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DOUBLE FEATURE: The Circus (1928) & Parade (1974)
Sep 3rd
Day two of The Cinefamily‘s Chaplin Retrospective included a wonderfully inspired double bill of Chaplin’s The Circus (1928) and Jacques Tati’s Parade (1974). It seems only natural that the two are paired up together considering the influence Chaplin had on Tati’s work. Both masters of the pantomime, these two films share similar themes of developing exuberant joy within a circus setting.
THE CIRCUS
This is Chaplin’s least sentimental of his feature films. It doesn’t center around a tragicomedy story blending comedy with drama, but rather is his most gag filled film. It follows The Tramp as he finds himself wandering around a travelling circus and its carnival festivities in the search for free food and perhaps to take in a free show. After one of his most hilarious opening sequences, the Tramp finds himself on the run from the police, which interrupts the big ring show. His antics of trying to evade the police officer put the audience in stitches, and the ring leader offers the Tramp a job on the spot.
First of all, these new 35mm prints of Chaplin’s films look amazing. They look better than ever, (and I’d even argue that it’s comparable to how they looked upon their first release!) If you are at all interested in seeing Chaplin on the big screen, this is the way.
The Circus has always had a place in my heart despite it being one of the lesser discussed films. There are some truly innovative gags in this film that demonstrate just how awesome Chaplin was at physical comedy. It didn’t even take ten minutes before the film had me in tears of laughter. No sooner than the Tramp sliding into the hall of mirrors did it become hard to breathe.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m never happier than when I’m watching a Chaplin film, but something happened during the screening last night that sent me into pure euphoria. Perhaps it helped that I was already high on laughter, but sharing giggle fits with the audience tickled me like none other. But what sent me into nirvana was seeing a father who brought his three year old son to see his first Chaplin film. During the title screens the father would lean over and read them to his son, then the Tramp would get chased by a donkey and the kid’s explosive laughter filled the cinema. It was possibly one of the most touching and joyous things I’ve ever seen. I have a hard time even typing about it without getting teary eyed.
Tight-rope sequence from The Circus
Personally, I find the gags in The Circus some of Chaplin’s best. The aforementioned fun house scene (fully equipped with the animatronic puppet sequence,) is one of my favorites, but there are many other brilliantly developed gags. The lion’s cage scene is ridiculously thrilling; the magician’s table is Chaplin at his most over the top; and perhaps most memorably is the tight-rope walking segment. Out to impress a girl, he poses as a tight-rope walker. Unbeknownst to the girl or the audience, the Tramp has paid a stagehand to put him in a harness so that he’d be safe from falling. Off to the side the stagehand hoists up the Tramp, and he seemingly flies up to the tight-rope with superhuman-like skill. He gloats by doing absurd stunts on the tight-rope, until his harness comes undone and he must balance to save his life. Naturally this is the moment when the circus monkeys find their way onto the tight-rope. They tug at his clothes and face, (one monkey HILARIOUSLY keeps biting Chaplin’s nose,) while the poor Tramp struggles to stay alive. The sequence ends with the best banana-peel jokes ever put on film. It’s truly a spectacle of physical comedy.
PARADE
I’m not as familiar with Tati’s work as I am Chaplin’s. I’ve seen and liked M. Hulot’s Holiday, I’ve endured viewed Mon Oncle, and have been witness to the first half hour of Playtime. Outside of Holiday, I’ve yet to find that one thing that connects me to Tati’s work. I can appreciate those films (particularly the latter two) for their aesthetic values – it’s some of the greatest misc-en-scene ever – but they are an exercise in tedium.
Maybe it was the elation from The Circus, but once Parade started I was much more on board with what was being presented. The film has zero
Tati pantomiming a boxing match in Parade.
narrative. It’s basically a filmed stage show utilizing bits that Tati had developed in his stage days. Here Tati is the ring master to a group of hippie circus performers, all with their own act. The setting is assembled much like a stage show, where an audience is seated around a stage area watching the performers, um, perform. But the seating area is also part of the stage for us, the audience watching the film. Audience members who seem to purely be in attendance sometimes reveal themselves to be performers in street clothes.
It’s commendable that Tati’s intentions here are to do nothing but entertain and fill people with joy. And for the first hour he succeeds. At the film’s highest points, it seems perfectly natural for the film watching audience to applaud along with the the audience in the film, (until you realize that you’re in a darkened and quiet theater…) But it’s charm wears off before its finish. I chock this up to lack of dynamic energy. It’s always reaching for 10, but after so long it can’t reach above a 6 or 7.
