The Man Who Laughs (2012 film)

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The Man Who Laughs
The Man Who Laughs (2012 film) poster.jpg
Film poster
French L'homme qui rit
Directed by Jean-Pierre Améris
Written byJean-Pierre Améris
Guillaume Laurant
Based on L'Homme qui rit
by Victor Hugo
Produced byThomas Anargyros
Edouard de Vésinne
Starring Gérard Depardieu
Marc-André Grondin
Christa Théret
Arben Bajraktaraj
Serge Merlin
Emmanuelle Seigner
CinematographyGérard Simon
Edited byPhilippe Bourgueil
Music byStéphane Moucha
Production
company
Distributed byEuropaCorp
Release date
  • 8 June 2012 (2012-06-08)(VFF)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

The Man Who Laughs (French : L'homme qui rit) is a 2012 French/Czech romantic musical drama film produced by EuropaCorp and based on the 1869 eponymous novel by Victor Hugo. [1]

Contents

Cast

Reception

Boyd Van Hoeij from Variety was critical of the film, writing, "Less faithful to its source material and more concerned with delivering the goods visually, this handsome, studio-shot pic, somewhat ironically, lacks genuine pathos in telling its tale of how deceiving looks can be." [2] Neil Young from The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, writing, "Thoroughly old-fashioned but ultimately moving literary adaptation has more than enough exploitable features to indicate long-term commercial success." [3]

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The Man Who Laughs is a novel by Victor Hugo, originally published in April 1869 under the French title L'Homme qui rit. It takes place in England beginning in 1690 and extends into the early 18th-century reign of Queen Anne. It depicts England's royalty and aristocracy of the time as cruel and power-hungry. Hugo intended parallels with the France of Louis-Philippe and the Régence.

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References

  1. Mandelbaum, Jacques (2012-12-25). ""L'Homme qui rit" : vision étriquée d'un roman démesuré". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  2. Van Hoeij, Boyd (10 September 2012). "The Man Who Laughs – Variety". Variety.com. Boyd Van Hoeij. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  3. Young, Neil (2012-09-12). "The Man Who Laughs (L'Homme Qui Rit): Venice Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 2017-12-08.