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Chaplin review
Posted : 3 years, 7 months ago on 9 October 2020 01:49
When I saw this film for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised by the remarkable interpretation of Robert Downey Jr. He fits perfectly in the skin of Chaplin as actor but also the man. For once for a long time an actor largely deserved his Oscar. As for the anecdote of the Oscar to the real Chaplin "for the whole of his career", I admit that in his place, I would have refused it (but I am not him ...), because we does not expel a genius who, through his work and his films, helped poor people to forget a little about their misfortunes during the great depression. Through laughter or even tears (for some serious films), Chaplin was a benefactor. This ba ***** .... JE Hoover took personal revenge on it because he hated him and stole everything from this great man, the greatest actor of the 20th century. To come back to the film, I watch it again from time to time with great pleasure.
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A tremendous, elegantly-mounted biopic
Posted : 5 years, 11 months ago on 7 June 2018 07:20
Directed by the late Richard Attenborough (Gandhi, A Bridge Too Far), 1992's Chaplin traces the life and career of Charles Chaplin, from his glum childhood all the way through to his final years in the 1970s. With a screenplay credited to William Boyd, Bryan Forbes and William Goldman, the film is based on two literary sources: Chaplin’s own autobiography, and "Chaplin: His Life and Art" by film critic David Robinson. On top of recounting the life of its titular subject, Chaplin also delves into Hollywood's early days, the politics of filmmaking, and the scandals that defined many careers. The resultant movie is not especially cohesive given the nature of its narrative structure and the breadth of the material in question, but the production has far more strengths than weaknesses. Engrossing from the first frame, Attenborough mounts an outstanding old-fashioned biopic, perhaps not quite definitive but nevertheless informative and sublimely acted. Even though it was panned by critics and failed at the box office, Chaplin deserves to be seen, particularly by those who admire Chaplin's body of work.
Growing up in extreme poverty with a mentally ill mother (Geraldine Chaplin), Charlie Chaplin (Robert Downey Jr.) starts performing physical comedy from an early age in London, to escape his otherwise bleak life. Hoping to further a career in show business, Charlie moves to America where he's hired by Mack Sennett (Dan Aykroyd), a famous filmmaker known as "The King of Comedy." Working under Sennett, Chaplin develops his iconic Tramp persona and eventually begins directing his movies. Moving his way up the ladder and establishing his own film studio, Chaplin carves out a successful motion picture career, beset with a number of failed love affairs as well as an unfortunate run-in with J. Edgar Hoover (Kevin Dunn) which ultimately leads to him becoming exiled from America.
To facilitate what amounts to a "greatest hits" compilation of moments from Chaplin's life, the narrative is framed around an elderly Chaplin - living out his last years in Switzerland - talking to (fictional) writer George Hayden (Anthony Hopkins), who's finalising the comedian's autobiography and wishes to fill in certain blanks. It's a familiar gimmick which allows Attenborough to explore stories and pieces of information from throughout Chaplin's life, centring in on the most important events. The veracity of Chaplin's autobiography is also brought into question, with Hayden even calling out the veteran performer on certain things that he lies about - at one stage, Chaplin retorts "But the truth was so boring, George!"
Running at over 140 minutes including credits, Chaplin delves into the man's perfectionism as a director, demanding dozens of takes to get the best possible shot, while he also had an affinity for underage girls. However, some of Chaplin's most famous films only receive a passing mention, while many of his leading ladies feel short-changed. For instance, Edna Purviance (Penelope Ann Miller) was one of Chaplin's most frequent co-stars, but is given barely a couple of scenes in the movie. Numerous other things are left out, too, like the death of Chaplin's first son, as well as the inspiration behind, and filming of, 1921's The Kid. Reportedly, the original cut of Chaplin clocked in at a staggering four hours, and Attenborough's preferred edit was twelve minutes longer than the theatrical version, but it was further trimmed at the behest of the studio. According to Attenborough himself, the cuts damaged the movie, leaving us to speculate about the merit of an extended cut.
As to be expected from a Richard Attenborough movie produced for a sizeable $31 million sum (no small chunk of change in 1992), Chaplin boasts strong production values, with elegant sets, elaborate costuming and spot-on period details. 19th Century London is convincing recreated, while Sven Nykvist's cinematography is careful and smooth, competently capturing the action. Admittedly, some of the optical effects are obvious and dated, and not all of the make-up stands up to contemporary scrutiny (the elderly Chaplin make-up looks especially phoney), but these are minor knocks against an otherwise finely mounted biopic. Attenborough is certainly no stranger to movies of this length and scale, and he manages to maintain an effective if slightly leisurely pace - this is not a tedious movie due to its elegant construction, but it does require patience to sit through.
