Review of The Elephant Man

I thought i knew exactly what to expect going in to see this movie. I knew it was about the life of the horribly disfigured "Elephant Man". I knew it would be sad and very depressing and hard to take at times. I thought i was prepared, i was wrong. This movie hit me so hard that i cried throughout the whole film. My tears all represented my emotions for this film, tears of sorrow, anger, despair and finally as the movie reached its climatic end, tears of hope. Despite being buried under massive amounts of impeccable make-up. John Hurt was able to represent the inner humanity of John Merick. It is truly a credit to his talent to be able to convey genuine feeling through that make-up. Everybody quotes his "I am not an animal line" but the line that just rips you apart inside is when he shows a picture of his mother and says "I tried to be good for her", revealing how she rejected him. If your not moved by that scene, go out and buy yourself a conscience. See this movie!