Chaplin short films were always creative, that is because this was an experimental time for him. Of course, he wouldn't reach his cenit until he made full length films with a basic ground to hook the audiences, the hook was humane and beyond the initial state of his character Charlot, exploring beyond the slapstick and clown actions that defined him before. This short it's probably an earlier exploration of how a dramatic atmosphere would mold the character to explore further opportunities.
I appreciate the exploration Chaplin did with this and other shorts, but the amazing balance between comedy and drama that created the legend, wasn't felt in this one, and for a fatal reason.
Operas often deal with exaggerated drama, dealing with fatality most of the time, a consequence of human conflict. But the most used of these tropes is the "Othelo complex", exaggerating the awful consequences of unmessured jealousy to the top, involving murder and guilt.
Carmen, by Bizet. Deals with such fatality. And, being a parody of such piece, this short film in particular show us, one of the few times where the eternal Little Tramp becomes an impulsive and animalistic man, killing the female protagonist because of an outburst, and facing death just when the guilt finally destroyed him.
Being a parody, both characters return to life, showing a small and heartwarming gag involving a fake knife, just when the end titles appear and the image fades out. However, the damage was already done by the time I watched this, many years ago, late at night in a local channel, an image I didn't wanted to see for a special reason...
The Little Tramp often played some mischievous antics in order to survive, escape or simply mess around with a particular fella. But the heart of the Tramp was always good and noble. The climax of Chaplin's career showing this eternal character in action, was of course; the final speech from The Great Dictator, the culmination of what Chaplin was creating ever since he embraced the hat and the stick.
Seeing the eternal master killing a woman out of unnecessary jealousy was a huge impact and a disservice to the character he was forming. But again, this was an experimental time for the legend, and this failure was a deep lesson to explore further ways to combine comedy and drama without involving a trope that didn't fit his character.
Carmen, being another classic, it's a hard piece to make a parody and this short often had to deal with those impediments. It's not a pretty dinamic short piece, most of the time it's static, and too square to develop newer ideas to make it funnier. The ending it's the proof of that statement, it's the same ending as the opera, same tragic ending, with just a "funny" epilogue to lift the morale of the audiences who wanted to see Charlot, but encountered Don José...
(On a higher note, if Chaplin wouldn't dedicate so much time to create an inmortal character such as Charlot and became more of a character actor, he would rock it. Without looking at Chaplin as Charlot, his performance as Don José it's impressive and could opened the gates for him to become a different type of silent legend. Maybe in other universe, let's just enjoy Charlot instead)
I appreciate the exploration Chaplin did with this and other shorts, but the amazing balance between comedy and drama that created the legend, wasn't felt in this one, and for a fatal reason.
Operas often deal with exaggerated drama, dealing with fatality most of the time, a consequence of human conflict. But the most used of these tropes is the "Othelo complex", exaggerating the awful consequences of unmessured jealousy to the top, involving murder and guilt.
Carmen, by Bizet. Deals with such fatality. And, being a parody of such piece, this short film in particular show us, one of the few times where the eternal Little Tramp becomes an impulsive and animalistic man, killing the female protagonist because of an outburst, and facing death just when the guilt finally destroyed him.
Being a parody, both characters return to life, showing a small and heartwarming gag involving a fake knife, just when the end titles appear and the image fades out. However, the damage was already done by the time I watched this, many years ago, late at night in a local channel, an image I didn't wanted to see for a special reason...
The Little Tramp often played some mischievous antics in order to survive, escape or simply mess around with a particular fella. But the heart of the Tramp was always good and noble. The climax of Chaplin's career showing this eternal character in action, was of course; the final speech from The Great Dictator, the culmination of what Chaplin was creating ever since he embraced the hat and the stick.
Seeing the eternal master killing a woman out of unnecessary jealousy was a huge impact and a disservice to the character he was forming. But again, this was an experimental time for the legend, and this failure was a deep lesson to explore further ways to combine comedy and drama without involving a trope that didn't fit his character.
Carmen, being another classic, it's a hard piece to make a parody and this short often had to deal with those impediments. It's not a pretty dinamic short piece, most of the time it's static, and too square to develop newer ideas to make it funnier. The ending it's the proof of that statement, it's the same ending as the opera, same tragic ending, with just a "funny" epilogue to lift the morale of the audiences who wanted to see Charlot, but encountered Don José...
(On a higher note, if Chaplin wouldn't dedicate so much time to create an inmortal character such as Charlot and became more of a character actor, he would rock it. Without looking at Chaplin as Charlot, his performance as Don José it's impressive and could opened the gates for him to become a different type of silent legend. Maybe in other universe, let's just enjoy Charlot instead)
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