By Steve Ramos

The Last Laugh

Now that E. Elias Merhige's dramatic homage, Shadow of the Vampire, has reintroduced legendary filmmaker F.W. Murnau and Nosferatu, his classic vampire film, to new and appreciative audiences, DVD releases of Murnau's The Last Laugh and Faust confirm that his innovative visual style is as potent as ever. Meanwhile, the DVD release of G.W. Pabst's The Love of Jeanne Ney should attract some much-deserved attention to a German director frequently overlooked by critics. Recent Murnau and Pabst retrospectives continue to draw enthusiastic audiences to art houses around the world.

For these two undisputed masters of German cinema, the renewed recognition of The Love of Jeanne Ney, Faust and The Last Laugh is long overdue.

Faust
Unrated
1926, Kino
The last film Murnau made in Germany before departing for Hollywood continues to be ranked as one of the greatest in cinema history. Elaborate models and experimental special effects, courtesy of Germany's UFA Studios, helped create an eerie medieval world that's reminiscent of his 1921 film Nosferatu and foreshadows Carl Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc.

Emil Jannings stands at the center of Murnau's adaptation of the epic fable. The world of Murnau's Faust -- filled with hooded pallbearers, demonic creatures and shadowy cityscapes -- is as artistic as any painting. It's dazzling how Murnau is able to utilize space and architecture into a powerful depiction of the supernatural. Faust is one of those classics of silent cinema that is just as powerful today as it was on its initial release. (Grade: A)

The Last Laugh
Unrated
1924, Kino
Praised as one of the best cinematic treatments of German expressionism, this bleak, working-class drama has long been considered Murnau's masterpiece, despite newfound appreciation for Faust (1926), Tabu (1931), City Girl (1930) and Sunrise (1927). In The Last Laugh, Emil Jannings plays an old man whose life crumbles after he's demoted from doorman at a luxury Berlin hotel to a toilet attendant. Desperate to save his self-esteem, he steals a uniform in order to fool his friends and family into thinking he has retained his position. Jannings is brilliant as the humiliated doorman.

The Last Laugh remains revolutionary through its use of a freely moving camera (courtesy of Murnau's frequent collaborators, cinematographer Karl Freund and screenwriter Carl Mayer). By its closing credits, Murnau's grasp of German expressionism, especially with his claustrophobic use of light, shadow and composition, has the greatest impact. Looking back, it's no surprise that the critical acclaim surrounding The Last Laugh helped launch the exodus of German filmmakers to Hollywood. (Grade: A)

The Love of Jeanne Ney
Unrated
1927, Kino
G.W. Pabst's glossy and sophisticated romance reconfirms the German director's knack for a wide variety of film styles. Conceived by the UFA Studio as a Hollywood-style melodrama, The Love of Jeanne Ney follows the troubled romance between Jeanne (Edith Jehanne), a diplomat's daughter, and her Bolshevik lover, Andreas (Uno Henning), as they travel across Europe, relocating to Paris. But a sinister plot finds Jeanne's lover wrongfully accused of murder. Unless Jeanne can prove Andreas' innocence, he is destined for the guillotine.

Pabst (Pandora's Box, The Threepenny Opera) makes use of all the elements of silent cinema -- Soviet montage, Hollywood melodrama and German mise-en-scène -- to bring his epic melodrama to life. The massive scale of The Love of Jeanne Ney's storytelling is impressive. But its true hallmark remains Pabst's precise attention to detail. In a scene where the young lovers look out their hotel bedroom and spy a bride weeping alone after her wedding, Pabst proves himself worthy of the recognition showered upon other German filmmakers. (Grade: A)

E-mail Steve Ramos

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