Such audacious and astonishing technique that it rivals any film I've seen, silent or otherwise. Murnau's grasp of film grammar, photography, special effects and composition is without peer. The story is simple but he makes it compelling melodrama. The ending is ridiculous, but that's about the only flaw to level against it (other than perhaps moving a bit slowly). An incredible film.

"The Last Laugh can really best be understood as a horror story." - Andrew Schenker

Could anyone tell me how an end as simple can turn into something so beautiful as this movie?

Murnau's best film, and in my experience the pinnacle of cinematic technique in the silent era. There is a lot of depth and texture in the cinematography, and the spare use of intertitles lends it seamless progression. A film perfectly told in images. People accuse Emil Jannings of overacting, but I find his expressionism theatrical and fascinating (Orson Welles contended that an actor can be too broad, but never too big). His character is heartbreaking. The optimistic ending reeks of cynicism.

178

this film just moves like no other

ruya sekansi, kamera kullanimi, son olmasi gereken sahne

Well this makes Slumdog Millionaire seem even less inspired considering that they have almost the same story, contrivances and all. Except in The Last Laugh's case, the fortuitous third act is a studio mandated non-sequitor that the director basically turns into a joke. What a punk.

Jannings is perhaps the only person in history who enjoyed their job as a doorman. Just goes to show in the corporate world, the humiliations never, ever end.

Murnau makes his camera do anything he wants it to. Long swooping shot, complex tracking shots, dramatic push-ins. Very impressive for 1924. Almost as impressive was Emil Jannings, who plays an incredibly sympathetic and likable character, all without the aid of intertitles. Yes, the ending is tacked on, but the written explanation for it helps me to forgive it a little bit. My main complaint with this movie is that, well, not a lot happens. But it's done so well that I don't really care.

#183

On a purely technical level, this film is a masterpiece, full of stunning visuals and inventive camerawork. Every scene, nay, every shot is at the very least gorgeous. That being said, The Last Laugh is a melodrama, and with that label comes a number of necessary features that don't exactly appeal to me. I didn't find the story too slow, but I did find it overly sentimental. The ending is atrocious, but that's forgivable. It can be (literally) ignored.

Jannings wobbling about as a retarded drunk throughout the film is hilarious and there's some great camerawork. But, as often the case with German silents, due to its lack of nuance the film becomes tedious. The ending is awesome, though.

I could of course be mistaken here, but I believe this is where the infamous "Deus es Mexicana"-ending was first established... - Jannings' trolling around and the cinematography makes it worth a watch, but like other Murnau-films I've seen it fails to elevate itself from the immediate impressions and ends up boring me

The camera finally breaks free of the tripod; Murnau's enthusiasm for pushing film as a medium beyond being just filmed theater rivals Griffith's love of editing. He also dares to dispense with intertitles, and it works - a simple story combined with Jannings' embellished acting make for a riveting time. Even the tacked-on happy ending is not immune to Murnau's caustic cynicism.

I can barely believe this was made in 1924

# 184

A gripping melodrama, with great visuals and delightful overacting. The thing that keeps it from being a favorite of mine is that it's too damn slow. Silent movies tend to have trouble keeping my attention in the first place, and when the plot advances so slowly I have a hard time getting into it. Another problem is the obviously tacked on ending, but I think Murnau did a good job of subverting the studio by giving the sugary ending a distinct aftertaste of cynicism.

Visually stunning and a superb performance from Emil Jannings.

One of the most important films in the development of cinema, The Last Laugh, directed by the legendary German expressionist director, FW Murnau, tells the story of a doorman who is being slowly suffocated by the pressures of society and capitalism. The film incorporates revolutionary filmic techniques including for the first time, the moving camera. Up until this time, int he primitive stage of development, the camera was static. In one scene, the camera spins in circles around the main character, which was revolutionary at the time. Martin Scorcese used this scene in a homage during his film Mean Streets. In the end, all the great autuers owe The Last Laugh their due.

Last Laugh sports some magnificent photography, almost any time you freeze-frame you're looking at a great image. I don't know the details of cinema history, but a lot of the techniques seemed very advanced for the time... dolly shots, reverse zooms, and so forth. What Murnau does with the revolving doors is particularly impressive. The story is good, but moves too slowly, and Jannings plays it rather broad.

The dynamic camera moves are phenomenal, and the purely visual storytelling (no intertitles, excepting the closeups of notes, newspapers, and such) is very well done. It's a bit too cynical and manipulative for my taste (the sarcastic ending introduction was amusing, but a bit juvenile), but powerful nonetheless.

A visual masterwork by genius of cinema Murnau. Not the best story, especially epilogue, but it is groundbreaking visually. For example, first dolly was built for this film. A must see.