SCREENING: Der letzte Mann [The Last Laugh] (dir. F.W. Murnau; Germany, 1924; 77 mins.)

We mark 100 years since silent cinema reached its extraordinary peak as an international art form – distinct and different from the sound cinema that dominated screens from the 1930s, and, in some respects, superior.
This season, entitled 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐌𝐀, 𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟒–𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟔: 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬 & 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 celebrates both acknowledged masterpieces and bold rediscoveries from across the world, offering a rich cross-section of styles, from realism and psychological drama to avant-garde experimentation.
Friday 17th July
𝐃𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐳𝐭𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐧 [𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡] (𝐝𝐢𝐫. 𝐅.𝐖. 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐮; 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲, 𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟒; 𝟕𝟕 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐬.)
One of film history’s great ironies is this masterpiece born from poverty. When Soviet studios demanded austerity, Lev Kuleshov responded with a stripped-back adaptation of two short stories of 1905-06 by American author Jack London: a handful of actors, and a few acres of wilderness near Moscow standing in for the hostile Yukon of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896-98. The limitations became the film’s strength, creating extraordinary intensity, claustrophobia, suspicion, fear and obsession. At the film’s centre is Aleksandra Khokhlova, Kuleshov’s collaborator and partner, whose “engineered” acting and sculptural movement, shaped by biomechanics and montage, feels strikingly modern. Long neglected, By the Law has re-emerged as a cornerstone of silent cinema. Introduction by Dr. Natasha.

📽️ Tickets and season info at kentmomi.org/events
📽️ Doors open 5.30, for drinks & nibbles. Films start 6.30 with a brief introduction from the curators.
📽️ Entry is free with a yearly ticket, although we suggest a small donation of £5 per head to help us keep the lights on! Yearly tickets giving full access to the museum can be purchased on the door (£7.50 adult / £6.00 concessions).
📽️ If you buy tickets and are subsequently unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can give your seat(s) to someone else.