Review of City Lights (2014) by Harry W — 15 Jun 2014

I will watch anything made by Charlie Chaplin, and City Lights was one of his most critically acclaimed works so it was an absolute must-see in my books.

City Lights was a bold move on behalf of Charlie Chaplin because 1929 was a time when silent films were descending in popularity since "talkies" were beginning to emerge. And building an entire film on silent slapstick gags and romantic comedy sounds like a challenge. But it is a well known fact that Charlie Chaplin is one of history's greatest comedians and his tramp character is undeniably hilarious, and well enough he manages to carry City Lights from start to finish.

City Lights has the issues that come with a silent film battling age, such as the fact that its gags have less effect now than they did upon the original release of the film in 1931. But an 83 year age battle is a hard thing to win, so City Lights has to be appreciated for the assets which made it original in its own time as well as the kind of relevance it has today.

In a generation where romantic comedies are mostly built on generic plots which go in repeated directions and formulaic paths, it is refreshing to look as far back as City Lights to see what was defined as romantic comedy in the age of 1931 and to see the genius mind of Charlie Chaplin at work as the writer, director, producer and star. City Lights is essentially Charlie Chaplin's own Citizen Kane and is an ambitious step forward on behalf of him. Thanks to his dedication to seeing that the film ends up succeeding, Charlie Chaplin implements in a perfect understanding of everything that audiences would demand of him and the true best that he has to offer, and thanks to that he gives it a perfect guidance to success, crafting a nice story and then giving it the appropriate treatment as director. Charlie Chaplin shows off the kind of comedic genius he is when he puts all of his heart into something, and his dedication to City Lights is very admirable. It is nice to see how far films have come since then, and there is a nice feeling of nostalgia which comes with City Lights.

Charlie Chaplin films are always about being a visual splendour, and City Lights is no exception. The scenery of the film is nice and puts a lot of versatile settings into perspective, therefore allowing all of the visual gags to flourish in many different scenes. And everything is captured with great cinematography, so the visual appeal of City Lights lives up to the standard set by Charlie Chaplin.

The music in City Lights is just beautiful. Following the natural theme of romantic films by having a really light nature which is borderline sappy but never crosses over into it, the mood in City lights has a constant sense of wonder in the air. The piano music in City Lights is iconic of the style of vaudevillian humour that Charlie Chaplin is iconic for and it always gives a comedic edge to the story and all of the slapstick gags, so the success of City Lights is enhanced largely by the musical score.

City Lights is essentially great from every angle. It has the flaws of being a dated film and the fact that some of Charlie Chaplin's jokes do not successfully stretch on as long as they did in the original release of the film, but considering that it is a piece of his artistic journey into cinema, it is terrific to see what he was all about. City Lights is clearly one of Charlie Chaplin's most defining films, and at the same time it is touching and meaningful.

But on top of it all is the fact that Charlie Chaplin gives an impressive leading performance. As always, Charlie Chaplin makes the focus of the hilarity in City Lights. Thanks to his inability to ever break character, Charlie Chaplin plays out his famous tramp persona constantly in City Lights and manages to be both a sympathetic romantic and an over the top comedian with a powerful final effect. It is difficult not to feel sympathy for him City Lights because he seems like such a nice person who is always dragging himself into awkward situations that cause him physical harm in his journey to please everyone else, and Charlie Chaplin's charm is undeniable. The man is very funny and he has a face with a lot of life in it thanks to the iconic look of his makeup and his cheeky smile, and when it comes to the physical movements of the characters he is incredibly good. Charlie Chaplin's natural skill for slapstick humour is hilarious in City Lights and is definitely the most worthwhile reason for viewing the film. He consistently delivers the laugh with his versatile series of physical gags and the fact that he is genuinely an enjoyable screen presence, and so City Lights is easily a memorable film by serving as a showcase for his talents as a physical comedian and actor, as well as for his role as director, writer and producer of the film.

Virginia Cherrill also gives a firm supporting performance in City Lights. Capturing the likable charm of a lovely blind girl and convincingly playing her out from a physical perspective, she gives a strong performance which boasts her natural likable charisma that comes from her general presence. Her chemistry with Charlie Chaplin has a genuine sense of passion to it even though it is all built on their silent physicality, and so the two make a good duo.

So although City Lights is a rather old film and many of its gags will not have the same kind of comedic effect today that they had on audiences upon its original release in 1931, it is a classic romantic comedy which shows Charlie Chaplin's creative mind at work as an actor, director, writer and producer.