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The Elephant Man (Criterion Collection)

The Elephant Man (Criterion Collection)

Paramount Pictures (1980)
Biography | Drama
USA | English | Black & White | 02:04
Criterion Collection Bluray Edition
Blu-ray
PG (Parental Guidance)
715515251518
| 1 disc
Region A
Digipak

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London.


Cast View all

Anthony Hopkins Dr. Frederick Treves
John Hurt John Merrick
Anne Bancroft Mrs. Kendal
John Gielgud Carr Gomm
Wendy Hiller Mothershead
Freddie Jones Bytes
Michael Elphick Night Porter
Hannah Gordon Mrs. Treves
Helen Ryan Princess Alex
John Standing Fox
Dexter Fletcher Bytes' Boy
Lesley Dunlop Nora
Phoebe Nicholls Merrick's Mother
Pat Gorman Fairground Bobby
Claire Davenport Fat Lady
Orla Pederson Skeleton Man
Patsy Smart Distraught Woman
Frederick Treves Alderman
Stromboli Fire Eater
Richard Hunter Hodges
James Cormack Pierce
Robert Lewis Bush Messenger
Roy Evans Cabman
Joan Rhodes Cook
Nula Conwell Nurse Kathleen

Personal

Quantity 1
Seen
Added Date Dec 26, 2020 15:32:48
Modified Date Jun 12, 2022 00:35:09

Edition details

Screen Ratios Theatrical Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio Tracks LPCM Stereo [English]
Subtitles English | English (SDH)
Distributor Criterion Collection
Layers Single side, Dual layer
Edition Release Date Sep 29, 2020

Notes

Christmas 2020 gift from Beth


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 SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
New 4K digital restoration
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
Joseph Merrick: The Real Elephant Man, a 2005 program featuring archivist Jonathan Evans
Trailer and radio spots
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: 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 Merrick, by Francis Culling Carr Gomm, chairman of the London Hospital
New cover by Sister Hyde

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