blowing bubbles1.0

Some of you might instantly recognise that quote from the movie “Freaks” by Tod Browning (1931). I recently bought the new DVD release. It had been a few years since I first saw the film and I was pleased to find that it hadn’t lost any of its power.

I’ve heard people talk about the movie as a grotesque comedy - a freak show on film. In a sense that’s true as the cast contains real people with real deformities and handicaps. There’s much more depth than that, though. It’s a story about uniqueness, family, unconditional love and mutual respect. A beautiful film which shows the human side to something which is usually portrayed as inhuman: the travelling freak sideshow. Apart from that it’s also a landmark movie, a revolutionary production and one of the strangest movies ever to come out of an American film production studio. It was released at a time when movie censorship had only just kicked off in Hollywood and this movie in a sense slipped by whereas a few years later it probably would have looked entirely different.

You can read more about the film on Wikipedia and IMDB.

The new Warner Brothers DVD release also comes with a few really nice extras and my recommendation:

Commentary by David Skal

The author of the accompanying documentary providing a running commentary.

“Freaks - The Sideshow Cinema”

A nice documentary about the film with lots of background information.

Special Message prologue

A rolling text prologue that was shown in the cinemas before the film, warning people about the content and giving some background on the story.

Three alternate endings

A few variations of the film were released due to censorship boards cutting bits out here and there. These endings show a few versions, including the original uncut ending.

It’s generally available at major outlets.