For Immediate Release
KINO RELEASES A DEFINITIVE RESTORATION OF F. W. MURNAU’S MASTERPIECE THE LAST LAUGH (1924) IN A 2-DISC EDITION
 One of the crowning achievements of the German expressionist movement, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s THE LAST LAUGH (1924) was painstakingly restored by Luciano Berriatúa and the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung (the Murnau Foundation). This new restoration premiered in Germany in 2003.
Now, Kino International is proud to announce the DVD release of this definitive version of Murnau’s silent masterwork, presented with never-before-seen visual clarity and a new orchestral recording of the original 1924 score.
This deluxe, 2-disc edition of Murnau’s THE LAST LAUGH collects in a single set the brand-new restored German version of the film and also, the previously available “export version,” with music composed and conducted by Timothy Brock. As special features, Kino’s deluxe THE LAST LAUGH also brings a 40-minute documentary on the making of the film, as well as the film’s original German title sequences.
Kino’s THE LAST LAUGH: THE DELUXE EDITION will prebook on September 2, with a SRP of $29.95. Its street date is September 30, 2008.
In the making of The Last Laugh, three different camera negatives were exposed and edited. One would be used for striking prints for the German release, another was made for general international distribution, and a third was intended for American release. The surviving (incomplete) German negative was reconstructed in 2001-2002, utilizing the following material: an original negative from the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin; a print from the Museum of Modern Art, New York (manufactured in Germany in 1936); fragments of a copy of a lost German print archived at the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung; as well as portions of a print held by the Swiss Cinémathèque in Lausanne. The lab work was performed by L’Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna.
Kino International honors this one-of-a-kind restoration, which was the result of the collaborative work of all the institutions above, with a pristine DVD transfer bound to please even the most protective American fans of Murnau’s oeuvre.
Considered by many as Murnau’s materpiece, The Last Laugh stars Emil Jannings as an aging doorman whose happiness crumbles when he is relieved of the duties and uniform which had for years been the foundation of his pride and identity. Through Jannings’s colossal performance, THE LAST LAUGH becomes more than the plight of a single doorman; this film is constantly referred to as one of the most poetic and mournful dramatizations of the frustrations of the universal working class.
As a result of his work in The Last Laugh, the powerfully built Emil Jannings became one of the world’s most acclaimed film actors during the 1920s. He starred in Murnau’s next two films, Tartuffe (1925) and Faust (1926), and gained notoriety for a powerful performance in Ewald André Dupont’s Varieté. Jannings also received an Academy Award for his widely celebrated performances in the now-lost, Victor Fleming-directed The Way of All Flesh (1927) and Josef von Sternberg’s The Last Command (1928).
But when the first talkies began to appear, Jannings’ thick German accent diminished his market value. And of course, his affiliation with Josef Goebbels, his belief in the Third Reich ideology as well as his work on several anti-British propaganda films, only further alienated him from his American fans.
Yet, the partnership between Emil Jannings and F.W. Murnau remains one of cinema’s most brilliant and memorable ones. Their joined efforts, first seen in The Last Laugh, not only propelled the film to its hugely successful international release, but also launched the individual careers of these two legendary cinematic figures.
Murnau, as it is widely known, went on to make such classics as Sunrise (1927) and City Girl (1930), before his premature death in 1931. And Emil Jannings survived the horrors of World War II, won a Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival in 1945 for Where is Mr. Belling?, and passed away in Austria, five years later.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Two-DVD edition featuring the restored German version and the un-restored export version
- New recording of the original score by Giuseppe Becce, available in 5.1 Stereo Surround or 2.0 Stereo
- The Making of THE LAST LAUGH, a 40-minute documentary
- Original German title sequences
- Image Gallery
THE LAST LAUGH (Der letzte Mann)
Germany 1924 90 Min. B&W 1.33:1
Directed by F.W. Murnau
Screenplay by Carl Mayer
Photographed by Karl Freund
Restored German Version
Restored by Luciano Berriatúa
Original 1924 Score by Giuseppe Becce
Adapted by Detlev Glanert
Performed by the Saarbrücken
Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Frank Strobel
© Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, Wiesbaden
Music © 2003 ZDF
Plus Unrestored Export Version
Music Composed and Conducted by Timothy Brock
Performed by the Olympia Chamber Orchestra
Produced for Video by David Shepard
Music © 1993 Timothy Brock
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