Raonaild

I didn't see any threads about like this, but this forum seemed the most appropriate place for this discussion.

A few months ago I watched the Robert Downey Jr. film Chaplin. Of course I was vaguely aware of who Charlie Chaplin was and seen clips from his films (or others imitating him), but I'd never really watched any of his films properly before.

One thing I found about the RDJ movie was that, although he did a great job as Chaplin (both as the man and the Tramp), I wanted more of the movie to be about Chaplin's films - my favourite part of the movie is when RDJ played the Tramp in the fictional wedding scene.

So I decided to try watching a Chaplin film, and started with Modern Times (his last "silent" film). I wondered if a silent movie would hold my attention, whether I'd get bored and frustrated by the lack of dialog.

I enjoyed it quite a bit, so much that I started watching all of Chaplin's other films as well - from his first short films with Keystone through to his later, non-Tramp talking films like Limelight and Monsieur Verdoux, and everything in between.

So I'm start this thread to see if there are any other closet Chaplin fans at FF, and to see if maybe I can get a few others to take the leap and give these old movies a try.

LostShadow

Thanks for the thread!!

GardenSirens

Modern Times remains one of the best and important movies!

Raonaild

I like Modern Times, but I kind of prefer some of the sentimental ones, like The Kid and City Lights.

I do also like some of his older, pure comedies as well. Chaplin's fun to watch, even if there's not much story. It's like watching a dancing.

Chaplin's film The Great Dictator has certainly gotten a lot of press over the last few weeks, because of comparisons with The Interview and North Korea. We're so used to seeing both dramatic and comedic representations of Hitler and the Nazis on film, it blows my mind to see one that was contemporary, something Hitler might have actually seen.

AutumnColorsღ

Thanks for starting this thread. I love Charlie Chaplin. He was one of the greatest comedians. He always put a smile on my face.

Mi||iê Måë

Chaplin is my favourite actor! I have a collector's series of all his films on DVD.

Raonaild

Do you have any particular favourites? I definitely like Chaplin more well known, feature length work, but there are also a few of his lesser known shorts films that I really enjoy too - "The Pawnshop" for example, which I think is one of Chaplin's best purely slapstick performances.

They've recently been releasing remastered versions of Chaplin's films for HD/Blu Ray. So far Criterion has released his feature length films like City Lights, Modern Times, The Gold Rush, The Great Dictator and Monsieur Verdoux. And Flicker Alley last year released a BR boxed set of Chaplin's Mutual Comedies (12x30min shorts).

What I haven't seen yet are HD/BR releases for Chaplin's Keystone, Essanay and First National productions. I have DVD versions of the Keystone and First National Films, but I'm hoping they'll soon come out with BR boxed sets for all of those as well.

On a related note - a few weeks ago, my local theatre ran City Lights as part of a classic film series. I went to see it, the first silent movie I've seen in a theatre. It was basically the Criterion HD release I'd seen already, but it was nice to see it on a proper big screen like that. There were even a few other people there to watch it.

Mi||iê Måë

I'd love to get the Blu Ray sets. My favourite of his is "City Lights", just love the sweetness and emotion of that one.

It would be awesome if a local indie theatre here would do a Chaplin night, that would be awesome. But I've only seen them on my 32"

From "City Lights"

Mi||iê Måë

I could 't resist, so I made a few avatars/icons:

Charlie Chaplin:

Raonaild

I also love City Lights, particularly the last scene (hence my avatar). Just so much emotion in the faces of the Tramp and the Flower Girl in those last few moments, going from sadness and fear to hope and joy. I think silent films are at their best when you don't need the intertitles to understand what's happening, you can read it all from their expressions. I teared up a bit when I first saw that scene.

Mi||iê Måë

I think Silent Films are more impressive than movies today simply because you have so much to portray in facial expressions and body language without words.

I think that's why that recent film "The Artist" got so much hype, which I still haven't seen.

But nothing will beat a classic Chaplin film.

Raonaild

Chaplin was definitely the master when it came to pantomime, which is why he was so reluctant to transition to sound.

It's interesting to watch his earlier work and compare it to later films, and see how Chaplin evolved. Even back in his earliest films for Keystone he was better at pantomime than the other big Keystone actors, but it still tended to be big and broad (which, having seen some low quality versions of his films, I can understand - the action had to be broad and obvious so that the audience could actually see what was happening!) In the later films though, there's more nuance and subtlety.

Mi||iê Måë

He was a master at his craft!

GardenSirens

Chaplin was so great and so crucial to film in a time where its future was uncertain.

Mi||iê Måë

I'm happy that he is such an icon for a time when movies were really just making a mark on the world.