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In a circus nothing is ever what it seems, love is transitory
and often based on financial gain, but the freaks have a code,
love one love all, hurt one hurt all. So when Cleopatra decides
to cheat the dwarf Hans out of his money she embarks on a
path of disaster...
Freaks
was always going to be a controversial film, not for its content
but for the reactions it created in its audience. In an era
where special effects were relatively new, what you saw is
what you got; the contemporary audience would have been more
used to seeing such actors heavily covered with make up playing
Munchkins and their like, which gave a fantasy level of removal
from the reality of disability. To see disabled people playing
the parts that they play, in the film, is still disturbing
today. The end chase through the forest is something that
would give David Lynch the willies, and remains as powerful
today as the day it was first shown.
In that sense it remains a difficult movie to categorise.
To say it is a horror film is to question ones own feelings
towards disabled people, would it have been easier or not
if they hadn't been, in the parlance of the film, freaks.
Given the chance Browning's film can be seen as a tragic/comedy
where the real message is the strength and resilience of this
extended family. Their support for each other is complete
as is the revenge they extract when harm it visited on one
of their own.
Browning was not unknown to horror aficionados, having previously
directed Dracula, in 1931. The film Freaks,
though it might seem exploitative, belies the fact that Browning
himself had worked in a carnival in his youth - as an actor
dancer and magician - and that his work, especially with Lon
Chaney in The Unholy Three, showed just how sympathetic
he was toward people at the fringes of society. Although reaction
to the film could be said to have started the demise of his
career, in fact it was pretty much banned until the early
sixties, it remains a very challenging piece. If nothing else
you'll never see a film like Freaks again.
The
actors, overall, are not great - being real carnival people
essentially playing themselves. This was also the really early
days of talkies when people where just getting used to the
medium. One of the failings of the film and Browning's career
is that he never really made a successful transition from
silent movies. If you watch it and think that you never saw
any of the carnival people before or after this film (in actual
fact most had very successful careers) then look out for a
very young Angelo Rosito who also appear in Mad Max Beyond
the Thunderdome.
Due
to the age of the film the audio is stereo, which is fine
but there appears to be a lot of distortion in the upper range,
making some of the dialogue difficult to make out. The extras
are fairly extensive with alternative ending and an in depth
and fascinating documentary, Freaks: The Sideshow Cinema,
about the making of the film and the actors involved. The
theatrical prologue is included as part of the extras, though
why this was not just left attached to the main body of the
film is unknown. Commentary by David Skol is both interesting
and informative. The print is soft, and at times seems overexposed,
especially at the end when the action takes place in an over
lit space. For most of the film this isn't an issue as the
majority of the film takes place at night.
So,
should you fork out on an old 1932 film? The answer to that
is yes. It is unlikely that you will find a film that challenges
your own feelings on disability, or just scares the willies
out of you. The documentary about the file is worth the money
itself.
 
Charles
Packer
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