The Elephant Man

Opening Image: We see the beautiful eyes, mouth, and face of Merrick’s mother.

Theme Stated: Watching Merrick head back to a carriage to return to his “owner” (Bytes), Treves hopes Merrick is an imbecile. He can’t imagine going through life in his condition otherwise. The movie will challenge its characters (as well as the audience) to find humanity within a character who takes fear of sickness to its outer limits.

Save the Cat: Treves sheds a tear when he first sees Merrick.

Set-Up: Treves travels deeper and deeper into darkness in search of The Elephant Man. In between his two approaches, we see him at work performing miserable, primitive surgery. He needs a case of extreme deformity to study, to salvage his medical career.

Catalyst: Treves gets a private showing and first sees Merrick.

Debate: Treves takes Merrick back to present him before his colleagues. His presentation is answered with applause by the horrified doctors. Merrick returns to Bytes and is beaten for being away too long. Treves and Bytes are already drawn as two men who will profit from Merrick’s condition.

Break into Two: Treves gets word that Merrick has been beaten. He rescues him and sneaks him into the hospital.

B Story: An Orderly notices Merrick’s arrival and realizes the opportunity for profitable showings of his own. And he will do so right up to Merrick’s darkest moment. Bytes and the Orderly both take advantage of Merrick’s misery. Will Treves continue to do so as well?

“Fun and Games”: This consists of two sequences. The first moves from Treves first getting Merrick to talk to the moment where Merrick recites the 23^rd Psalm. (This leaves me in tears every time.) The second is Merrick dressed in a suit and beginning to meet people including Treves’ wife.

Midpoint: Merrick meets a theater actress, Mrs. Kendal. They perform Romeo and Juliet together, impromptu from a book of Shakespeare’s plays. “You’re not an elephant man… You’re Romeo,” Kendal says.

Bad Guys Close In: Merrick is given his room at the hospital on a permanent basis. He’s given a dressing case. He’s the happiest he’s ever been. The head nurse accuses Treves of being just like Bytes. Treves sits at home in the dark realizing the truth of what she told him. Then the Orderly shows up with a mob of paying clients.

All Is Lost: Merrick is violently made a freak all over again. The Orderly even shows him his image in a mirror, making him scream. He’s captured by Bytes (who had snuck in as one of the paying clients) and taken to the “New Continent.” Treves encounters The Orderly. The head nurse knocks the Orderly out cold.

Dark Night of the Soul: Merrick is back in the circus, but he’s defeated, dying. He can’t even stand any longer. Bytes throws him into an animal cage in disgust.

Break into Three: The other circus “freaks” set Merrick free. They place him on a ship followed by a train back to London.

Finale: 

After getting off the train, Merrick is chased, first by children, then by adults. His hood is pulled from his head. He ends up cornered in a men’s room.

“I’m not the Elephant Man! I’m not an animal!! I’m a human being!!!” he screams. He collapses.

He’s returned to the hospital and Treves.

He’s treated to a special night at the theater as Kendal’s guest of honor. He receives a standing ovation—echoes of the applause Treves received when he first put Merrick on display.

After saying goodnight to Treves, Merrick admires the model of a cathedral he’s been building throughout the movie. “It’s finished,” he declares. We’ve been told that he has to sleep propped up on pillows to prevent suffocation. He has a drawing of a child sleeping normally, peacefully on his wall. These come together now. Merrick removes the pillows from his bed and lies down to sleep for the last time.

Final Image: We again see the beautiful face of Merrick’s mother as he joins her in Heaven.

It was a moving experience to watch this again. It’s filled with Lynchian touches, but it’s also a gorgeously photographed work in a more traditional melodramatic vein. Its big moment remains when Treves and the head of the hospital realize Merrick isn’t an imbecile, but rather is a cultured, well-read man. It’s a powerful moment.