Freaks is many things, but boring is not one of them. Tod Browning's film happens to have a certain power to it in that it's actually kind of conventional with its story- a man falls in love with a woman, who wants him (not immediately but soon after finding out) for his money, and when his friends find out they plot revenge against the dastardly woman. It almost reminded me of a fable in a way, like some kind of cautionary tale. But it's definitely not simplistic in the way of what you might expect from 1932 (i.e. 'watch out for these deformed, crazy people who may kill you in the dead of night, etc'). It's the other way around, where the woman, Cleo, and her real lover Hercules, are the 'freaks' of the film, as they lack the real friendship, compassion, understanding and reality of their situation like the other sideshow attractions do. It's Hans who ends up getting duped, but then getting a happy ending, and rightfully so with maybe the most "normal" of the bunch, his should-be wife, who also happens to be a dwarf.
So in terms of being a 'message' movie, it's actually quite good by sticking very firmly to its one-dimensional guns. It doesn't fool its audience exactly by being something else that it isn't, and Browning's background in silent and horror films is shown in some very memorable scenes. Chiefly of these are the wedding banquet with the milestone of cheerily creepy cinematic moments with the 'ooble-gobble' chant where everything becomes clear. There are also some really horrifying images in the climax when the 'freaks' finally get their payback against Cleo. Now, because of such drama being put alongside such a demented atmosphere, the film lacks a lot of things other conventional films even have. The story, even at only over an hour, takes some time to really get started after some getting-to-know scenes with the bulk of the ensemble. And there are a couple of holes that pop up as well; the end moment where Cleo is revealed in the sideshow, literally having become 'one of them', it's too ridiculous and silly to even think of how it happened.
But somehow Browning's film doesn't feel too aged- it's actually one of those superbly shot early talkies, where the images still speak well enough on their own, while the dialog from these (mostly) non-professionals adds more of the emotional impact in the scenes. Once the audience can come to accept what these people are born with or have become (and in this day and age where day time talk show outranks most of what is seen in the film it's not hard to do) it's hard not to dismiss its worth. But if you turn it off after starting to see some of these strange oddities of human nature, you'll be missing the point. This is one hell of a picture that should stand the test of time.
So in terms of being a 'message' movie, it's actually quite good by sticking very firmly to its one-dimensional guns. It doesn't fool its audience exactly by being something else that it isn't, and Browning's background in silent and horror films is shown in some very memorable scenes. Chiefly of these are the wedding banquet with the milestone of cheerily creepy cinematic moments with the 'ooble-gobble' chant where everything becomes clear. There are also some really horrifying images in the climax when the 'freaks' finally get their payback against Cleo. Now, because of such drama being put alongside such a demented atmosphere, the film lacks a lot of things other conventional films even have. The story, even at only over an hour, takes some time to really get started after some getting-to-know scenes with the bulk of the ensemble. And there are a couple of holes that pop up as well; the end moment where Cleo is revealed in the sideshow, literally having become 'one of them', it's too ridiculous and silly to even think of how it happened.
But somehow Browning's film doesn't feel too aged- it's actually one of those superbly shot early talkies, where the images still speak well enough on their own, while the dialog from these (mostly) non-professionals adds more of the emotional impact in the scenes. Once the audience can come to accept what these people are born with or have become (and in this day and age where day time talk show outranks most of what is seen in the film it's not hard to do) it's hard not to dismiss its worth. But if you turn it off after starting to see some of these strange oddities of human nature, you'll be missing the point. This is one hell of a picture that should stand the test of time.