Skip to main content

Chaplin (1992)

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Chaplin. Feature film. (1992, 143 mins) IMDB

...An ambitious film...

I

watched this movie once before, probably in the mid-1990s, and it stuck with me--at least the film as a whole and certain aspects of the film. I know I enjoyed it then and I enjoyed it again.

If you were to break the film up into three acts it would be as follows. Act I deals with the young, unknown Chaplin growing up in England. Act II deals with his move to the US and his fame and fortune. The women in his life. The trouble with the FBI and Hoover. Act III deals with his exile to Switzerland when he couldn't return to the US. Hey, they thought he was a communist and a jew.

It climaxes with his appearance at the Academy Awards in the early 1970s. Titles at the end tells he died at age 88 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.

That's the overall structure of the film and it's ambitious to want to cover the entire life of a man, but they do. At least the dramatic bits of his life. I'm sure there are many things that could have been used.

Downey gives a career defining performance. It's a demanding role with that ranges from pratfalls to tears.

Aykroyd gives a memorable performance as Max Sennett.

If you step out of the room to check your email, you'll miss seeing the lovely Marisa Tormei.

The film definitely gives a sense of the zany style of comedy prevalent during the silent era. Some of it recreated for this film, some clips from actual films. In one scene in Utah, the characters (Chaplin and his crew) play out a scene as if they were in a silent movie and it's delightful to watch.

There is another aspect of the structure that adds to the film. It's the 1960s. An old Chaplin has written his autobiography and an editor has come to ask him questions, to clarify and add details about his life. These questions and answers serve as exposition and segue ways into the recreation of his life that is the film. As the film progresses, we get brief interludes with Chaplin and the editor. It helps to clarify the significance of moments in the film, exposition, but it works.

Posted 2009/03/12 at 20h18ET in Movie Commentary.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If Only We Could Agree

Monday, June 11, 2012 ... have you been accused of misspelling a word you know is correct ... S usanne O’Leary wrote an interesting article on her experience with the variations of the English language in different countries. You know the obvious ones like colour with or without a “u” but less obvious ones like travelled versus traveled. Growing up in Sweden she learnt English in school—the UK variation. In publishing her books, she read reviews where she was criticized for improper spelling. False accusations as it turns out. While I write tire and cozy, it’s not incorrect to write tyre or cosy. Same language. Both accepted. Just different. You can read her write-up here along with the numerous comments posted by readers. I found it interesting, but that’s me. As a Canadian I deal with this issue everyday. I feel her pain when she’s criticized for something based on ignorance. No fun. I was told by a boss that “data are” isn’t correct. It should be “data is.” Read
2 comments
Read more

Days 9-108: Writing a Novel—The Deep Blue Hold

November 25th, 2016 to March 5, 2017 Note: Unedited writings from my notebook for this novel. Square bracket items represent added comments. At 15:53 Office ... And so began a three month odyssey away from writing this novel, The Deep Blue Hold. ... W herein I try to explain why I stopped working on this novel. The shortest answer is I gave up. The short explanation is I struggle with mental health issues (MDD, GAD, PTSD) that paralyse me at times. When it happens, I’m not able to do much of anything. Don’t want to do anything and that includes things one might expect to enjoy. For a while I spent time trying to create some thirty-second videos that would play a word puzzle like a crossword. Here’s the clue. Here’s the blank spaces. And after an interval, one of the letters would appear until all the letters appear. A bit of a crossword puzzle in that sometimes you come to a word where crossover words give you certain letters and you have to fill in the rest. A
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 8: Writing a Novel—The Deep Blue Hold

Thursday, November 24th, 2016 Note: Unedited writings from my notebook for this novel. Square bracket items represent added comments. At 15:53 Office ... This was a Chinese ship with Chinese officers. He didn't need some damn Dutch sailor to tell him how to run his ship. ... Y esterday was a day of distraction and writer’s block as I didn’t get too far. No new pages and nothing new on the story. Right now I’m stepping back to Tuesday, trying to get my mind around this story. Would it help if to read what I have. [Draft pages of the novel.] ____ Later. What I have is okay. It’s working. Of course it needs edits but that’s for another day. I think I worked out the broad strokes for Chps. 4, 5 & 6. Chp. 4 Captain on ship Chp. 5 Family back home Chp. 6. Leanne tending to her wounds Time to brainstorm some ideas for Chp. 4. It’s dawn. People getting up for morning routine. There will be a change of watch. Cross checking containers… The captain w
Post a Comment
Read more