The Last Laugh

1924 [GERMAN]

Drama / Horror

15
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 88% · 30 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 88% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 8.0/10 10 16364 16.4K

hotel uniform rain cigar smoking inheritance black and white

Plot summary

An aging doorman, after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious hotel, is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbours and society.

Director

F.W. Murnau Photo
F.W. Murnau

Top cast

Carl Schenstrøm Photo
Carl Schenstrøm as Wedding Musician
Emilie Kurz Photo
Emilie Kurz as Tante des Bräutigams [Bridegroom's Aunt]
Harald Madsen Photo
Harald Madsen as Wedding Musician
Maly Delschaft Photo
Maly Delschaft as Seine Nichte [His Niece]
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
828.14 MB
956*720
German 2.0
NR
Subtitles de  
20 fps
1 hr 30 min
Seeds 3
1.5 GB
1424*1072
German 2.0
NR
Subtitles de  
20 fps
1 hr 30 min
Seeds 15

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by FilmFlaneur 8 / 10

Silent Classic, well worth seeing

Reviewed by Lunar Jetman 7 / 10

A classic movie from the silent era that is well worth hunting out

Warning - Possible spoilers lie within.This is the first silent movie I have watched in its entirety, having previously found myself becoming restless and distracted, I normally find them quite difficult to watch. I came across the Criterion edition of the movie in a large collection of Laserdiscs that I purchased recently, and decided to give it a try. I was speechless. 'The Last Laugh' (or 'The Last Man', as its translation would lead you to believe, is a touching story from director F.W. Murnau about an un-named Hotel Porter & Doorman (played excellently by Emil Jannings) who, through no fault of his own, is demoted to Lavatory attendant, and we hereby watch as his life collapses around him. It's an incredibly emotional story - during his downfall, as his friends and family mock him, Jannings' depressed, hunched-over figure can be painfully sad to watch. I found myself filling up in the scene when he finally hands his beloved porter's uniform over to the night watchman.A landmark in the era of silent films, Murnau used some very clever camera tricks (such as smearing vaseline on the camera lens for 'dream' sequences). It was also one of the first films to use a completely free moving camera with no tripod, testimony to the success of this can be seen immediately in the first scene as the film starts. There are also no title cards in the film. Nor are they needed - The story is carried perfectly by the actors and on no occasion do you feel that you don't know what is going on.I won't give anything away here, but there are some people that may feel the ending is a little out of place - However, I had grown so fond on Jannings' character that in a way, I was relieved to see the film move on from the final scene where he is sat hunched on the seat in the washroom - and for him to finally have 'The Last Laugh' so to speak :o)If you have any interest in old cinema, and have not seen this, or just fancy a change from all of the samey Hollywood flicks being churned out right now, I suggest you hunt out a copy right away. Highly recommended.
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