The Last Laugh, by F.W. Murnau

Because The Last Laugh only uses one caption through the entire film, it relies heavily on images and the way the camera is able to portrait feelings and messages. Thus, it is not surprising that The Last Laugh has been “considered the source of cinematic innovations” (Kracauer, 102). For instance, in the scene in which the porter wakes up with a hangover after a wedding party, F.W. Murnau uses handhold camera to signify his point of view. This camera movement is combined with a rotating shot of the room in which the walls seam to spin as they do after significant alcohol intoxication. The scene becomes nauseating for the audience, thus completely associating it with the porter. Murmau also uses close ups and zooms in order to direct the attention of the audience toward important details for the narrative. For instance, when a hotel employee is stripping the porter off his uniform, there is a zoom of his shoes as he looks down after a button of his jacket broke. This man’s life is his job, without the uniform that corroborates his position, he feels like he was reduced to the lowest social level parallel to the floor. Later, in a medium shot, the camera pans up and down as he looks at himself feeling naked without the uniform. Another devise used by Murmau throughout the film is the thoughtful arrangement of the image in the frame. During the scenes that show the porter’s neighborhood, there is a recurrent use of long shots in which the people fill only the bottom of the frame. This framing places the neighborhood as a medium to low social class; they are at the bottom of the society as they are in the frame.

It was very original and thought provoking the fact that The Last Laugh’s only caption is to acknowledge the unrealistic ending of the film. I had never seen such an ending before. It is a way to bring the attention to the differences between reality and fiction, and the God-like authority that authors have over the character’s lives. It is also an effective transition to demonstrate the need that audiences have for nonsensical happy endings. It gives the audience a way to walk out of the theater feeling uplifted, yet with a predominantly bitter after taste. Thus, the problems in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari's ending, which “glorified authority and convicted its antagonist of madness,” are confronted and criticized.