And now, something new is complete: I have finally watched some Chaplin. I went big, with the top silent film of the revised AFI Top 100 list from 2007. The film City Lights moved up 65 positions to 11th overall, probably largely as a nod to the genius of Chaplin and the era more than anything else. Now, I've seen both The General and Sunrise this year (and I realize that I bring the latter up often, but it is the curious incident of having been enthralled with a movie and yet, in esteem, going up with my reminiscences) and I have to say that this was my least favorite. Which is not to say that I didn't thoroughly enjoy it, but it was slow at the beginning -- too much sight gag and not enough story -- and until the story really got started, I wasn't that interested.
As the story goes on though (and it's really pretty simple: Chaplin plays a tramp who falls in love with a blind girl and gets her money to pay for her to have surgery to fix her poor eyesight) it becomes increasingly more interesting, focusing on Chaplin's attempts to earn this money. He befriends a millionaire, gets arrested, and tries to earn a boxing purse (easily one of the funniest parts of the movie), among other things. The sentimentality of the movie is a bit saccharine, at times, but the overall effect is less cloying than it might seem. I can certainly appreciate the artistry of the film, as well as its own unique brand of humor, and I definitely will be including more Chaplin later on.
Score: 8.5/10
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