The Man Who Laughs

In XVIIth century England, King James II rids himself of a political enemy and gives his enemy’s young son to the comprachicos (or “child-buyers” as Victor Hugo calls them) who transform the children into freaks with the intent of showing them at fairs. The child has the corners of his mouth lifted so that his teeth show in a permanent grin. Abandoned by the comprachicos, he is left alone in the snow and finds a baby crying in the arms of its dead mother. He seeks refuge in the nearest shanty and is taken in by Ursus, the philosopher.

Now grown up and a famous clown, Gwynplaine, better known by the nickname of “the man who laughs” goes from fair to fair with Ursus and Dea (the child he saved) now a young woman with angelic features, but born blind. Gwynplaine loves Dea and dreams of marrying her, but wonders if he has the right to profit from her handicap to conceal his own. When he performs in front of the Queen’s half-sister, Josiane, a wily and sensual duchess, a jester tells Queen Anne who Gwynplaine really is, a lord’s heir. To establish her power, the Queen decides to marry him to Josiane. Soldiers come to get Gwynplaine in his caravan to take him to court, but he creates a scandal in the House of Lords by denouncing the Queen’s decision to marry him to the duchess. Chased by armed soldiers, he manages to escape and finds, in extremis, Ursus and Dea as their boat leaves to take them into exile.

Born in Berlin, he became an avant-garde painter at age 15 and then began working as a set designer for the theater, working with directors such as Max Reinhardt. Around 1914, he became an art director and was an important figure in German expressionist filmmaking, with two great contributions: Backstairs and Waxworks, notable for their spooky ambience and innovative techniques. In 1927 he moved to Hollywood and directed The Cat and the Canary, a classic Gothic film that had great influence over Universal`s later horror films. Leni was only to make three more such films, including The Man who Laughs, before dying of blood poisoning in 1929. OCTUOR DE FRANCE The BNP Paribas Brazil Foundation, the Accor Group and Fnac present Octuor de France. Formed in 1979 by clarinettist Jean-Louis Sajot, the Octuor de France has always given priority to the promotion of music for the clarinet from the 18th century to the present day. The ensemble aims to have the widest possible repertoire and its name testifies to its desire to promote French music beyond its frontiers by means of regular overseas tours. The musicians of the Octuor de France perform in formations from duet to octet, with or without piano. They propose a vast repertoire of classical, romantic and contemporary works but also give their public the opportunity to rediscover forgotten or rarely played works. Furthermore, Octuor de France commissions scores from present day composers to encourage the creation of new works. The Octuor de France also participates in the revival of the silent movie by giving « concert-projections » with scores specially written for the Octuor de France. The Octuor de France has recorded the works of Antonin Reicha, Carl-Maria von Weber, Franz Schubert, Wolgang-Amadeus Mozart, Johannes Brahms, Joseph Haydn, Jean Françaix and Marcel Landowski. In the field of the silent cinema they have recorded the music for The Man Who Laughs written for the Octuor de France by the Canadian composer, Gabriel Thibaudeau, to accompany Paul Leni’s 1928 film based on Victor Hugo’s famous novel, L’homme qui rit, and also their first DVD, Visages d’Enfants by Jacques Feyder (1925) with music written for the Octuor de France by the Italian composer, Antonio Coppola, recorded in October 2004. In the 32th Mostra, o Octour de France if live present in the screenings of The Man Who Laugh’s and other classic movie mute, the drama Poil of Carrot, masterpiece of director Julien Duvivier, from 1925. Born in 1959 in Beauharnois, Quebec, Mr. Thibaudeau studied piano at the Vincent d’Indy Music School and composition at the Music Faculty of Montreal University. He also participated in summer schools at the Orford Arts Center where he worked on composition with Iannis Xenakis. As permanent pianist at the Quebec Film Library since 1988, and recognised as the Canadian specialist in the accompanying of silent movies, he has been invited since 1991 to the Gionarte del Cinema Muto, in Pordenone and since 1992 to the festival Il Cinema Ritrovato, in Bologna, Italy. Since 1993, among other works for the silent cinema, he has composed a quintet for brass and percussion for the film Straight Shooting (1971), a concerto for piano and chamber orchestra for the film The Fall of the House of Usher, a sextet for the film Foolish Wives, and a Requiem for soprano and piano for the film The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. In association with the Octuor de France he has composed the music to accompany The Man who Laughs, Au Bonheur des Dames, The Iron Mask and Poil de Carotte, as well as adapting for the Octuor de France his orchestral score for The Phantom of the Opera.

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA