The Circus

Charlie Chaplin was a perfectionist in his films and a calamity in his private life. These two traits clashed as he was making The Circus, one of his funniest films and certainly the most troubled.

There’s an edge to The Circus that suggests a man gazing deep into the void, laughing at the darkness and urging us to do the same.

It is Chaplin’s great elegy to the lost art of music-hall pantomime and, for that matter, the soon-to-be lost art of silent-film comedy.

Mixing sweetness, darkness, violence and delirious gags, this 1928 must-see showcases film's greatest comic.

Mostly the movie registers as a comedy flag being planted, a claim being made. Anything your average clown could do, Chaplin could do better.

In clinging to a tale of logical sequence, without the expected interpolations or detached incidents, Chaplin's Circus for speed, gags and laughs has not been equalled on the sheet. But it's very broad, for Chaplin makes no attempt at subtlety in this one.

There are passages in The Circus that are undoubtedly too long and others that are too extravagant for even this blend of humor. But Chaplin's unfailing imagination helps even when the sequence is obviously slipping from grace.

A classic love track, sound track, gag reel and simply smart filmmaking. The Circus I think I can go ahead and say that this is my favourite Chaplin feature. I wish I knew why and I don't either. The writer, director, actor and composer Charlie Chaplin has struck gold in this adventure. The germ of the idea was definitely the change in location and spreading still the same humor, humility and belief. And yet, it remains unfiltered for its sweetness. No matter how accurate and magnanimous your vision is on pulling off a dark gritty drama, it would rarely add to the "I wish.." list for its "beware" and "wit" tingling sensation in you. While this sweet love story like this has legs that goes for decades and even centuries for it catches you with big fluffy pillows as you fall down with gullible likeness in mind. A bread and an egg, the story starts from and it is where it ends. And yes, I get that some might even find this heartbreaking, but Chaplin's genius in the last act of the film, was that he satisfies you with such absorbing themes, that by the end you don't really care how The Circus will finish the show. The product is gift wrapped and delivered to your doors as soon as the last act begins. The key is to never go beyond anyone's perspective other than Chaplin's. And this was all drama. The rest of the fill in, are fabulous gags that looks like Chaplin has installed to test himself as an actor, a performer. From enacting like a robotic puppet to multiplying himself on screen to bossing around his opposing co-star like a mentor. Over the years, the only issue I had was with the do over process of the interview of his job, until I realized this time that those mandatory gags were not actually for the laughs, but a showcase of his commitment on the hard work that he inadvertently cares for.

This movie is honestly cute, wholesome, and charming. Charlie Chaplin is excellent with his body language and mannerisms. I feel like this movie could have been an 8/10, but the end of the story kind of ruined it for me personally. The humor is pretty constant throughout, which is still pretty amazing even to this day.

Me quedé como con una sensación rara porque, para nada puedo decir que es una mala película pero de las que he visto hasta ahora, es la película más flojita de Chaplin. Es divertida, me reí bastantes veces, pero no me provocó otras emociones como sí sucedió con otras obras, lo cual es raro. Tal vez estoy mal acostumbrado de que solo haga genialidades, pero cuando alguien es tan bueno, siempre se espera lo mejor. Lo que puedo destacar en general es cuando a Chaplin tiene que caminar por la cuerda floja, es totalmente divertido y bastante interesante como logra hacer el acto. También el final es diferente esta vez no se queda con la chica y entiende que estará mejor con el otro hombre, eso no me lo esperaba y es refrescante que lo haya hecho. Buena película.

Примитивная история и гэги с раздутым хронометражом, а так же почётный Оскар за вот этот стыд. Очередной непонятный залёт немого кино в топ-500.