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another first-time viewing

minor recommendation for these reflections: scroll down to the bottom of the post and start the music and then commence reading




you can see now?

City Lights
(Charles Chaplin, 1931)

the Tramp struggles to help a blind flower girl
he has fallen in love with

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021749/?ref_=nv_sr_1


i take for granted sometimes how exceptional a storyteller Chaplin/the tramp was. he is pretty much the original cartoon character. i'd wager the animators of mickey mouse, bugs bunny, donald duck, etc, etc, all took things from Chaplin. He knew exactly when to play up comic exaggeration, and when to play it small



while watching City Lights, i forgot i was viewing a silent picture. i took pleasure in the perfectly-timed gags, the comedy, the clever finesse Chaplin displays as the producer, director, and star of the show. and it's not like he glorifies himself. he almost drowns, a flower pot falls and hits him in the head, he loses the boxing match, and he's pretty much an all-around goof. yet i can't help but admire the product


Chaplin is unique in that even modern audiences know that he, the puppet and star of the show, is also the one pulling the strings. he owned his own production company, so he was never under any obligation to studios to have to change his vision. 'talkies' were the new thing in 1931 in Hollywood, and Chaplin mocks it at the beginning.. when the public officials introduce the monuments and squeaky gibberish comes out. love it



Conclusion: the final scene, to me, is the epitome of what Charlie is at his best... it's everything the tramp stands for. after the time he and the flower girl shared together while she was blind, she naturally assumes he is a rich man. at first when she doesn't recognize him, my first reflex was to call out to her. tell her the truth... but Charlie doesn't...




(9.0/10)