Rating: 
Summary: So so movie with inadequate storyline
Review: Look people! The damn movie's about a guy getting demoted from doorman to sinkroom attendant. So what!?! This isn't Metropolis or Gone With The Wind as far as a great story. The overated camera techniques look archaic and the only impressive bit is the way the big city set is created just on a UFA studio-backlot. I bought this film on KIno DVD and felt financially ripped off upon seeing it.
Rating: 
Summary: Silent Laugh
Review: Murnau's 'The Last laugh' is a brilliant film. Though the storyline is simple, the visuals and acting make the experience totally enthralling. Silent films usually rely on subtitles to enable you to understand what the characters are saying. This film completely ignores that, elminates subtitles pretty much altogether, and relies on its actor's performances.
An older gentleman gets a job as a doorman in a high-class hotel. This is a great experience for him, considering he lives in the slums and is poor. The job almost gets to his head though, and he acts a little too full of himself after a while, causing some of his neighbors to dislike him. One day, he shows up to work only to find that someone new has replaced him and that he has a new job...as a bathroom attendent. His world comes crashing down from here on as the story continues.
The visual composition of this film is terrific for being made in the '20s. Murnau has an excellent visual style and also makes great use of lighting. This movie is a great example of taking a simple storyline and making it work through performance and style. A must-see!
Note: When the film was screened, Murnau was told he had to end the film differently because the original ending was too depressing. So, he added on to the ending what has become "the last laugh" to make the studio happy. This ending has a total fantasy-like feel to it, differing from everything that happened prior to it. Nevertheless, it does nothing to ruin the film itself.
Rating: 
Summary: A True Classic
Review: Sometime in the early '70s, I watched a weekly UHF series, which showcased cinematic masterpieces. It was hosted by Charles Champlain. After he introduced the particular film for that week, he proceeded to play the film itself. Afterward, there was some discussipon about the film that was just shown. Some were titles I was familiar with; others were unknown to me. But every one of them were cinematic works of art. I remember seeing "The Cabinet Of Doctor Caliagri", Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin" and "Ivan The Terrible, Part I", Cocteau's "Beauty And The Beast", as well as Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai". I remember the level of film-making quality, and thinking I never saw anything prior to what I saw in these films, to compare to what these films offered. They were not just thought-provoking, but they, very often, had a human or a dramatic, aspect to them which most commercial films never captured. I was enjoying the beginning of an education in the history of cinema. Another treat in that film series was Murnau's "The Last Laugh". It wasn't just the story of a working man, and what happened to him when the source of his pride and satisfation was gone, which gripped me. It was also about how the film depicted the "neighbors" and "friends", who took delight in the doorman'ss humiliation, and how other employees, except for one, were more concerned about their own loyalty to the hotel, rather than expressing personal sympathy. It's a very human story, told in a very simple, but occasionally expressionistic, way. Other reviewers have remarked about the fluid camera work, and the fact of Murnau's using just one title card. I agree that both of those elements contribute to making "The Last Laugh" a memorable film. I'd also add that Emil Jannings should get credit for his stunning, tragic performance. Don't miss this film!
Rating:
Summary: On DVD at last...
Review: The lack of sound in a silent film often heightens the emotional intensity rather than diminishing it; such is the case in THE LAST LAUGH, a film that turns a rather mundane premise (an old man loses his job) into a visually potent and emotionally powerful experience. The absence of sound, and in fact, the near absence of words via title cards, is especially appropriate for the film's depiction of loneliness, despair, and mental stupor. Sound could add little, if anything at all, to the towering performance by Emil Jannings (who was actually much younger than his character), who conveys a wide array of emotions with only body gestures and facial expressions. To correct the technical info above, this Kino DVD edition is for ALL REGIONS. It also contains some extra material: an excerpt from the German version showing the "epilogue" title card in German, and a still gallery. The picture of this DVD looks exactly the same as that of the Criterion laserdisc made in '93 -- picture is in good shape overall, but the image often looks soft, and details are sometimes hard to make out. While playing the disc on a PC with a software DVD player, I have to turn on "force BOB mode" in order to eliminate the frequent motion artifacts. On my non-progressive scan standalone DVD player, however, I do not see any motion artifacts, but paused frames are sometimes unstable and jittery. The score on the LD, composed by Timothy Brock, is also used for the DVD. The running time of 91 minutes shown on the DVD case is incorrect. It runs 88 minutes, same as the Criterion LD. I was surprised that the PCFriendly software is included on this disc (and it will auto-run on your PC), but there is no DVD-ROM feature at all.
