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CHAPLIN, CHARLIE.   Term Paper ID:19899 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Film-making style, themes, role of Little Tramp, romance.... More...

6 Pages / 1350 Words 3 sources, 13 Citations, MLA Format $24.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Film-making style, themes, role of Little Tramp, romance. Paper Introduction: This study will examine the films of Charlie Chaplin, specifically focusing on a theme and style running through a number of his films which reveal his personal vision and voice. His vision will be seen as revealed through his film-making style, and his voice will be seen as revealed through the major theme expressed in his films. The themes and style of Chaplin's most effective films are seamlessly united. The major theme to be explored here --- the message carried by the Little Tramp --- is carried by Chaplin's simple and direct style, and at the same time the style perfectly fits the theme. The Little Tramp was simple enough to appeal to the masses, while he was also serious and complex enough to appeal to the more elite sectors of society: "Charlie was the darling of the intellectuals. Before he came into films, Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. . The major theme to be explored here --- the message carried by theLittle Tramp --- is carried by Chaplin's simple and direct style, and atthe same time the style perfectly fits the theme. In terms of theme, however, and its connection to the Everymanpersona, Chaplin expressed most powerfully the idea that his Little Trampwould never be defeated by life. One is breathless with suspense --- and withadoration.' No other actor in films has the ability, or permits himself,to show such depths of feeling" (Jacobs 239-24 ).The style of Chaplin in the Little Tramp films mentioned here, then, ismore the style of the actor than of the film-maker. In Easy Street, thecharacter becomes a policeman --- but only in order to win the love of thewoman he has fallen in love with. Chaplin's vision and style arerooted in the emotion of the Little Tramp as it is expressed by the actorand received by the viewer of his films. Again, however, a flashier film-making style would have only distracted from the simplicity and clarity ofthat character. . . preferred 'to think the object of art is tointensify feeling, color or sound'" (Maland 131). Maland writes that earlier in his career ---influenced by his Keystone days --- Chaplin had allowed his film characterto be more outrageous and vulgar, but in these two films he succeeded intoning down the vulgarity in both expression and style: "Chaplin's nextfilm, The Tramp, concentrated more on trying to achieve pathos. In The Immigrant, he and his lady arepoor but, again, unbowed: "Though the couple achieved a kind of respectfulgentility at the end of Easy Street and still remain in urban poverty atthe end of The Immigrant, the romance between Charlie and Edna is aconstant in the two films, as are a somber social background and Charlie'sskill at generating humor through his interactions withobjects and people" (Maland 32). Remembering Charlie. . Everything was fraught with meaning" (Jacobs239). It, alongwith The Bank, represented Chaplin's most careful attempt to move indirections that would make his films more acceptable to genteel audiences"(Maland 22). Chaplin . . New York: Doubleday, 1989.Maland, Charles J. Comedy was no longer a matter of slipping onbanana skins, or running pell-mell through the streets like the KeystoneCops. Maland cites The Tramp and The Bank as two films which arerepresentative of both the style and the theme of Chaplin at their clearestand most effective. This "negative" side of the character --- stealing candy from a babyand giving a pompous woman a well-placed kick --- served to emphasize theEveryman theme rather than to detract from it, for these "negative" touchessimply made it easier for the average moviegoer to identify with the LittleTramp, including his shortcomings. The Little Tramp wassimple enough to appeal to the masses, while he was also serious andcomplex enough to appeal to the more elite sectors of society: "Charlie wasthe darling of the intellectuals. . Clearly, if everything on the screen, every element of what isprimarily an emotional journey, is "fraught with meaning" to begin with,then an overwrought style would simply distract from that emotionalmeaning. The final shots of both (films) show Charlie walkingin long shot away from the camera, which emphasizes the depth of the frameand Charlie's isolation; he then springs forward with a sprightly step,straightening and walking off as if renewed . It should not be misunderstood, however, that Chaplin had a political orsocial message to set forth as his primary goal with respect to thisvision. He is negligible as a movie craftsman(and) has evolved no new formal aspects to enrich the medium . The vision of Chaplin is, again, not dependent on technique offilming but rather of acting and feeling. Acting lost its elaboratetricks and phony emotions. Chaplin's romances increased his appeal to menwho had been rejected in love because of inadequate wealth, prestige, orpower; to women who admired his tender and nurturing spirit; and to viewerswith genteel sensibilities for whom the romance helped to negate the'vulgarity' that worried them" (Maland 23). Hisincreased emphasis on the subtleties of romance softened his film-makingstyle, his directorial technique, and served to advance his Everyman (andEverywoman) message: ". With respect to style, the consensus of the sources consulted is thatChaplin did not match in technical film-making innovation what he did increating his famous and beloved character. His artistic problems have notbeen cinematic; they have been personal, always being solved by feeling.His importance lies not in what he has contributed to film art, but in whathe has contributed to humanity. Chaplin and American Culture. The voice of Chaplin, then, as expressed in the basic Everyman-oriented message or theme of his most important and effective filmsutilizing