FW Murnau's "The Humblest" should be one of the best in silent films. The scene scheduling is quite skilled, whether it is story, photography, editing, performance, etc., they have reached a very high level.
photography:
The few silent films basically do not have a subtitle card, and rely solely on visual language to tell the story. The photography of "The Humblest" can be said to be one of the best photography in silent films. It is too comfortable for the use of light and shadow. The film is also one of the few silent films that uses motion photography on such a large scale. (The silent film era was limited by the bulky and technical means of the machine itself. There was very little camera movement, and basically fixed camera positions. With the technological level With the improvement of the camera, the camera is gradually able to move, and Mornau fully liberated the camera in this film), the scheduling is extremely skillful, and it is an amazing degree in silent films. At the beginning of the film, the camera frame was lowered in the elevator. In addition, when the protagonist reads the dismissal letter given by the manager ("...the only reason for this measure is that you are old"), the camera rolls out the panoramic view from the window. Close-up shots of the characters in the window, sports follow-ups and so on on other occasions. The film uses a wealth of photography methods to present the subjective psychology and dreams/illusions of a large number of subjective shots of the male protagonist: when reading the manager’s dismissal letter, the camera sweeps the letter back and forth in the reverse shot, and the focus changes from clear to blurry and then to clear , In order to show the hero’s complex psychology after learning that he was fired; the hero is unwilling, reluctant to give up the uniform that symbolizes his identity, and when he intends to steal, he looks at the camera of the uniform and fights back. The shots of the sparkling uniform (using the push lens to express the hero’s psychology) were edited together; when he stolen the uniform and ran out, the building collapsed and smashed into his own illusion. Express the subjective point of view of the male protagonist, that is, the dizziness when drunk at the wedding, and the dreams/illusions in the drunk state: the camera rotates around the male protagonist to show the dizziness after being drunk, superimposing the air of working in uniform. The camera shakes, pushes, shakes, and overprints the air of raising the guest’s suitcase with one hand and saluting the guest; the double exposure when relatives deliver tea, causing ghosts and clones of the characters; Distortion of the front; after learning the truth that the protagonist has actually been fired and sent to the toilet to work, the woman upstairs in the distant shot raps the woman in the neighboring residential building, switching to two women upstairs and downstairs The scenes of raping each other are switched with pitch shots based on the principle of point of view; when the protagonist returns home, the women with long tongues stick out their heads and bodies from various windows and doors to make fun of the protagonist, and the scene is superimposed with the hideous close-ups of the five women laughing; The film also uses the mirror as an important image to express the meaning. The protagonist stands crouched in front of the mirror in the bathroom, and the person hangs with the image in the mirror. The lighting of the film is very particular, the use of light and shadow is quite comfortable, and What is especially commendable is the use of the portable lamp. The light of the portable lamp of the elderly patrolling in the hotel at night shines on the male protagonist's face, which further highlights the tragic and pitifulness of the male protagonist. The film is also amazing for the use of the door as a prop. When relatives find that he is working in the bathroom, and a guest comes in from the bathroom, the protagonist has no intention of helping other people hand towels and shoes, etc. because the relatives find out, the guests are negligent. , With an angry face and claiming to sue the boss and slammed the bathroom out, the foreground is a violent swinging door, and the background is the protagonist with mixed flavors. The bathroom door swings violently back and forth, filling the picture on the one hand. The sense of rhythm, on the other hand, the violent swing of the door has also become the externalization of the hero's psychological experience at that time. The scheduling at the end was also amazing. It was a long, long shot. The camera was swayed for a long time, showing in turn the various figures of the upper class who were dining in the hotel and restaurant. They sometimes faced the newspaper about a huge amount of property. The news of attribution laughed, and sometimes talked about it. The camera finally shook until a group of waiters were waiting for someone, and the camera was finally pushed over, showing that the person who was served by the crowd and enjoyed the big cakes, wine and other food turned out to be in our film. Actor.
