pride before a fall
Hotelportier played by Emil Jannings in all his finery.
F.W. Murnau's The Last Laugh 'unchained' the camera and unhinged the actor, capturing psychological extremes emblematic of silent era German Expressionist film.
In consideration of your long service with us, we have found another position for you by arranging for our oldest employee to be admitted to a home, so from today you will take over his duties - Geschäftsführer, the hotel manager of an exclusive hotel, reassigns his long-term hotelportier.
Crushed by the demotion from proud hotel porter for the exclusive Atlantic Hotel to the humiliating role of washroom attendant, the lead role in F.W. Murnau's The Last Laugh - played by Emil Jannings - tries desperately to conceal his shame by clinging to his former identity. Stealing the new doorman's uniform, he masquerades bombastically as if it's business as usual, continuing to revel in the attention that the role of hotel porter garners.
In that uniform, men and women alike nod and tip their hats to him respectfully as he parades to and from work bloated with pride. The ornate uniform defines him: his social standing reinforced with braiding, brass buttons, military-style shoulder tassels and a lapel that stands to attention.
Moving from this puffed-up and puffed-out superior character, the doorman's demotion is a complete dishonour, propelling the visual spectacle of his psychological breakdown.
The doorman's tragic descent is described by Lotte Eisner in a 1964 book on Murnau as a story that, "could only be German ... The Last Laugh can only be understood in a country where uniform is King, not to say God. A non-German mind will have difficulty in comprehending all its tragic implications."
Based on a Broadway play by Charles W. Goddard, The Last Laugh (its German title Der Letzte Mann translates more literally to 'The Last Man') is a 'chamber-drama' (Kammerspiel) released in 1924.
Lauded as a masterpiece of German Expressionism, the film established Murnau as a tour-de-force of the silent era. The screenplay was written by Carl Mayer, famed for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920).
Credit for the film's evocative and pioneering style must include mention of masterful cinematographer Karl Freund and the expressionistic set designs of Robert Herlth and Walter Rohrig.
The film's technical mastery can be largely attributed to the inventive camerawork of Karl Freund who 'unchained' the camera. Freeing himself from the tripod, Freund employed an unbridled camera movement that was often frenetic in style.
This experimental approach also allowed the camera to rove (into and from unusual angles) with the lead actor, shaping a subjective approach that captured the doorman's psychological extremes, emblematic of German Expressionism. For the film's opening scene, Freund strapped the camera to his chest, sat on a bicycle, rode an elevator down to a hotel lobby, and rolled out of the elevator across the lobby to the revolving front door, and then out to the street.
Such inventive camera techniques allowed Murnau the flexibility of doing away with title cards. Murnau preferred to show, rather than say.
Greater creative freedom was afforded to Murnau from UFA executives following the success of The Last Laugh and he rose to the occasion with the classic story Faust (1926). Karl Freund would later film Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) before springboarding to a career in Hollywood. Actor Emil Jannings went on to win the first ever Best Actor Oscar three years later for The Way of All Flesh.
The Last Laugh screens as part of Freaky Fridays on Friday 20 February at 10pm. For session times and bookings click here.
Published Tuesday, 17 February 2009
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