The Last Laugh

The Last Laugh Film Review
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The Last Laugh Film Review
The Last Laugh, translated as Der Letzte Mann in German, is a 1924 German quiet movie directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Emil Jannings. This film was considered a masterpiece of German Expressionist cinema, a film movement that emerged in Germany in the early 1920s. Expressionist films express characters' inner emotional and psychological experiences using visual and stylistic techniques rather than traditional narrative methods (Chowdhury, 2020). The film tells the story of an ageing doorman who is proud of his job and uniform, but after his demotion, he is forced to suffer humiliation from his friends and former colleagues. This paper examines different angles of the book and its effects on contemporary filmmaking based on several aspects, such as its film technology.
The central argument made by the film "The Last Laugh" mainly focuses on ageing. The film reveals that as we age, we often lose our sense of purpose and ability to contribute to society. The film's protagonist, an ageing doorman, is demoted to a washroom attendant and forced to wear a dirty uniform, representing the loss of his status and his sense of self-worth, resulting in his friends seeing him as a failure (Dickinson, 2015). Second, this film reveals how society views the elderly and how they are often seen as a burden. The doorman's demotion and how his friends treated him afterwards reflect how society can be unkind towards the elderly. Another concept is maintaining one's dignity and self-respect, even in adversity. The doorman struggles to come to terms with his demotion, but ultimately, he chooses to maintain his dignity. This decision allows him to regain his self-worth and find purpose in his new role.
This film also focuses on several social, cultural, political, and historical issues. One is social status and materialism. The film critiques materialism and societal pressure to have a high-status job and how it can lead to a lack of personal fulfilment and happiness. It shows society's judgmental attitude towards those with lower-status jobs through the demotion of the doorman and his treatment by friends and colleagues. Two is the impact of war. This film was made in the aftermath of World War I (WWI), and the setting of a grand hotel in 1920s Germany reflects the societal changes that came with the war. The film's portrayal of the doorman's demotion and how society treated him was a metaphor for the economic and social changes that occurred in Germany during and after the war.
The film "The Last Laugh" explores several themes closely related to the historical context in which it was made. Some of the main themes include ageing and poor treatment of the elderly. The film explores ageing and societal attitude towards the elderly through the demotion of the ageing doorman and his loss of status and self-worth, highlighting the loss of purpose and contribution to society as people age and society's dismissive attitude towards the elderly. The second theme was the effects of the war. This film, set up in a grand hotel in the 1920s and using the ageing doorman as a protagonist, portrays the harsh economic and...