The Elephant Man (1980)

This week on The Spectator Film Podcast…

The Elephant Man (1980) 7.12.19
Featuring: Austin, Maxx

Commentary track begins at 14:05

— Notes —

• The Impossible David Lynch by Todd McGowan — Here’s the main resource we used to help structure our conversation this week. This is an excellent introduction to Lacanian analysis by way of Lynch’s films, and regardless of whether or not you prefer Lacanian theory this book does an excellent job of breaking down the films and making sense of them. The chapter on The Elephant Man succeeds in establishing how this film, usually considered an outlier in Lynch’s career, still retains his authorial stamp and plays with concepts he’d develop for the rest of his career.
• “Lynch, David” by Thomas Caldwell from Senses of Cinema — Here’s the great director profile on David Lynch from Senses of Cinema.

— Corrections —

• The Asphyx (1972) was directed by Peter Newbrook and featured cinematography by Freddie Young – Freddie Francis was not involved. It’s merely a coincidence that these two cinematographers are both named Freddie.