A ÚLTIMA GARGALHADA (Alemanha, 1924) – O filme é mais uma das obras-primas de Murnau. Emil Jannings é um porteiro de hotel, profundamente orgulhoso do seu uniforme, quando é substituído por um funcionário mais jovem. No bairro miserável onde mora, ele é respeitado pelos vizinhos, que o veem como um general (mostrando como os ideais militares eram importantes na época). Trabalhando agora nos banheiros do hotel, ele rouba o uniforme, para manter o status na sua comunidade. O filme é uma metáfora do pós-guerra na Alemanha e um estudo sobre a vaidade. Uma trívia: a primeira “dolly” foi inventada para este filme, em que Murnau leva ao máximo seu trabalho com imagens. "Der letzte Mann", a.k.a. "The Last Laugh", is another masterpiece directed by F.W. Murnau. Emil Jannings plays an aging hotel porter who takes great pride and pleasure in his job and especially the lavish uniform that comes with it. In the miserable middle-class neighborhood he lives, being able to wake up in the morning and go to work dressed like in such a prestigious uniform is like being a general (this shows how the military was praised at the time). That is until a younger man is hired in his place and he's demoted to the, undignified in his mind, job of lavatory attendant. Not bearing to lose face back home with gossiping neighbors and relatives, the old porter steals back his uniform and returns home as if nothing happened, the uniform a symbol not only of his social status but also of purpose in life. More than anything, F.W. Murnau's movie seems to be a metaphor for inter-war Germany, also shedding lights on vanity. The film tackles the idea of 'downfall', and as the prologue states; one can be a prince one day, but what is he tomorrow? The first "dolly" (a device that allows a camera to move during a shot) was created for this film. What ties Murnau's work together is its imagery. He excelled at it as few directors ever did.
