In the 1931 film “City Lights”, Charlie Chaplin “opens our eyes”, so to speak, about how society values trivial elements of people over the deeper person by using blindness. In this film, Chaplin brilliantly mixes lighthearted comedy with deep and complex ideas about problems with society. Chaplin uses music, gags, and a genuine love connection to portray this point in multiple ways throughout the movie. Chaplin also took the bold step of not making a talking movie, even though they were available at the time, making the details in the pictures and sounds he was creating that much more important. What makes “City Lights” so special, and different from other comedies, is Chaplin’s natural blend of comedic scenes with tense and serious scenes. Chaplin weaved together a masterpiece that culminates in the end with the lady seeing who she fell in love with, which is also the moment Chaplin slaps the viewer in the face with the realization that the priorities in society are misguided and that the important things cannot be seen with the eye.
Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder in 1950 is based on how Norma Desmond, a huge Hollywood star, deals with her fall from fame. The film explores the fantasy world in which Norma is living in and the complex relationship between her and small time writer Joe Gillis, which leads to his death. Sunset Boulevard is seen as lifting the ‘face’ of the Hollywood Studio System to reveal the truth behind the organisation. During the time the film was released in the 1950s and 60s, audiences started to see the demise of Hollywood as cinema going began to decline and the fierce competition of television almost proved too much for the well established system. Throughout this essay I will discuss how Sunset Boulevard represents the Hollywood
The star-studded romantic comedy Midnight in Paris is one of Woody Allen’s most recent films which he did both, wrote and directed. It is a film about a man named Gil (Owen Wilson) who travels to Paris with his fiancée’s parents in order to expand his imagination and he ends up embarking on a journey to the 1920s while walking the streets of Paris at night. Not only is this film engaging and witty, but it also manages to provide both, overt and covert examples of postmodernism in film. By analyzing Woody Allen’s 2011film Midnight in Paris, we can identify the presence of many underlying motifs in both the narrative and the characterization of the film when using some of Frederic Jameson and Jean Baudrillard’s concepts on postmodernism.
Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Singing in the Rain (1952) both use the transitions from silent to sound movies to help drive the narrative. Director Billy Wilder’s film, Sunset Boulevard and Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s Singing in the Rain utilize camera movements and sound to advance the plot.
At first glance, Singin’ in the Rain, directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen (1952) and Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder (1950) don’t have too much in common. One is a musical comedy about an actor’s transition from silent films to talkies and the other is a film noir drama about an unsuccessful screenwriter’s murder. But upon closer inspection, these movies are about a common problem: the struggles of the film industry when talking pictures took over.
Porter had found inspiration from various European film makers and had studied in depth the effect it would have on is target market, when he finally released is first attempt, The life of an American Fireman (1903), he hadn’t polished it as well as he had hoped. However when he released The Great Train Robbery it was clear that he had introduced the west to a new style of film making and changed how narrative was expressed within film forever.
Before becoming one of the most iconic figures in silent film, D.W. Griffith failed as an actor and writer. If it wasn’t for a friend, Griffith wouldn’t have even worked at Biograph. In fact, Griffith had no training in film prior to Biograph. That is what makes his legacy so fascinating. Griffith was ambitious to act and write, but found his true identity in directing. Without any prior knowledge of directing, Griffith rose to fame, creating over 450 films, revolutionized film with his use of parallel editing, and was responsible for defining the Classical Hollywood Style of film.
As the audience knows well already since the very first scene, Sunset Boulevard does not have what one would call a “happy ending.” In this sense, the movie gives itself away as film noir considering the fact that all such works of cinema which fall in this style category are known to have dark themes predominantly sending a message of hopelessness and meaningless existence. With Joe’s lifeless body floating around in a swimming pool in mind throughout the entire movie, audiences of this motion picture are filled with a sense of pointlessness for Joe’s life, since his personal resolutions and growth as a
Charlie Chaplin's City Lights is an overall heartfelt film that follows the antics of Chaplin's Tramp, a poor man, as he tries to win the heart of a blind floral girl. This movie is widely accepted as a romantic comedy, but many of the comedic acts have an underlining view into the American life that was being happening at the time. One scene in particular is full of slapstick humor, but a closer look really puts the wage-gap that 1930's America was experiencing into perspective.
Charlie Chaplin did not use sound to communicate to the audience in his movies. Despite the fact that there was no spoken language, his movies were sensational and the audiences loved them. Chaplin was thought of as cinema’s first genius and has been called the single most-influential artist in the history of motion pictures. I am researching Charlie Chaplin to learn how he became a sensational comedian and one of the best actors of all time.
Charlie Chaplin’s, The gold Rush, made in 1925 has become a huge classic comedy in film History. The historic horrors of the starving 19th century pioneers inspired the sequence in which Charlie and his partner Big Jim (Mack Swain) are snowbound and ravenous. Charlie cooks and eats his boot, with all the airs of a gourmet. In the eyes of the delirious Big Jim, he is transformed into a chicken - a triumph both for the cameramen who had to effect the elaborate trick work entirely in the camera; and for Chaplin who magically becomes a bird. For one shot another actor took a turn in the chicken costume, but it was unusable: no-one else had Chaplin’s gift for
At some point in someone’s life the struggle with day to day activities can seem never ending. Modern Times is a film that shows how the ever changing life we live can take a toll on how we choose to live. The tramp, Charlie Chaplin, goes through many hard times in the course of this short film. He worked in a labor intensive factory, got caught in a machine, spent time in jail, failed at several jobs, and finally found his calling of being an entertainer. The woman he was going to spend his life with was homeless and caught stealing bread, but the tramp took the blame.
My example that I will be using is Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin. Modern times is a film developed after the industrial revolution. It serves the purpose of critiquing capitalism and the social world. Modern Times begin with a factory worker who starts developing anxiety through the lack of breaks and repetitive work. When the Worker is on break, his boss is always keeping an eye on him and demands him to go back to work due to the loss of production. Soon after, the factory worker goes on lunch break, but is again distracted by his boss due to the desire to try out a new lunch contraption. At first, the new technology seems to work since the factory Worker was being fed. But, after a few seconds the contraption goes haywire and starts hurting the worker. The factory Worker goes back to work, but suddenly starts to mess up. He goes around ruining all his co-workers’ work and even get himself in prison. However, he ends up saving all the cops from the inmates’ revolution and is released early from jail. He does not want to leave since he is treated properly in jail and will be homeless in the outside world. He tries to get himself in prison again, but meets a beautiful woman Gamin who is also homeless and workless. They run off together and commit burglaries to feed themselves, but is soon discovered by the police. They manage to escape and run off to live in a small house by themselves. The factory Worker and the Gamin decides to have lunch together, but finds out that a
Every day millions of Americans go to theaters with their families to enjoy movies. Watching films has become one of the most popular activities to do. Although plenty of people know of Charlie Chaplin, most do not know any real information about him. Charlie Chaplin has been a major contributor to America’s advancement in the film industry from his innovative beginnings, and perseverance to improve and succeed, to his overall achievements in history.
The final and most significant delivery of the meaning of Chaplin’s film is given during the last scene. The audience sees that the flower girl now has her own flower shop, thanks to the kindness of the tramp. She is no longer blind, and now can truly see the world for what it is, thanks to the operation that the tramp’s generosity gave her. When she sees the tramp getting bullied on the street, she is amused and feels bad for him so she tries to offer him some change. Although she now has sight, she cannot see him for who he really is; the