1931, Chaplin. The great silent feature with 'The Tramp', the blind flowergirl. It is a genuinely affecting, precise, beautiful, at times funny film. A masterwork.
The tramp may not quite have the physical fluidity of Keaton, but his peculiar gait, if taking some getting used to, is eventually able to carry an unmatched emotional weight. Chaplin in genuinely able to act out numerous different styles, being at once small and absurd before, quick as a flash, suprising us by pulling on the heartstrings. The common line about Chaplin is an accusation of sentimentality, and he undoubtedly piles it on. However, the largely merely comic nature of the tramp balances this characteristic out, and his message, if a little syrupy, remains true all the same.
This is a spectacularly beautiful film. The use of shades, Chaplin's always on guard use of his whole body, is done with such intensity and grace as to be a pleasure. Even without deep focus the use of foreground and background is startling, telling a story elegantly. The boxing scene is near perfection, the use of the body, the quietening of the music, the pitch perfect choreography.
This is one of the great works of the cinema. Chaplin has won us over with aplomb.
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