As grounded as a majority of the film is, through the dream sequences, in traditional Lynch style, there are still elements of surrealism that Lynch has intertwined throughout the narrative. Evocative imagery is formed through Freddie Francis' beautiful black and white photography and Lynch's use of the dissolve and fade technique. Spewing with phenomenal performances that convinces the audience that John Merrick and Frederick Treves were real people in the real world. A truly superb achievement from Christopher Tucker who constructed the elephant man physically, allowing Hurt to develop him emotionally. Roger Ebert criticised the film by stating he was merely "drawing blanks" in trying to figure out what the film was trying to say about the human condition. Ebert may have missed the simplicity of Merrick's story, rather than separating him and probing for anything existential ideas or an answer for the meaning of life - we must take it just as another persons story.