Rating:
Summary: One star in the universe of the german expressionism!
Review: This film is a duty for all the viewer . Do not ever doubt just for a second . Murnau made a timeless masterpiece about a looser aged man who works out as a hotel porter who suddenly is fired due his advanced age .
He decides not to lose his status , so he steals his uniform and try to convince the others and himself his status has not fallen yet .
The awful truth about his personal condition makes to establish an agreement . He will work in the hotel but as a cleaner bathroom .
Soon his lie will be revealed when someone watched him working and tells the neighborhood where he lives the powerful and bitter true .
Haunting , poignant and crude . A knife in your soul that it will let you thinking for a long long time .
A superb milestone . A real landmark in the cinema story .
Acquire this one and get close to Murnau craft and enjoy about the epic acting of this giant actor who was Emil Jannings .
Remember him as the proffesor in the Blue Angel, that masterpiece of Joseph von Sternberg .
In my personal list of the greatest films in any age this movie is in the first twenty.
Make yourself a favour and try to get this masterful work.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: This film is a masterpeice. There are no title cards (just one); nevertheless, the way this film was directed, leaves very little need for them. The score blends very well with the film, and the cinematography is simply magnificent. The Last Laugh is a very fine example of what film art is. A definite must have in your great films collection.
Rating:
Summary: German art!
Review: This film is truly revolutionary. Pioneer camera man Freund uses moving shots to evoke the inner turmoil of the proud hotel porter Jannings. Sadly, he is demoted and his life turns to darkness and nightmares. Beautiful imagery, brilliant acting, and a magnificent feat of Master Murnau. This movie radiates like a 90 minute continuous Expressionist painting. I highly recommend Friedrich Murnau's work. This 1924 film is originally titled "Der letzte Mann" or "The Last Man."
Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking
Review: This is a good silent film with a universal message that provokes thought. The reviewers have pretty much given you the story here, but there are some interesting scenes that have not been mentioned. When Emil Jannings is demoted, his lady friend (wife?) goes to the hotel to bring him lunch, and is horrified to see that he is now a lowly men's room attendant. She goes back to the ghetto and word spreads like wildfire of the proud doorman's demotion, which leads to his humiliation when he returns home. There are also the scenes of his brutal and condescending treatment at the hands of the patrons of the men's room. While it may seem odd to modern American viewers that a position of a doorman would be considered lofty in the first place, one must remember that this was supposed to be among poor people in Post WW1 Germany, where this would have in fact been the case. The tacked-on explaination to the conclusion was unecessary, but the conclusion, in a hollywood way, is acceptable as the ultimate poor man's fantasy. The now-rich Jannings treats the new men's room attendant with empathy and kindness and I found this touching. He also gives a street bum a ride in his carriage. Sort of a "do unto others" philosophy of a man who has not forgotten from whence he came. Some might find this corny, but I found it moving. Overall, a fine commentary on the manner in which society uses occupation to define who you are.
Rating:
Summary: "Der Letzte Mann": Murnau's other classic silent film
Review: Two years after making his acknowledged masterpiece "Nosferatu," Murnau directed "Der Letzte Mann," although a lot of the credit goes to his cameraman, Karl Freund. Emil Jannings stars as the doorman at the Hotel Atlantis, who suffers the horrible misfortune of losing the job of which he is so proud; he is seen sitting down on the job after carrying a large suitcase because the bell boy was not around. Demoted to the washroom attendant, he is a shattered man trying to retain his dignity as life beats him down. One of the things that makes "The Last Laugh" so unique is that it does not have any title cards; all of the expository writing is seen on letters and papers, providing a seemless integration into the story. This film is a tragic-comedy classic, not on the same level as Chaplin's best work, but certainly in the same ballpark. Jannings' performance is equally memorable.
Rating:
Summary: "Der Letzte Mann": Murnau's other classic silent film
Review: Two years after making his acknowledged masterpiece "Nosferatu," Murnau directed "Der Letzte Mann," although a lot of the credit goes to his cameraman, Karl Freund. Emil Jannings stars as the doorman at the Hotel Atlantis, who suffers the horrible misfortune of losing the job of which he is so proud; he is seen sitting down on the job after carrying a large suitcase because the bell boy was not around. Demoted to the washroom attendant, he is a shattered man trying to retain his dignity as life beats him down. One of the things that makes "The Last Laugh" so unique is that it does not have any title cards; all of the expository writing is seen on letters and papers, providing a seemless integration into the story. This film is a tragic-comedy classic, not on the same level as Chaplin's best work, but certainly in the same ballpark. Jannings' performance is equally memorable.
|
