Film Review: “The Man Who Laughs”

“Maybe God closed my eyes, so that I could only see the real you. "

-Mary Philbin as Dea in “The Man Who Laughs”.

Gwynplaine inspired one of the most famous supervillains today: The Joker.

Gwynplaine is the main character of “The Man Who Laughs” (1928), a silent film which played at The Flying Monkey Movie House and Performance Center last week. It was a special added screening to their lineup of silent films in honor of Halloween.

The film is an adaptation of a novel written by Victor Hugo. Directed by Paul Leni, the film stars Mary Philbin and Conrad Veidt.

This film may be silent, but the theater was not silent at all. It was filled with the impressive sounds of Jeff Rapsis on the keyboard, who improvises music (as in no sheet music allowed).

The show starts out in England in the 17th century. A son is being surgically altered as punishment for his father’s crimes against the court. The boy, named Gwynplaine, is sold to a group of gypsies called the Comprachicos, who are then banished by the court to cover up selling the boy. The Comprachicos flee, almost taking the boy with them, but decide to leave him behind.

Gwynplaine stumbles upon a women, frozen to death, who is holding a live baby girl. He decided to take the baby and find shelter for them both.

Gwynplaine finds shelter with a philosopher named Ursus. Ursus discovers that he has just taken in a blind baby and a boy who can’t stop laughing.

That’s because Gwynplaine’s face was mutilated so that he always had a smile on his face.

Many years later, the boy is now The Man Who Laughs, and is an attraction at a carnival. He is rediscovered by the court, and they try to force him into marriage with the woman who obtained his family’s estate.

By this time, he had fallen in love with Dea, the blind girl he discovered when he was a child.

When he meets with the girl he is set to marry, she laughs at him. Then the whole court laughs at him, and he runs out. He runs all the way to Dea, who had passed out, but when Gwynplaine takes her in his arms, she awakes. Gwynplaine, Dea and Ursus sail away from the court, elated and complete.

This film was created with German expressionism, and it pioneered different camera shots. The German director, Paul Leni, was brought over to Hollywood because of his talents.

Unfortunately, the film is quite underrated. It is an intense film, and fitting watch around Halloween.