Thursday, January 28, 2016

He, Who Gets Slapped (USA, 1924)

Tension was beautifully built up, making this film subtly creepy. It also has a plenty of melodrama. The scenes were also very scenically beautiful, with a perfect composition between scenery, lighting, wardrobe and camera tricks. The scenes of clowns in the circus were very well-choreographed. As always, Lon Chaney is brilliant when it comes to his make up skills.
The end is the predictable self sacrifice of the ugly duck, but the death of some of the characters was devised in a more creative way than usual.
The film provides an interesting discussion about human nature, as the main character was laughed both at the academy of sciences and circus whenever he was slapped. The old dichotomy of the sad clown and a certain tendency of people to laugh at tragedy of others.

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