Metaphors of clothing modeling: Uniforms, hats, and whistles have become metaphors for the male protagonist's class identity. When his outfit is forcibly deprived by the boss and then he is sent to the bathroom to work, it means a fall in class. This outfit has also become the source of the hero’s vanity. Putting on this outfit, blowing whistle at the hotel entrance every day, saluting one guest after another, helping them with their luggage, is the most impressive thing for him. So much so that relatives and neighbors went to cheat him, which can be seen from the behavior of the relative holding his carefully stewed soup to the restaurant to give him personally when he didn't know the truth. Therefore, restrained by vanity, after being fired, he wanted to steal the suit, and then put on the suit casually after get off work and walked into the house in a big way. It aroused the envy of the neighbor's eyes, and the scenery was infinite.
Clip:
The film uses parallel and cross-editing, panning shots of chefs preparing various cuisines in hotels and restaurants, relatives rushing to the hotel with delicious soup in their arms, and waiters in hotels and restaurants are delivering meals to the upper class people who are dining, and The shot of the actor wearing overalls alone in the bathroom holding a thin soup and drinking there was edited for comparison, highlighting the loneliness and misery of the actor.
Performance:
The actor was played by Emil Jannings, who later won the first Oscar for Best Actor for his excellent performances in the two films "The Last Command" and "The Road of All Beings". In the film "The Humblest Man", Emile Yanings performed a very superb performance. It was touching to perform a dismissed vanity and lonely worker. An important performance element is the change in the body language of the actor. Before being dismissed, the actor always held his head high, and after being dismissed, he was often crouched. This is a metaphor for the actor’s self-confidence being destroyed. And the cruelty of class reality has bent the backbone.
Ending: a failure? Before the end, the director gave a subtitle to explain: "This old man will spend the rest of his life miserably. Strictly speaking, the story ends here, but the author is still concerned about the person who was abandoned by everyone, so He was given an ending, telling an unfortunate story that usually does not happen in real life" (from the video translation of station B). The wording here is very interesting, "unfortunate" story, the director's position is very clear. So what is this "unfortunate" story? The film then shows the high-class people sitting together and laughing at the news in a newspaper with multiple shots. The film then shows us the sensational news content in the newspaper: "A sensational legacy As previously reported, the famous Mexican multimillionaire AG Moen died suddenly while washing his hands in the bathroom of the Atlantic Hotel. After consulting his documents, he found that this weird man had a bizarre will. The will shows that in whose arms he happened to die, that person was the only heir to his huge estate. Therefore, it seems that "the last will become the first" that is said in the "Bible" has already been realized in this world. This lucky guy is", the camera then began to make a long pan in the restaurant, looking for the lucky guy, and finally fell on the lucky guy—the male protagonist in the film. He was surrounded by a group of waiters. So, the table was full of big cakes, wine and other luxurious food. He also called the brother who was patrolling at night to enjoy with him, and at the end he shared a cigar with him. And the brother in the previous paragraph In the middle, seeing the tragic experience of the actor, when the actor was asleep on the bathroom chair, he kindly took the clothes to cover him, the sympathy between the bottom layers is tearful. And after a night of riches The unsophisticated and rude dining habits of the hero and the patrolling brother when they were enjoying the food in the restaurant also got a joke from the upper class. Relying on their own money, they went to the bathroom to give the money to the new cleaner, and pay back Smoke him a cigar, and after he walked out of the hotel’s door, he tipped the waiters who were in line to see him off and the others one by one... It seemed like a bright ending, so many people considered it a failure and superfluous. But looking at it from another angle, This extremely blunt ending, the protagonist can’t get rid of the rudeness of the meal, and the deliberate expression of handing towels to new guests in the bathroom, whistling at the door of the hotel, these previous professional habits, behavior and money are brought about. The mismatch of class status and other behaviors such as tipping the toilet cleaners and the waiters who saw him off at the door after getting rich, all tell us that money only brings the actor's enjoyment of material life, making him a rich man who goes with the crowd. , The protagonist did not show the consciousness of class struggle from beginning to end. No matter whether it was before or after becoming rich, vanity and love display did not change (before becoming rich, he was wearing a uniform to show off, after becoming rich, he was enjoying luxurious food in a restaurant and giving cleanliness. Workers and see-off waiters tip, etc.) This is not so much superfluous, but from another angle, is it not a kind of irony?
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