the Little Tramp persona, was a clear one, though it certainlyevolved and became more complex, subtle, and self-conscious in later films. But Charlie had brought art to the movies. . . . He will move on with as much vitalityand inventiveness as before, accepting a contingent universe in whichsuffering is a part of life" (Maland 23). . In TheKid's dream sequence, the Tramp's face, at the climax of the movie, "isfilled with fright, hope, bewilderment . However, he is not above picking up a cigarette butt or robbing ababy of its candy. Clearly, to Chaplin,the role of the film-maker was to serve the actor, at least in his own casein the early and middle films mentioned in this study. His vision will be seen as revealedthrough his film-making style, and his voice will be seen as revealedthrough the major theme expressed in his films. ." (Jacobs226). he did have 'complex ideas about human conduct and socialorganizations' and 'could express them brilliantly.' He generally did sonot with words but with 'his face, his hands, his body'" (Maland 355). . That . . Chaplin's style is not brilliant or especially innovative, but itfits his theme of the Everyman fighting his way through thickets of realitytoward his dreams. was uncomfortable with (the) view 'that all art should bepropaganda.' Chaplin . . The element of romance in the theme of the Everyman is emphasized intwo later films, Easy Street and The Immigrant. He is unlucky in love, he loses one battle after anotherwith institutional and social forces much more powerful than he, and, ingeneral, he brings out in the viewer a strong sense of empathy. . Works CitedJacobs, Lewis. For example, "the method of (The Kid) is one that wouldincreasingly characterize Chaplin's work: it juxtaposes two moraluniverses, a negative one associated with various ills of society and apositive one embodied in Charlie and his closest relationships" (Maland57). This not to say that Chaplin did not have a style in film-making.The point is that he never put style or technique or technical innovationover the emotional statement he was trying to make through the character ofthe Little Tramp in the aforementioned films: "Chaplin's fertileimagination and social intuitions were manifested in a thousand littletouches that the audience never missed, no matter how minute and seeminglytrifling the touches were. . If we consider style to be primarily composed of the special visionof the film-maker, then clearly Chaplin has much style, but we do not referto technical innovation associated with special camera shots, lighting,etc. Charlie will not lethis disappointment overwhelm him. . The "narrativestructure" of most Chaplin films "was simple," as Maland says specificallyof The Kid (56). . The camera is used in unique shots very sparingly, includingclose-ups, for the power of Chaplin is in the emotional message which iscarried through the physical story expressed by the Little Tramp. Before he came into films, highbrowsfrom the East Coast had turned up their noses at this new bastard industry.. . This basic theme was tailor-madefor Chaplin's acting and film-making style --- simple, direct, andexpressed more often through action than through words: ". chaplinoften had trouble expressing ideas with words (they 'were not his medium'),but . . This study will examine the films of Charlie Chaplin, specificallyfocusing on a theme and style running through a number of his films whichreveal his personal vision and voice. He has not been a technician but a pantomimist, acommentator, a satirist, a social critic. The style of Chaplin in his film-making and in his acting matchedperfectly the basic theme of the Little Tramp. In both The Tramp and The Bank, "Charliefeels deeply discouraged but shakes off that discouragement with anenergetic resilience. At no time is the "film-making"more important than the emotional story being told, so that vision andtheme are always united in the character of the Little Tramp. New York: TeachersCollege, Columbia University, 1968.Epstein, Jerry. Chaplin's subtlety and use of the close-up was revolutionary; in hishands, the camera could read minds and thoughts" (Epstein 2 ). . . And, of course, if the situation warrants it, he willkick a lady in the rear --- but only in extreme anger" (Maland 6). In recounting Chaplin's dialogue with Shaw, for example, Malandsays that Chaplin was "opposed to the notion of 'socially conscious art' .. The themes and style of Chaplin's most effective films are seamlesslyunited. Chaplin himself describes the character of the LittleTramp and emphasizes the fact that in this case the character is the theme:"You know this fellow is many-sided, a tramp, a gentleman, a poet, adreamer, a lonely fellow, always hopeful of romance and adventure. Jacobs says that Chaplin "has added little to movietechnique or movie form. The "message" is clearly that life may betough, but it is worth living and made so by the presence of an innerspirit longing always for fulfillment. We do not have tobelabor the point to recognize simply that the message of the Little Trampis certainly not social or political propaganda, but instead the emotionalbeauty and pathos of human beings trying to find love and happiness in anoften hostile world. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989.----------------------- 3 . The Little Tramp encountered more failure than success in life, justas the average man and woman does, but he remains finally unbowed by thesedisappointments. . . . Certainly it is fair to say that Chaplin contributed aunique blend of laughter and tears, comedy and pathos, to film-making.Perhaps it is more fair to speak of method than of style with respect toChaplin. Chaplin's most famous andmost beloved character represents Everyman, the average human being who wasbewildered by the world and itsdifficulties and dreams and disappointments, and yet never gave up hisquest for love and happiness. . The Rise of the American Film. is 'a moment ofunbearable intensity . Hewould have you believe he is a scientist, a musician, a duke, a poloplayer. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.