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6.2/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.2/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Circus Life remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you love dusty old European melodramas with backstage murder, Circus Life is worth a lazy Sunday watch. But if you hate slow-moving silent-era pacing and grainy film stock, you will probably want to skip this one entirely. 🎪
The plot revolves around Artonis, an acrobat who spends way more time hopping between bedrooms than doing actual tricks on the trapeze. He's carrying on two separate affairs at the same time with his boss Elvira and the horse rider Kitty.
Then, surprise! Someone shoots him dead.
The movie shifts quickly from a messy romance to a clunky whodunit. There is this one scene where a horse just stares directly at the camera for about ten seconds.
It honestly feels like the horse knows who the killer is before the police do.
The circus acts themselves are easily the best part of the whole thing. The acrobats look genuinely terrified, probably because the safety nets back then looked like cheap fishing nets.
It has that same melodramatic, dirt-under-the-fingernails feel you get in Marizza, though with far less artistic flair. The acting is just incredibly expressive.
Liane Haid does this thing with her eyes where she looks like she's trying to read a very small menu across a crowded room. It is hilariously dramatic but also oddly charming.
Then the detective shows up. His mustache is so huge it deserves its own billing in the credits.
He mostly just walks around the circus tents poking random props with his cane. You can tell the writers got a bit bored with the actual mystery halfway through because the pacing just falls off a cliff.
If you enjoyed other old silent dramas like Captain of His Soul, you will find some stuff to like here. Just don't expect a tight plot or a satisfying ending.