The tragedy is not about heroes or heroines! It is about the unseen. Those who carry unbearable burdens and suffer in silence. When friendship is betrayed and love fades what remains of us?

In 1924, Victor Sjöström turned Leonid Andreyev’s play He Who Gets Slapped into MGM’s first feature film. Paul Beaumon, a brilliant scientist who after working for years is betrayed by his friend and patron Baron Regnard. Beaumon, played by Lon Chaney, with him, we see all the levels of misery he walks in. Lon Chaney gives us everything we need to understand the layers of Beaumon. He conveys the message in silence and shows us the deep parts of the character, the pain, the broken heart and the lost soul in the carnival of laughs.

The man behind the clown
With all pain and agony he carries in his soul, Beaumon chooses to leave and abandon those who cause him to be broken. He sees in the circus a safe place to hide in, no more friends or lovers only smiles and laughs! What job suits this shattered man? A clown who receives slaps from people. The slap is a reminder, a call to wake up — but for what! Everything is lost now and the echoes of people calling for more slaps just keep him asleep and protected.

Why the clown?
The tragedy illustrates the icon of fun and joy as the core of hidden pain. The people never asked themselves why to slap and why we laughed! It is a hurtful truth to see people turning other’s pain into sarcasm. The symbolism of the clown points out that sometimes pain can hide beneath many faces such as happiness!

Final word
Within this short article, I have tried to draw a picture of a great film that needs no words to tell but a masterpiece to be watched.

Watch the film now!