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| Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, John Gielgud,
Wendy Hiller, Freddie Jones, Anne Bancroft |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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John
Merrick (John Hurt): I am not an animal! I am a human being! I am
a man!
A
doctor in Victorian England takes up the care for a grossly deformed
man.
 The
fact that America's cinematic wild card David Lynch directed The
Elephant Man always seems to come as a rather surprising afterthought
to most people. When viewed alongside such titles as Eraserhead,
Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart and Lost Highway, this
sensitive examination of a gentle soul trapped in a deformed body does
seem like a bit of an anomaly. But close examination of Lynch's regular
themes - both visual and narrative - reveal The Elephant Man
as a remarkable film that does fit right in with the director's other
work.
What is most remarkable about the movie is that it never shirks back
from the gritty and sometimes gruesome details of its story and historic
setting. Instead of the usual rich and colorful period film design,
Freddie Francis's gorgeous black-and-white widescreen cinematography
makes nineteenth-century London a sometimes frighteningly realistic
place. From the filthy, cluttered back alleys to the gas-lit hospital,
The Elephant Man presents by far the most impressive cinematic
interpretation of this remarkable age. Supported by the near-constant
roar of industrial machinery, this vision is very much akin to the nightmare
world of Eraserhead, though the real-life fable presented here
is a much more accessible dream vision of Lynch's. |
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Available
for Region 1 from Paramount with a director-approved transfer and sound
design, as well as several good extras. At the director's insistence,
the DVD has no chapter stops. The Region 1 release served as a basis
for this review.
A Region 2 release is available in the UK from the Director's Chair
series, with a lesser soundtrack, mediocre transfer and fewer extras
(but with chapter stops). An identical release is distributed in The
Netherlands by RCV [see separate
review].
The
anamorphic widescreen image is framed at an aspect ratio of approx.
2.35:1. The densely textured black-and-white cinematography has been
gorgeously rendered in this exquisite director-approved transfer. Black
levels are deep and solid, and the source print is in near-pristine
condition, resulting in a beautifully detailed, consistently excellent
transfer. The only minor distraction is some very fine grain that pops
up in occasional shots, but this seems natural and never detracts from
the visuals.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound design was done by Lynch himself,
and it's as powerful and as detailed as one would imagine from this
director, for whom the soundtrack has always been at least as important
as the on-screen visuals. The industrial roar of late-19th-Century London
is often all-encompassing and highly immersive, making good use of directional
effects and ambient noises. The gas pipes in the hostpital, the sounds
of London street life and the pounding of industrial machinery are all
brought to the fore of a powerful surround mix. Dialogue separation
however is a little inconsistent, with the left and right front channels
occasnioally picking up voices that should have remained anchored in
the center speaker. The two-channel Dolby Surround mix actually has
better dialogue separation, but a much less pwerful surround and bass
presence than the discrete DD5.1 mix.
As
a filmmaker, David Lynch has always been extremely reticent in discussing
his work. He has always stated that he thinks a movie of his should
speak for itself, and therefore refuses to participate in interviews,
featurettes or other DVD extras. He is therefore an unsurprising but
still noticeably absentee in the extras on this release.
There's an excellent half-hour documentary charting
the film's development and production, including terrific new interview
footage with producer Mel Brooks and stars John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins.
It's a pity of course that there's nothing from the director to add
to this documentary, but the other participants (including numerous
members of the technical crew) prove enormously informative about most
aspects of the film's production history. A second featurette
shows us around make-up artist Christopher Tucker's workshop, where
he reveals the molds made of Merrick's actual skeleton, and how he developed
the masks and costumes used in the film. Tucker also narrates an animated
photo gallery, which includes more detailed photo material
of the skeleton molds and the make-up designs, as well as some behind-the-scenes
still photography. The thetarical trailer rounds out
these terrific extras. The
main menu screen has an exquisitely animated background incorporating
the elephant herd dream sequence and other sequences from the film, accompanied
by music from the score.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: May
17, 2002
Click
here for IMDB info on The
Elephant Man.
Click here
to return to the front page.
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