Reception The Elephant Man (film)

critical response

the elephant man met critical acclaim. on rotten tomatoes film holds 90% rating, based on 41 reviews, average score of 8.4/10. site s consensus reads, david lynch s relatively straight second feature finds admirable synthesis of compassion , restraint in treating subject, , features outstanding performances john hurt , anthony hopkins.

vincent canby wrote: mr. hurt remarkable. can t easy act under such heavy mask ... physical production beautiful, freddie francis s black-and-white photography.

a small number of critics less favorable. roger ebert gave 2/4 stars, writing: kept asking myself film trying human condition reflected john merrick, , kept drawing blanks. in book spectacle of deformity: freak shows , modern british culture, nadja durbach describes work “much more mawkish , moralising 1 expect leading postmodern surrealist filmmaker” , “unashamedly sentimental”. blamed mawkishness on use of treves’s memoirs source material.

the elephant man has since been ranked among best films of 1980s in time out (where placed 19th) , paste (56th). film received 5 votes in 2012 sight & sound polls.

accolades

the elephant man nominated 8 academy awards, tying raging bull @ 53rd academy awards, including best picture, actor in leading role (john hurt), art direction-set decoration (stuart craig, robert cartwright, hugh scaife), costume design, director, film editing, music: original score, , writing: screenplay based on material medium. however, film did not win any.

people in industry appalled movie not going honored make effects when academy of motion picture arts , sciences announced nominations @ time. letter of protest sent academy s board of governors requesting give film honorary award. academy refused, in response outcry, decided give make-up artists own category. year later, academy award best makeup category introduced american werewolf in london first recipient.

it did win bafta award best film, other bafta awards best actor (john hurt) , best production design, , nominated 4 others: direction, screenplay, cinematography , editing.

the film recognized american film institute in these lists:

2005: afi s 100 years...100 movie quotes:

john merrick: not animal! human being. man. – nominated






^ rotten tomatoes: elephant man . uk.rottentomatoes.com. retrieved november 12, 2014. 
^ vincent canby: elephant man review
^ roger ebert: elephant man review . rogerebert.suntimes.com. retrieved september 12, 2012. 
^ cite error: named reference durbach35 invoked never defined (see page).
^ 30 best 80s movies . time out new york. retrieved 2017-11-21. 
^ 80 best movies of 1980s . pastemagazine.com. retrieved 2017-11-21. 
^ votes elephant man (1980) | bfi . www.bfi.org.uk. retrieved 2017-11-21. 
^ david lynch - elephant man , dune - auteur in hollywood . www.britishfilm.org.uk. retrieved 2017-11-23. 
^ harmetz, aljean; times, special new york (1981-02-18). elephant man , bull 8 oscars each . new york times. issn 0362-4331. retrieved 2017-11-23. 
^ ny times: elephant man . ny times. retrieved december 31, 2008. 
^ cite error: named reference imdb invoked never defined (see page).
^ roger clarke (march 2, 2007), elephant man , independent 
^ afi s 100 years...100 movie quotes nominees (pdf). retrieved 2016-07-30.