Downey undeniably carries the film, representing Chaplin's biggest asset. The American actor swallows his native accent to espouse a convincing British dialect, and he perfectly embodies Chaplin to boot. Downey bears a close enough resemblance to Chaplin, and further sells the illusion by nailing his recognisable physical mannerisms. It's a treat to behold Downey engage in physical comedy, impressively recreating The Tramp persona. Furthermore, Downey's performance amplifies the power of several scenes, including a heart-wrenching moment in which Chaplin learns about the passing of his first love. The sheer breadth of the ensemble cast surrounding Downey is staggering - recognisable names fill almost every role, no matter how minor. Chaplin's daughter Geraldine is even on hand to play her own grandmother in an inspired piece of casting, while the likes of Hopkins and Kevin Dunn are reliably brilliant. Dan Aykroyd is a genuine treat as Mack Sennett; he's amusing, but he provides enough gravitas to sell the drama. Kline, meanwhile, makes for a superb Douglas Fairbanks, bringing plenty of energy and charm whenever he appears on-screen. Performing double duty, the beautiful Moira Kelly is most appealing as both Hetty Kelly (Chaplin's first love) and Oona O’Neill (Chaplin's final wife), managing to create two distinctive characters. Digging further into the supporting cast, Chaplin also features the likes of Marisa Tomei, Penelope Ann Miller, Milla Jovovich (a teenager here), Diane Lane, James Woods, Maria Pitillo, and even future X-Files lead David Duchovny, all of whom hit their marks with confidence.
Chaplin attains effective poignancy as it approaches the finishing line, observing Chaplin as he is granted permission to return to American in order to receive a special Lifetime Achievement award at the 1972 Academy Awards. It's a fitting ending to a tremendous biopic, underscoring the great actor's indispensable contributions to motion pictures throughout his career. Despite Chaplin's flaws and shortcomings, it's an insightful film, and a must-see for Chaplin fans.
8.3/10
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A good movie
Posted : 13 years ago on 16 April 2011 12:29
Since I have always been a huge fan of Charles Chaplin, of course, I was really to check this flick. On top of that , this high-profile biopic was directed by Richard Attenborough who, in the same genre, managed to deliver something pretty impressive with ‘Gandhi’ released exactly 10 years earlier. Eventually, even though I had some rather high expectations, it was a decent flick but not much more than that, I’m afraid. Indeed, Chaplin was a fascinating genius but also a complex man (for example, the guy had an obvious weak spot for younger girls and kept getting married with slightly underaged women) and the movie never really managed to go deeper into this guy, to really show what was going on with him. Therefore, what you get was a by-the-numbers biopic and I couldn’t help thinking that this great artist should have deserved something more inspired and inspiring. Still, there is no doubt that Robert Downey Jr. gave a really impressive perfomance and he makes it worth to watch the damned thing just only for him. To conclude, even though the movie is far from perfect, I still liked it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Charles Chaplin.
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Very good bio-pic on a legend of cinema!
Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 10 March 2010 04:01
Chaplin is a film that is a lot like biography films because they are emotional films. It is a film about a man who became a legend in his days. This film was absolutely fantastic. It was really inspiring this film was because there were a lot of emotional years for Chaplin especially during WWII and also because of his personal life with women too. This film made me feel good because Charlie Chaplin is one of my favourite actors and I am really inspired by his work because he makes me laugh. This was a biography film I was so looking forward to because Chaplin and his films are eternal and will always live on. This film was really inspiring as well because when Chaplin (Downey Jr.) is watching the films that he is directing, the film that he directed is the actual real life film with the real Charlie Chaplin in it. That is just amazing! That inspired me a lot! I find this film an extremely underrated biography film that should be watched by everyone. Not only because it is about the life of the late and great Charlie Chaplin but also the highly acclaimed performance from Robert Downey Jr. as Chaplin.
