88.375

A touching performance by Veidt who cries in spite of his rigid smile. A happy and satisfying ending as well. Something I see too little of these days.

The directing and acting are absolutely masterful, but this is not just another of the expressionist classics whose spectacular visual style hardly makes up for a dull story. The script brings out the best in Victor Hugo's novel; though melodramatic, the story is effectively creepy and harrowing. Undoubtedly one of the best films I've seen from the silent era.

A sad, moving, and unsettling movie. Conrad Veidt is able to express such varied emotions using only his eyes. Quite a rare accomplishment, and quite a great movie.

Beautifully filmed, but a cliche-ridden story gets in the way, and Universal's psuedo-soundtrack gets downright annoying at times.

Lots of reasons to watch this one, Conrad Veidt being the first one. But behind the great cinmatics and late-silent soundtrack, I wish the story were less melodrama and more creepy horror

I'm not really sure why this is so often classified as a horror movie. The only thing slightly horrifying about it is the idea of someone with a permanent smile carved into his face. But it's never really scary. Most of the conflict in the movie revolves around the main character discovering that he's the heir to a throne, and all the workings of people who do or don't want that to be. There's no sense of tension or suspense that you normally get in the horror genre.

Even though i am far from exhausting the silent film era, i am pretty firm that this is an exquisite piece. Conrad Veidt really caught my eye...with his eyes and i am eager to see more of his acting.

Masterful visuals and a story made compelling by a strong performance from Veidt. Even with the mouth prosthetic he does an awful lot with his eyes. The rest of the cast is pretty good too and the film manages to be very briskly paced, something lacking in even a lot of great silents.

He gave us the origin of The Joker.

While the story can become a bit hokey and melodramatic, there's more than enough good stuff to compensate. A few impressive shots, good looking sets, great casting and moody lighting kept me interested throughout. It helps that Gwynplaine is a beautifully tragic character and Veidt's performance is absolutely wonderful.

"The film's fascination with bric-a-brac and its tendency towards spare, minimalist compositions is evidence of a stylistic schism." - Eric Henderson

Wonderful action sequences, with a roving daredevil camera and all sorts of great moments (plus it has a dog named Homo).

Why would they have no problem killing Gwynplaine's father and the doctor, but feel obliged to obey estate law?

Melodramatic as hell, yes, but my god, the visuals.

Leni's technique is as modern as any, and in fact Man Who Laughs could almost be mistaken for one of those Guy Maddin films that attempts to mimic the old silents. The editing, composition, angles, and lighting are absolutely masterful. The haunting grin of the astonishing Conrad Veldt is a fantastic image. Of course, all that wouldn't mean much without a good story, and Hugo's simple but charming romance does the trick nicely. A very nice surprise.