Review of City Lights (2014) by Papa C — 14 Jul 2008

With City Lights Chaplin created his masterpiece. The one film of his amongst dozens of great films that will stand out as being his absolute best. I am not the only one who shares this sentiment, and I'm sure I am not the last person who is going to discover this film and witness its brilliance in their lifetime.

I am sure that there are people out there who would disagree with me, giving the nod to films like The Gold Rush or The Great Dictator. But really all that does is speak volumes about the consummate performer that Chaplin was. He is one in a million, a man whom anyone all over the world can recognize. Any person who could watch his films without feeling anything couldn't possibly have a heart. That's the real reason why he was such an amazing filmaker, his ability to make you laugh and then sympathize with him the next. He always had a certain number of elements to his films that made them stand out amongst the rest, he was a storyteller through and through.

That's the reason why City Lights is his most moving and involved film, because he takes all of those elements (the pathos, the slapstick, the drama etc.) and he took them to another level. Not only did he make a film that was so poignant from a romance standpoint, but also a film that included some of his most comical slapstick sequences ever.

Who could forget the infamous boxing scene, an uproariously funny part that even made my brother, who is not a Chaplin fan, laugh. This film is so perfect in so many ways, no forget that, this film is so perfect in that Chaplin way. He reached the pinnacle of his hilarity at this film and he wouldn't stop being funny for many years to come. Not an easy thing to accomplish.

I am going to end this review now because I fear that I am to the point of rambling. The simple fact is this, if you haven't seen this film, GO.....SEE......IT.......NOW!!!!!

Oh yeah, and it gets my highest recommendation, or something like that.