F.W. Murnau's "The Last Laugh" was the climax of Kammerspiel with its outstanding cinematography, composition and naturalist acting. However, due to the director's remarkable production of the darker variant, the film is often mistaken as a masterpiece of expressionism. As an entirety, the film works as a perfect expression of the mentality and mood that prevailed in Germany between WWI and WWII. The injustice and gloomy atmosphere which finally led to Hitler's rise to power. The film was written by Carl Mayer who was not only the father of Kammerspiel but has also often been considered as the most prominent filmic author in the Weimar Republic. Mayer's scripts are literate film poems, all of which are characterized by profound but yet simple psychological structure. For Mayer, film was, first of all, meant to give form to primitive passions. Moreover, Murnau's unique ability to "think and feel directly in images" gives the film a poetic dimension which drills down into the depths of the human soul.
The protagonist of "The Last Laugh" is a respectable doorman who enjoys great appreciation at home and neighborhood. On one day, however, he gets a discount to a lavatory cleaner, and experiences a poignant social humiliation. Unfortunately, he is unable to accept the situation and, therefore, sinks into the dim abyss of self-loathe. The scene in which the protagonist loses his job, represented by the doorman coat, tears the viewer's heart apart with its authentic emotion of despair, submission and loss. He becomes a living dead, so to speak. In fact, all the action built around the coat highlights the ever-worsening existence of the protagonist -- on both social and existential levels.
Already in the beginning, Murnau defines the contrasts of the class society, commonly for Kammerspiel, through the visual polarization of architecture: the glowing skyscrapers and the luxury hotel (where the doorman works) meet the gruesome aesthetics of the bleak block where the poor live in misery. The latter is definitely a milieu of deceit and exploitation whereas the former consists of elements -- the elevator and the revolving door -- which enable the hectic lifestyle of the hotel's quests. As a matter of fact, the revolving door becomes a fantastic visual motif of the film. It's the quick doorway of the class society which, at random, let's people inside while leaving others outside. It is made very certain that at any moment any one, who has once got in, can, in future, be thrown out.
When it comes to progressive cinematography, "The Last Laugh" was a marvelous achievement. Total mobilization of the camera was presented for the first time on the screen hence the film had a tremendous influence on Hollywood cinema. The camera tracks, pans and heels all being. This not only creates brilliant narrative but also makes it possible for the spectator to observe reality from various vantage points. Specifically, the film was revolutionary because the subjective perspective was transformed to the camera-work. Yet, technique is never self-deliberate for it is constantly related to the film's theme of humiliation. During long takes, the camera shares the experience of social abasement with the protagonist. It goes through the emotions of shame and guilt. The camera might even displace the protagonist if Emil Jannings wasn't so outstanding and superb in his performance.
As a genre or avantgardist movement, Kammerspiel produced a great amount of touching and progressive films with minimalist settings even if it never reached the aesthetic level of German Expressionism. Nonetheless, visually speaking, Murnau depicts humiliation, pride and shame in an utterly beautiful fashion. To my mind, Murnau even achieves to give the visual form for Marx's idea of the relation between work and human consciousness. And, in this sense, "The Last Laugh" is a poignant analysis of hierarchy in the class society, and a study on the significance and loss of social status -- its authoritarian and destructive impact on both the community and the psyche of the individual. At its heart, "The Last Laugh" is a portrayal of a man's slow and painful process of abasement, sinking lower and lower.
The protagonist of "The Last Laugh" is a respectable doorman who enjoys great appreciation at home and neighborhood. On one day, however, he gets a discount to a lavatory cleaner, and experiences a poignant social humiliation. Unfortunately, he is unable to accept the situation and, therefore, sinks into the dim abyss of self-loathe. The scene in which the protagonist loses his job, represented by the doorman coat, tears the viewer's heart apart with its authentic emotion of despair, submission and loss. He becomes a living dead, so to speak. In fact, all the action built around the coat highlights the ever-worsening existence of the protagonist -- on both social and existential levels.
Already in the beginning, Murnau defines the contrasts of the class society, commonly for Kammerspiel, through the visual polarization of architecture: the glowing skyscrapers and the luxury hotel (where the doorman works) meet the gruesome aesthetics of the bleak block where the poor live in misery. The latter is definitely a milieu of deceit and exploitation whereas the former consists of elements -- the elevator and the revolving door -- which enable the hectic lifestyle of the hotel's quests. As a matter of fact, the revolving door becomes a fantastic visual motif of the film. It's the quick doorway of the class society which, at random, let's people inside while leaving others outside. It is made very certain that at any moment any one, who has once got in, can, in future, be thrown out.
When it comes to progressive cinematography, "The Last Laugh" was a marvelous achievement. Total mobilization of the camera was presented for the first time on the screen hence the film had a tremendous influence on Hollywood cinema. The camera tracks, pans and heels all being. This not only creates brilliant narrative but also makes it possible for the spectator to observe reality from various vantage points. Specifically, the film was revolutionary because the subjective perspective was transformed to the camera-work. Yet, technique is never self-deliberate for it is constantly related to the film's theme of humiliation. During long takes, the camera shares the experience of social abasement with the protagonist. It goes through the emotions of shame and guilt. The camera might even displace the protagonist if Emil Jannings wasn't so outstanding and superb in his performance.
As a genre or avantgardist movement, Kammerspiel produced a great amount of touching and progressive films with minimalist settings even if it never reached the aesthetic level of German Expressionism. Nonetheless, visually speaking, Murnau depicts humiliation, pride and shame in an utterly beautiful fashion. To my mind, Murnau even achieves to give the visual form for Marx's idea of the relation between work and human consciousness. And, in this sense, "The Last Laugh" is a poignant analysis of hierarchy in the class society, and a study on the significance and loss of social status -- its authoritarian and destructive impact on both the community and the psyche of the individual. At its heart, "The Last Laugh" is a portrayal of a man's slow and painful process of abasement, sinking lower and lower.