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At no time have I seen such a perverted degraded version of a human being, notes Dr Frederick Treves (Hopkins) of London Hospital at a presentation on the Elephant Man.
- By Cyril Pinto
- Published: 00:31 April 24, 2008
- Image Credit:
The Elephant Man
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt and John Gielgud
"At no time have I seen such a perverted degraded version of a human being, notes Dr Frederick Treves (Hopkins) of London Hospital at a presentation on the Elephant Man. "He's an imbecile, probably from birth. The man's a complete idiot," he tells a colleague later.
If a surgeon talks like this what would you expect from the common man?
It's 1884 and England is a bleak place where people take pleasure in freak shows. John Merrick (Hurt), aka Elephant Man, is one such exhibit owned by Bytes (Freddie Jones).
He has an enlarged head with large bumps, his spine is alarmingly curved, his skin hangs loose and he has fibrous tumours on 90 per cent of his body. After Merrick is brutally caned by Bytes, Treves rescues him and hides him in the isolation ward of his hospital. He coaxes Merrick to talk and discovers that his evaluation of the man was completely off
the mark.
Merrick has his first experience of what it is to be a near-normal person when he meets Treves' wife and later when he is persuaded by a celebrated actress to read Romeo's lines as she reads Juliet's.
Then a message from Queen Victoria brings more joy. The movie, based on a true story, is aptly filmed in black and white, alluding to stark contrasts of human nature.
Hurt was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his performance and the movie also received 7 other Academy nods.
The plaster casts of the actual Elephant Man's head and limbs, provided by London Hospital, helped The Elephant Man's makeup artist to recreate the character.
Incidentally, the movie figures in The New York Times Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made.
Rating: PG
Bee Movie
Cast: Jerry Seinfeld and Renee Zellweger
Barry B. Benson (Seinfeld) , a young bee, has just graduated from college with a perfect report card: all Bs.
Now he has to pick a job that he will be glued to the rest of his life, and he is not happy with this. (Bees, he learns, have never taken a vacation for 27 million years).
Like the penguin Mumble in Happy Feet, Barry is a rebel who wants to do his own thing.
While Mumble was set on tap dancing, Barry wants to break free and get a taste of the outside world. He gets this opportunity when a couple of Pollen Jocks challenge him to be Bee enough.
He flies out with them, strays from the group and encounters Vanessa (Zellweger) a florist who saves his life.
Bee Law No. 1 says 'Absolutely no talking to humans', but Barry just has to express his gratitude and he breaks the rule.
As their friendship grows, Barry discovers that humans have a dark side – they love to eat honey, which is nothing but exploitation of bees.
He decides to sue mankind. "When I'm done humans won't be able to say 'Honey I'm home' without paying royalty," he quips.
Seinfeld is one of the scriptwriters and the movie has
a couple of nice lines like this one.
Judge Bumbleton (Oprah Winfrey) presides over the trial and witnesses include Sting and Ray Liotta. And there's Bee Larry King – as a TV host, of course.
A smoking gun is the best evidence in a trial so Barry produces one and wins the case.
But the outcome is unexpected. There's big trouble looming.
Rating: PG
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