Tod Browning

1927, USA, 63min, black and white.

In The Unknown, we find the fascination of Tod Browning - director of Freaks - for criminal, monstrous and fallen figures, and for the destructive power of love. The main character, played by Lon Chaney, is Alonzo, a man with no arms who is secretly in love with the daughter of the director of the circus in which he is the star. A macabre masterpiece from 1927, The Unknown is certainly one of Tod Browning's finest films.

The French musician Rodolphe Burger, leader of the band Kat Onoma, who is adept at building bridges between music, cinema and literature, has composed a subtle soundtrack for this film. Accompanied by Doctor L, he weaves with restraint and without concern for illustration a music that leaves all its place to this terrifying masterpiece.