Tod Browning’s “Freaks,” circa
1932, focuses on the affair of Hans, a circus midget, and Cleopatra, a circus
acrobat. Hans falls in love with
Cleopatra and she eventually marries him when she finds about his great fortune.
The rest of the film chronicles Cleopatra plotting with her true lover,
Hercules to murder Hans and inherit his fortune, and what ensues when the other
‘freaks’ hear of their plan.
Because of
the time period and the filmmaking style associated with it, ‘Freaks’ tends to
read more like a play than a movie. It relies heavily on dialogue and each
scene seems to take place on a fixed set. Most of the sounds in the film are
diagetic. Though the plot of the film is very linear, leaving little to the
imagination, it is nevertheless haunting. Browning decided to hire actual
sideshow performers to act in the film, however, it is hardly this fact that
makes ‘Freaks’ so haunting, as generally they are presented as perfectly
well-adjusted people given the circumstances. It is their fierce loyalty to each
other, leading to the mutilation of Cleopatra and Hercules which has the most
impact.
‘Freaks’ is
a story about love, loyalty, and corruption which speaks more to the absurdity
of human greed than the much more obvious strangeness of the sideshow
performers who are the main characters.
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