegations of influence on the Red Lake shootings. Mr. McFarland is driving erratically down a residential street on the way to drop off his son John. John notices damage to the car and realizes that his father is drunk,