His name is synonymous with classic comedy. He is regarded as one of the finest comedians of all time. His caricature is still recognised today by the majority of the western world. He has inspired generations of actors and comedians, even from the grave, and his influence is still evident in films pouring out of Hollywood in these early days of the 21st century.
He is, as you have no doubt guessed by now, Charlie Chaplin. I know who he is and have seen him appear everywhere throughout my life, yet until recently had never seen a single one of his films. I’ve never seen him in women’s magazines, in a film on TV and I’d never even heard him speak before! Yet I know of this man like he’s appeared on E! or ET every other night for the last 20 years. How’s that for influence?
And so, not quite knowing what to expect, I cracked open the DVD case and inserted Modern Times into my overworked DVD player. I don’t think I expected it to be all that funny. The modern world I live in has seen to that with the constant bombardment of throwaway comedy pouring out of the TV every single night of my life. And so, pen in hand, I waited...
And was immediately charmed by that world famous humble character, the Little Tramp. I was wrong not to expect to laugh. This guy is funny. He wrote the book, obviously, because so many people I find funny today have read it. Read it and studied it and used it to good effect, and here was I, much less humble, thinking they were great. This guy knew funny.
"I’ll do it! We’ll get a home even if I have to work for it." |
And while there’s this simple, slapstick comedy going on, there’s this other dark vein keeping pace alongside. Like all funny people he could see the dark side of life and in his films (I’ve seen a couple now) he focuses it like an icepick straight into the society he’s parodying; the very society laughing at his art! I love it when people do that. That’s like a Mandlebrot equation, the levels of that kind of humour and it’s incredibly clever (and not so easy to do). Not a lot of people have that kind of depth to their work in modern comedy and those that do either succeed supernaturally (The Simpsons... at least at first) or are unappreciated and passed over (Futurama). Now I know anyone reading my reviews is a Futurama fan, so I’m not talking about you guys. But what the networks did to that show...
Sorry, I’ll get back to my other rant. (For anyone who wants to hear my Futurama rant, I’ll be performing it on an old wine crate in Brisbane's King George Square each Saturday evening at 8.00 and 10.00pm.)
So, the levels of comedy. A lot of successful comedians in film and TV today do our thinking for us. They just throw jokes at us, and with a hearty ‘Thanks, you’ve been a great audience!’ they piss off. Not so with Chaplin. Sure, on the surface we are led to believe that, but he’s crafty, is old Charlie, and there’s more. Much more for anyone wanting to see it. All you have to do is take this blue pill...
Now I’m doing Morpheus. Great.
This is getting kinda long. I’d better tell you something about the film, because if you’re anything like me (you lucky thing), you haven’t seen this stuff either.
This is the last film appearance of Chaplin’s most recognisable character, the Little Tramp. Working during the depression in a factory (he’s actually credited as ‘Factory Worker’) and treated like machinery, he goes a little crazy and is sent to a mental institute. While there he gets better and after a time is released, but alas he has no job and no money. By chance he meets a street urchin and takes the rap for a crime she just committed and ends up in jail. He’s actually quite happy there and doesn’t wish to leave, but circumstance demands it and after meeting up with the urchin again he’s back on the streets. They then have a series of bizarre work-related situations that involve stunts. And stuntmen didn’t have unions back then. And when you see the stunts, you’ll know what I’m talking about...
This film is also hailed as the last great silent movie and whilst it does contain voices, they are tinny and echoey and emit from radios. Even the famous Nonsense Song is mimed by Chaplin as he desperately avoids the technological progress the very film is protesting about. Like I said... it’s a Mandlebrot in there.
It’s not often we get to see a true genius at work, but thankfully, due to this kickarse transfer, we get to see this film as it was meant to be seen.