Regardless, it was a pleasure to endure sit through Parade, particularly when it was teamed up with The Circus. The double-feature was nothing less than visiting the circus for the evening – only without the creepy clowns!
THE CINEFAMILY
The Cinefamily is running a Chaplin retrospective all through the month of September. If you’re in Los Angeles, do not miss out on this rare chance to see Chaplin on the big screen. It’s the best entertainment you can get for $10.00 in all of LA.
Chaplin, on a Personal Note
Sep 2nd
I’ve been an avid Chaplin fan for many years now. At least once a year I put on a great number of his films out of shear enjoyment, (as a blogger I find myself consistently with a pile of film I “have” to watch.) Chaplin never ceases to make me laugh, even at the worst of times, (though my petty ‘worst of times’ is nothing compared to the ‘worst of times’ when his films were first released…)
This summer a great friend of mine gave me one of the best birthday presents, in the form of the Tramp. David Robinson’s Chaplin biography. It’s considerably in-depth, and I love every second of it.
Also, I’ve been plucking through this BFI book on City Lights. I’ve read it numerous times already, but it’s a good reference on the film.
Chaplin, for lack of a more dignified term, um, rules.
If you’re in Los Angeles, be sure to check out the Chaplin retrospective on the big screen at The Silent Movie Theater thanks to The Cinefamily.
Chaplin Shorts: The Idle Class (1921)
Sep 2nd
To kick off an entire month of Chaplin films, I took in a double feature of 1921′s The Idle Class, a short pitting the Tramp against a doppelgänger of high society, and perhaps his most famous work City Lights (1931). The Cinefamily is running the entire Chaplin catalogue through the month of September, and decided to start things off with a bang!
Image from www.charliechaplin.com
A CLASS ABOVE THE REST
The Idle Class, a charming short from Chaplin’s days at First National. It was released the same year as Charlie’s breakthrough feature tragicomedy The Kid, and marked the decline of his days with the production company. Instead of providing First National with another hit like The Kid, Charlie churned out three short films instead, The Idle Class being amongst them.
In it, Charlie plays dual roles as his famous Tramp character, and a clueless upper-class husband to a lonely wife. The film opens with a train full of flagrant bourgeoisie – the women sporting minks, the men sporting a golf bag. After most of the aristocrats have departed, the Tramp awakens from a slumber in a luggage compartment from beneath the train – he also has his clubs and is ready to hit the links.
As per usual, the Tramp’s obliviousness entangles him in a web of confusions, misunderstandings, and hilarious shenanigans. On the links he makes enemies with fellow golfers when he accidentally hits their balls. Simultaneously, the troubled marriage of the Lonely Wife and clueless husband has taken on a life of its own. She refuses to be in the same room with her husband until he stops drinking. Naturally, his uncanny appearance to the Tramp sets up a slew of bits of mistaken identity.
There are quite a few themes in The Idle Class that Chaplin explored in some of his more substantial work. The case of mistaken identity and a look-alike plays an integral role in The Great Dictator, where Chaplin’s Jewish Barber gets mistaken for the Hitler-esque dictator. Another favorite subject of Chaplin was making buffoons of the wealthy. The Tramp’s low social status never dampers his nobility even in the grimmest of situations, while the resulting havoc usually shows the decline of civility among the upper-class. This shifting of social status allows the Tramp and the rich to meet somewhere in the middle of the social ladder.
AUDIENCE REACTION
There’s something heartwarming about watching a comedy that has been around and beloved for years on the big screen. So often we’re reserved to our couches with a plethora of distractions around us when we take in classic films at home. And when we take in the ‘new’ comedy in theaters on opening weekend there’s an inherent friction that comes from comprehending the events on screen for the first time.
In an audience who was there to see Chaplin out of shear love, who knew what to expect, and had no reservations expressing their love for the little fellow, an entirely different energy is created. The laughs are heartier. The smiles are tangible. It’s truly a warm feeling.
It occurred to me while watching Charlie do his thing, and listening to an audience so viscerally enjoying his work, that there’s no other time I’m happiest than when watching a Chaplin film.
WATCH THE FILM:
The Idle Class (1921) approximately 31 mins.
A Chaplin Retrospective
Sep 1st
If you live in Los Angeles and are a film enthusiast of any sort, you’ve no doubt heard of The Silent Movie Theater. They’ve provided a wonderful alternative to mainstream cinema, (what I call AMC cinema), by screening a plethora of underground cult classics, forgotten gems, and modern classics. In sticking to the roots of the theater itself, they have dedicated themselves to showing films of the silent era resiliently.
