What a story! Watching the Man Who Laughs is like a fantastic reminder of how accomplished movies can be, how great stories can get, and how the weird can work perfectly.

Gwynplaine, is the struggling title character of this film who has had a laughing mouth cut into his face since a child. Who is the hero of the film it is hard to say since the film is full of 4 admirable characters who form their own little family – Homo, the dog, Ursus the philosopher and carer, Dea the pretty blind maid – “God made me blind so I could see the real Gwynplaine”. And of course Gwynplaine. As Dea’s line just so perfectly displayed, this film pulls its punches with gut wrenching dialogue. The intertitles that play between the scenes are sparse but brilliant – not used to explain the action but as poetic one liners. As Gwnyplaine makes his protest in the house of lords, “A king made me a clown. The queen made me a lord… But first, God made me a man!”

This material is the stuff to cheer along to as you are literally wrenched along with Gwynplaine on his emotional journey. What an actor he is to be able to sustain such a high level empathy and support you feel for his character throughout the film. You could not believe a face capable of such things – his mouth in a constant huge grin and his eyes most of the time simultaneously telling of a pitiful fate. As we watch him all the story is played simply through his eyes, but it does not feel simple, it feels like you can read many complex feelings and thoughts through him. One of my favourite parts is where the clown now made lord (the film is deeply satirical too) stands in the house of lords with all the others laughing so hysterically at him after he shows his mouth. His eyes crumble, and as he lifts the cloth which he uses to cover his mouth most of the time , he moves past his mouth and instead lifts it to his eyes, not covering what they find so disturbing as he normally does, but instead shielding himself from the horrors that they afford him.

The soundtrack from Maximo Park, so dense, and gripping creates this perfect environment of absolute saturation for you to fully fall into the film. Afterwards I say, enthusiastic in the moment, that its the best film I’ve seen all year. But its surely true!