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Moths to a Flame

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A quickish sketch of Gwynplaine and Dea from The Man Who Laughs (1928). Quick-ish in that I actually attempted to render some sense of lighting and things.

I'm betting not many people have seen this film, even if they know Conrad Veidt's makeup inspired the Joker's look. It's a rather stylish mix of the weirdly macabre and the wildly romantic, and absolutely worth a look - especially for Veidt's performance as Gwynplaine. It all comes down to body language and eyes, and he's terrific.


For those not in the know:
Gwynplaine had a permanent grin carved into his face by a gypsy surgeon as a child. He now makes his living in a travelling show as "The Laughing Man", but hates being the source of the crowd's horror and derision. He falls in love with Dea, a blind foundling, but remains deeply ashamed of his disfigurement - whenever she tries to touch his face, he covers his mouth.

Sticking in the tragedy/comedy masks may have been a little heavyhanded, but oh well.
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Taylor-is-Blue's avatar
Aww, one of my favorite silent films!   Awesome tribute.