The Last Laugh (Der Letzte Mann) reviews
Review by on 26 Sep 2008
Attending a silent film screening is to a cinephile what attending Sunday prayer is to a Christian. It was fitting therefore that F.W.Murnau’s 1924 masterpiece DER LETZTE MANN was screened in Wesley Methodist Church with live musical accompaniment from the jazz pianist John Law.
The film’s poignant narrative follows the misfortunes of a hotel doorman as he is demoted to the lowly position of washroom attendant and, subsequently, finds himself a social outcast. It is astounding how modern DER LETZTE MANN seems almost a century after its creation. Murnau’s experimental use of both the moving camera and complex optical effects is breathtaking in terms of technical achievement, but equally impressive are his unorthodox directorial choices. The most pronounced of these is the inclusion of an epilogue in which Murnau directly addresses the audience, via title cards, informing them that he has provided his protagonist with an alternate, ‘happier’ ending.
Law’s score is wonderfully evocative of 1920s Germany. His piano expertly controls pace, underscores emotion and provides thematic links between multiple characters and events. Other instruments including trumpets, saxophones and xylophones are used to further enhance the film’s rich soundscape and heighten the drama.
This presentation compliments rather than distracts from the gorgeous black and white cinematography and you quickly forget the musicians’ presence, as you absorb images of a world that no longer exists and study the performances of long-dead actors. DER LETZTE MANN is more than a drama; it is a historical document flickering at twenty-four frames per second.
Tom Hadfield, Festival Daily
Attending a silent film screening is to a cinephile what attending Sunday prayer is to a Christian. It was fitting therefore that F.W.Murnau’s 1924 masterpiece DER LETZTE MANN was screened in Wesley Methodist Church with live musical accompaniment from the jazz pianist John Law.The film’s poignant narrative follows the misfortunes of a hotel doorman as he is demoted to the lowly position of washroom attendant and, subsequently, finds himself a social outcast. It is astounding how modern DER LETZTE MANN seems almost a century after its creation. Murnau’s experimental use of both the moving camera and complex optical effects is breathtaking in terms of technical achievement, but equally impressive are his unorthodox directorial choices. The most pronounced of these is the inclusion of an epilogue in which Murnau directly addresses the audience, via title cards, informing them that he has provided his protagonist with an alternate, ‘happier’ ending.
Law’s score is wonderfully evocative of 1920s Germany. His piano expertly controls pace, underscores emotion and provides thematic links between multiple characters and events. Other instruments including trumpets, saxophones and xylophones are used to further enhance the film’s rich soundscape and heighten the drama.
This presentation compliments rather than distracts from the gorgeous black and white cinematography and you quickly forget the musicians’ presence, as you absorb images of a world that no longer exists and study the performances of long-dead actors. DER LETZTE MANN is more than a drama; it is a historical document flickering at twenty-four frames per second.
Tom Hadfield, Festival Daily
Film details
The Last Laugh (Der Letzte Mann)
MUSIC AT THE MOVIES / REVIVALS
Director: F.W. Murnau
Actor: Emil Jannings
Actor: Maly Delschaft
Actor: Hans Unterkircher
Actor: Emil Jannings
Actor: Maly Delschaft
Actor: Hans Unterkircher
Germany, 1924.
101 mins. Silent.
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