September marks an exciting time for The Cinefamily, who runs the programming of the theater, as they have decided to show the entire filmography of the greatest comedian and filmmaker of all time: Charlie Chaplin. Starting on September 1st, (that’s today!) they are screening a new print of City Lights with the charming short The Idle Class beginning at 8pm, and will continue through the month showing Chaplin’s silent films on Wednesday evenings and his ‘talkies’ on Saturday afternoons. Additionally, they’ve paired up a selective few of Chaplin’s features with the works of Jacques Tati for a knock-out double feature on Thursdays.
These are all new 35mm prints, and will no doubt knock your socks off. So if you have any love for the little Tramp, be sure to get your tickets early! You don’t want to miss this rare opportunity to see all of the films by Mr. Chaplin.
Also, in dedication to this wonderful month-long event, I will be hosting a Chaplin blog-a-thon where I will provide random musings and thoughts throughout the month coinciding with the films shown during the film-a-thon. The Tramp will be taking over the site for awhile…. sorry Keaton fans!
Animal Kingdom (2010)
Aug 30th
Starring: James Frecheville, Ben Mendelsohn, Jacki Weaver
Director: David Michôd
Country: Australia
Genre: Crime
This isn’t exactly the safe Disney ride that the title alludes to, but rather a dangerous safari into the wilderness. In a growing line of independent and foreign gangster films, Animal Kingdom demands some attention. It not only looks at human nature, but basic human instinct. Survival instinct.
It’s told primarily through the perspective of young J Cody who is taken under his grandmother’s care after his mother dies from an overdose of heroin. His four uncles are notorious bank robbers and wanted by the law. It’s not exactly the ideal circumstances for an impressionable teen to grow up in. But as J says early on in the film, kids don’t question their circumstances, just accept them. With that in mind, the question of whether or not J ever had the chance to do something else with his life or if he was destined to fall into the life of crime? Can a cub choose whether or not to become a lion? It’s all part of nature it seems.
David Michôd’s film is an interesting addition to a genre that never ceases to be surprising. Michôd opts for substance over style, choosing his symbolism carefully. This might be the antithesis to Guy Ritchie’s gangster world. Animal Kingdom is about character psychology. Its slow-burn story isn’t about planning the next heist or some grandiose escape from the law, it’s about surviving the circumstances of actions.
Tokyo Sonata (2008)
Aug 29th
Starring: Teruyuki Kagawa, Kyôko Koizumi, Yû Koyanagi
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Country: Japan
Genre: Foreign, Drama
If there’s one thing that can’t be said about a Kiyoshi Kurosawa film, it’s that it’s predictable. He put together a number of unforgettable horror films, most notably the truly chilling and bizarre Pulse, and here he applies his unique storytelling sensibilities to use in a family drama. One may expect more conventional methods of storytelling in a more traditional realm of characters… one would be wrong to expect as much.
The Sasaki family is a rather typical family, functioning at levels to sustain everyday living with one another. But the each member of the family tends to keep aspects of their lives secret from one another: the father loses his job, one son joins the army, another starts up piano lessons, and the mother is the victim of a robbery and develops a quick case of Stockholm Syndrome.
This film is a slow disintegration of the family unit. It’s a great commentary on how when family communication fails, everyone becomes self-involved. While most families might not suffer quite the same consequences as the Sasaki’s, it’s nonetheless gripping entertainment. There’s a lesson to be learned somewhere in the extremities this film finds itself. Perhaps it’s the importance of family, perhaps it’s that no matter how alone or distant we feel there’s always someone we can fall back on, perhaps it’s simply ‘don’t lie.’ Whatever it is, it resonates.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
Aug 23rd
Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong
Director: Edgar Wright
Country: USA
Genre: Action, Romance
“Michael Cera and Jason Schwartzman engage in an epic kung-fu sword battle” must not have been the most convincing pitch to get this film green lit. But compared to most of the action movies released in the last half decade, Scott Pilgrim‘s “alternative” cast provides some of the most cohesive and exciting fight scenes years. This is no doubt due to the immense talent of Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz.)
Scott Pilgrim is a young man with some typical girl problems in a less than typical world where video game noises and comic book exclamations make the mundane extraordinary. When Scott falls in love with the new girl in town, Ramona, he quickly learns (the hard way) that in order to date her he must defeat her seven evil exes.
It’s so rare that it’s just to call a film ‘refreshingly original’. Only a person that is truly in love with movies and, in this case, their subject matter can create something as kinetic and satisfying a film like this. This is absolutely a film meant to please as anyone interested in it knows, (to some extent) what they’re in store for. Happily, Wright delivers the goods plus more. The comedy is fierce, the action is amped, and the entertainment is off the charts. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World might go down as the most criminally unseen film of the summer.