Robert Downey Jr. delivers one of the best performances that I have ever seen. Downey Jr was almost like a clone of Chaplin because of every single way he was performing especially as the Tramp. Downey Jr. walked a lot like Chaplin did as the Tramp and he especially did the humorous stupid slapstick that Charlie used to do in this film. Downey Jr. almost did that perfectly. I think that was the reason why he earned his Oscar nomination not only the acting performance as far as words are concerned. I don't think that Downey Jr. looks like Chaplin at all really but I think the reason why he was cast as Chaplin was because he has that loopy hyper style to his characters, he is quite a small man as Chaplin was and also Downey Jr. is an emotional actor aswell. I was deeply fascinated by Geraldine Chaplin's performance as Hannah Chaplin because Geraldine Chaplins is Charlie Chaplin's real life daughter. It must have been a great honour for Geraldine to portray her own grandmother with the story about her father. Her performance as Hannah Chaplin was absolutely superb and she should have earned Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Kevin Kline made me laugh a lot in this film as he does anyway particularly in his Oscar winning performance A Fish Called Wanda. Anthony Hopkins was good as well. His character in this film was the only character in the film that is fictional.
The direction from Richard Attenborough was awesome. I personally think that Attenborough is an expert of making biography movies especially after the success of the true life story of Mahatma Gandhi. That film is just called Gandhi. Attenborough won an Academy Award for Best Director for that film but I feel he should have been close for Chaplin. The script was good but I do personally think that it could have been better in some of the scenes. This film was very similar compared to biography films but the one biography film that I have seen and really like that I have seen is Gandhi because they are true stories about heroes and their slight downfalls and upraises within their lives. That is where I do find Mahatma Gandhi and Charlie Chaplin quite similar. The only difference is that Chaplin was an comedian, actor and director and Gandhi was a leader of followers of Asia to lead his people into freedom. That is another reason why I find Chaplin similar to Gandhi because it is directed by same person. The only thing that I did find quite disappointing for me was that I don't think it went into great detail with Chaplin's personal life. I did love this film despite that.
This film is probably Robert Downey Jr's most famous performance and is probably favourite performance from him. I do love Downey Jr. in Iron Man. This is my second favourite Richard Attenborough film after Gandhi. Chaplin is an amazing film that deserves to be remembered. I find Chaplin very underrated though.
Robert Downey Jr. delivers one of the best performances that I have ever seen. Downey Jr was almost like a clone of Chaplin because of every single way he was performing especially as the Tramp. Downey Jr. walked a lot like Chaplin did as the Tramp and he especially did the humorous stupid slapstick that Charlie used to do in this film. Downey Jr. almost did that perfectly. I think that was the reason why he earned his Oscar nomination not only the acting performance as far as words are concerned. I don't think that Downey Jr. looks like Chaplin at all really but I think the reason why he was cast as Chaplin was because he has that loopy hyper style to his characters, he is quite a small man as Chaplin was and also Downey Jr. is an emotional actor aswell. I was deeply fascinated by Geraldine Chaplin's performance as Hannah Chaplin because Geraldine Chaplins is Charlie Chaplin's real life daughter. It must have been a great honour for Geraldine to portray her own grandmother with the story about her father. Her performance as Hannah Chaplin was absolutely superb and she should have earned Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Kevin Kline made me laugh a lot in this film as he does anyway particularly in his Oscar winning performance A Fish Called Wanda. Anthony Hopkins was good as well. His character in this film was the only character in the film that is fictional.
The direction from Richard Attenborough was awesome. I personally think that Attenborough is an expert of making biography movies especially after the success of the true life story of Mahatma Gandhi. That film is just called Gandhi. Attenborough won an Academy Award for Best Director for that film but I feel he should have been close for Chaplin. The script was good but I do personally think that it could have been better in some of the scenes. This film was very similar compared to biography films but the one biography film that I have seen and really like that I have seen is Gandhi because they are true stories about heroes and their slight downfalls and upraises within their lives. That is where I do find Mahatma Gandhi and Charlie Chaplin quite similar. The only difference is that Chaplin was an comedian, actor and director and Gandhi was a leader of followers of Asia to lead his people into freedom. That is another reason why I find Chaplin similar to Gandhi because it is directed by same person. The only thing that I did find quite disappointing for me was that I don't think it went into great detail with Chaplin's personal life. I did love this film despite that.
This film is probably Robert Downey Jr's most famous performance and is probably favourite performance from him. I do love Downey Jr. in Iron Man. This is my second favourite Richard Attenborough film after Gandhi. Chaplin is an amazing film that deserves to be remembered. I find Chaplin very underrated though.
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