A Filmmaker's Review: "The Man Who Laughs" (1928)

"The Man Who Laughs" (1928) is one of those films that has a legacy attached to it, often quite different to the film itself. Whilst the general public are terrified by the laughing man, the film itself is a romantic drama. The film is a perfect 'rainy day' film and has a dramatic storyline in which a woman falls in love with the 'freak' of the town - the laughing man. Now, I've seen this film a few times and since, I have come to really appreciate it even though I'm not a fan of romantic films at all. Let's take a look at how we got here:

First of all, I found out about this film when I was 15 from the Batman/Joker comic book of the same name. I actually ended up reading the book and completely forgot about watching the film until I had finished my exams when I was 16. When I did watch it I was initially surprised by the way in which the character was presented as we are made to feel sorry for him. I had initially thought he'd be villainous and somewhat disturbing because of the time in which the movie was made.

The second time I watched the film, I was about 18 and I was applying for university. I applied to university and I was watching not only "The Man Who Laughs", but I was also watching some Fritz Lang and some Murnau. I remember this because it was the day after that my career's advisor said I wouldn't get into university because of my bad behaviour at school. I ended up not only getting into university, I went to the University of Birmingham - one of the best in the country - and I got an MA (dusts off shoulder). Anyways, the movie was good enough to remember because I ended up watching it a few more times when I was at university purely because of the different film modules I was taking. I tried to fit it in anyway I could but sometimes it just didn't work.

The first thing I enjoyed about this film after my current replay was the way the story is presented to us. For something made in the 20s, it is quite progressive in the sense that it gives some sympathy towards this person who is presented as a 'freak'. When you strip it down to its raw conclusions, it is about a 'freak' man finding love in a woman who is not only beautiful and respected, but she seems to see past his deformities. It's quite a beautiful story.

The next thing I like about this film is the way it adapts the story as told by Victor Hugo in the book of the same name. In the book, we see various things acted out that in the film, we also see in order to identify with the book. And now, in the 20s, this is still a new concept - so there was a lot to work with and a lot to do. Obviously they couldn't do the whole book word for word, but what they did do they did brilliantly.

The third thing I enjoyed about this film is the acting style. Obviously because its the 20s, the acting is still vaudevillian and yet, in this very theatrical film, it works. I love the way the acting is not only theatrical and over-the-top but there is also an amount of theatre through various plays and acts that happen throughout the movie. I think that for the 20s, it's a very clever move because it really does present that someone has thought about the film clearly and the way the story has been told in order to present the vaudevillian acting in this way.

This film has obviously been misinterpreted over the years and yet, it still remains a classic romantic drama. It has some defects but in reality, it stands to be a great, progressive classic. It is timeless, it is brilliant and it has a quality of greatness about it. A near-perfect drama, it has some incredible music and some incredible acting to be thankful for. Just watch it and you'll find out.