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The Man Who Laughs (SelfMadeHero)

An adaptation of Victor Hugo’s ‘The Man Who Laughs’ was created and illustrated in 2014 by Mark Stafford and dialog by David Hine. Apart from the 1928 film adaptation and in later iterations, a Broadway show, I find that these illustrations brings this sad and dark story to life in a very unique way.

Stafford’s twisted, gothic style tells this reimagined tale in an appropriate way given how dark and depressing the source material is. We are witnessing the struggle of the main character Gwynplaine in a world that he feels that he doesn’t belong. This style not only shows our grizzly main character in a scary light but everyone else in this illustrated novel has their dark sides brought to the forefront.

Like what I had talked about in the analysis of the 1928 adaptation I had talked about the way in which the main character expresses most of his emotions through his eyes. As you can see, in this image of Gwynplaine his eyes are rounded and doe-like. This allows room for a vast amount of expression that can be shown in the eye’s shape or the shrinking of the pupils. I have learnt that the artist uses a method where both the eyes and brows are enlarged to show more emotion where his mouth would normally contribute to portraying different emotions. 

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The man who laughs

Victor Hugo was one to write stories about the inequality of classes such as Les Misérables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. These stories are from the point of view of a character who breaks the cliché of a appealing to the eye, male lead.

Considered a horror film as apposed to a tragic story. The film was really a human drama shot like a horror film. The 1928 film was created shortly after the success of another one of Victor Hugo’s works called ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ being adapted for the first time into a live action film by Universal Studios. Most actors, artists and producers working on this film had also worked on ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ and ‘The Phantom of the Opera’.

Why is the main character constantly smiling? Gwynplaine (our main protagonist) the two-year-old heir to a rebel lord, who is abducted upon the orders of a vindictive monarch, was given to a group of gypsies at a young age called Comprachicos. They surgically mutilate young children and disfigure them so they can become side show attractions.  

The inspiration that I have taken from this work is how Gwynplaine is able to be so expressive in his emotions even though his cheeks have been pulled back into a permanent smile. Veidt’s Gwynplaine is able to show expression in the eyes that tell a different story from his false smile. At some points the character even covers his mouth to show his true expression and feelings in his eyes. This is why I want to be able to cover my own created characters mouth so I can draw more attention to the eyes and desensitize the audience to the ugliness of the character.

The actor who played Gwynplaine had to wear a retainer-like brace on his mouth to stretch the corners of his mouth, almost from ear to ear, to create an uncanny permanent smile for the film. The actor wore it for hours whilst filming that it caused his jaw to become painfully achy from the forced smile. 

Paul Leni’s silent film, based on Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name, is a romantic melodrama steeped in German expressionism and body horror. Universal’s success with the film paved the way for their adaptations, Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931). The look of the character for this film inspired the iconic look of DC (Detective Comics) Batman’s the joker.

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Religion

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The cliché of horror

In modern Horror films we find that there are a lot of chase sequences that may come across as cliché. These chase scenes are meant to heighten the rush of adrenaline in the audience watching the film. The problem is, the more you watch the less affected you become by these types of scenes because of how repitive  they are in these films 

Techniques to use that can make the scene more unique:

- Make the monster part of the background.

Limit movement of the creature and have the monster in the background of some of the scenes. This lets audience members interact with the scene by spotting things in the background that the character might not have noticed yet.

-Sound design should be as quiet as possible 

No jumpscares, no jumpcuts and no overdramatization of the scene. Sometimes the scariest moments are those that are the most realistic. The lack of music mixed with the over sensitive natural sounds of the scene will allow for a rise in anxiety for the viewer.

-No jumpscares 

The fear caused by jumpscares (A loud noise or a sudden appearance) are very temporary when compared to drawn out horror scenes.

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Contortion

Aleksei Goloborodko is a contortionist who is part of the Cirque Du Soleil and is said to be the best contortionist in the world. He started contortion from the age of 4 years old and ever since then has been training 3 hours every day in order to keep his flexibility and so he doesn’t injure himself during his act.

He specifically does ‘Dancing contortion’ which involves him contorting in a routine to music. It’s a mix of different disciplines which involve Hand balance, rhythmic gymnastics, Ballet and Modern dance.  Contortion originated from Asian traditions of dance and artistic expression. In China and Mongolia, traditional Buddhist Cham dances would incorporate contortion into their movement.

Why do I want to make references to contortion?

Contortionists create movements that look otherworldly and animalistic, in the sense that the movements no longer look human. Contortion can also be used for body horror and can cause a visceral reaction from viewers. As referenced by Goloborodko in his act for the Cirque Du Soleil, he plays the role of a Alebrijes which is a mythical creature of Mexican origin. 

I want to use contorted versions of the human form in order to create creatures and monsters from a distorted version of the human form. I have seen this technique used a lot in series’ like the Silent Hill video games and a lot of horror media. It creates an uncanny valley illusion because we are used to seeing the human form in a distorted and twisted form.

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The influence of Jacobs ladder

Jacob’s Ladder is an infamous 1990s film which inspired many pop culture works after it. One of the main works inspired by this film is that of the video game series Silent Hill. You can see this through the contortion of the human form and the uncanny body horror achieved through practical FX and props then translated to digital PlayStation 2 FX. 

The film is a very dark critique on the human experience with fear and loss. It is cryptic however takes the time to explain the chaos that we experience in this film. The film is about an army medic appropriately named ‘Jacob’ and how he seemingly is coping with his day to day life after he is critically wounded in the Vietnam war. When he is home, he experiences PTSD and what seems to be hallucinations caused by his trauma. 

I will unfortunately have to bluntly spoil the film in order to explain how it has inspired my work. Jacob is slowly passing away due to his wounds in the war and the rest of the film is him going through stages of death and journeying to the afterlife although it is presented to us as if he survived his wounds and is living out a normal life.

The film explores the legacy we leave after we die and the impact we have around the people around us. The film emphasises the return of Jacob to normality and how what he has done in the Vietnam war, such as saving lives of everyone back at home, gives him no reward or any gain for him risking his life. The film is also used to spread awareness for Veterans who have to live with the horrors of what they have experienced whilst also being injected back into society as if nothing had happened. 

 The influence this film had on Silent Hill, being it’s Lovecraftian horrors and the decent into madness and the supernatural, however, ‘Jacobs Ladder’ is less about trying to explain the meaning behind its horror and more about the none sensical terror, allowing the audience to interpret a meaning should they desire to. At the end of it all, the horror experienced is a metaphor for Jacob’s demons and how he deals with them in each scenario. Hence the name ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ being based on a ladder created by the patriarch Jacob in Christianity's ‘The book of Genesis’. The ladder was a link between Earth, Heaven and Hell. Relating back to the film, when Jacob is wounded, he is then sent to a purgatory (Being his life at home) where he is in a persistent battle between Demons and Angels that pull him in different directions.

The ending is all to do with acceptance. How death comes naturally to us all and that we have to suffer and hurt sometimes to get to the other side. 

‘The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won’t let go of your life, your memories your attachments. They burn them all away. But they are not punishing you, he said. They’re freeing your soul.’ 

- Jacob's Doctor

‘You're a lucky guy, Jake. You must have friends in high places.’ 

-  Jacob's Doctor

How this relates to my project is, I would like to perhaps create my own versions of Demons and Angels for my project such as Jacobs Ladder had. Making them both one in the same and not being able to so easily distinguish them from one another.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOD0DZRdQ9w