Retro Film Review: Chaplin (1992)

Retro Film Review: Chaplin (1992) | Ecency

(source:tmdb.org)

If you ask today's centenarians who their favourite film star is, the most probable answer would be Charlie Chaplin. This is hardly surprising, because if an entire history of motion picture industry should be reduced to a single image, that image should represent Charlot, the very first and the most enduring of all movie icons. Chaplin didn't became first global movie star simply because he had fortune of being at the right place at the right time - he was also a visionary, first one to recognise the huge potential of new media and experiment with them. He was responsible not only for some of the most important films in the history of cinema - he also enormously contributed to the rise of Hollywood and its sway over the global culture. It is surprising that Hollywood for many years didn't bother to pay proper movie homage to one of its big icons. This happened in 1992 with Chaplin, biographic drama directed by Richard Attenborough.

The plot of Chaplin is based on two literary sources – Chaplin's own autobiography and David Robinson's book Chaplin: His Life and Art. Using the conversation between fictional biographer (played by Anthony Hopkins) and 83-year old Charles Chaplin (played by Robert Downey Jr.) as framing device, the film starts in late 19th Century London when Chaplin, as 5-year old boy, rescues the music hall performance of his mother Hannah (played by Geraldine Chaplin, Hannah's own grand-daughter). Young boy's talent isn't enough to spare him from poverty and humiliation and even when he later joins the cabaret troupe of Fred Karno (played by John Thaw), Chaplin has to deal with Edwardian England's prejudices against acting profession. During the American tour Chaplin realises potentials of emerging film industry, joins the film company of Mack Sennet (played by Dan Aykroyd) and creates the character of Charlot. This is followed by Chaplin's international stardom and wealth, but this is hardly the end of his trouble. Money didn't bring him happiness in life - in his latter years he had to deal with series of failed marriages and J. Edgar Hoover (played by Kevin Dunn), all-powerful director of FBI who viewed Chaplin as dangerous Communist agitator.

Richard Attenborough made some interesting biopics in the past, including "Oscar"-awarded Gandhi. His talent and experience in that area weren't enough to compensate for the main problem of film's screenplay (written by the team that included Hollywood's famous script doctor William Goldman). Instead of concentrating on the events that shaped film history, Chaplin pays much more attention to Chaplin's private life. That life, regardless how colourful, simply wasn't as interesting as the fascinating story about Chaplin's creative genius and the way he reshaped popular culture in 20th Century. Considering such emphasis on Chaplin's problems created by his womanising and having dangerous political enemies, it is real shame that this film wasn't made or released six years later. In that the audiences could have seen interesting similarities between Chaplin and another global celebrity who got persecuted for liking women too much.

That doesn't mean that Chaplin is bad film. Attenborough has recreated the periods authentically and the acting is superb. Robert Downey Jr. delivers incredible, almost magical, Chaplin impersonation, making audience to suspend their disbelief and accept notorious late 20th Century American actor to be real life incarnation of one of the world history's best known icons. The rest of the cast is good, but there are few opportunities for them to outshine Downey, mostly because most of characters other than Chaplin appear too briefly. With too many important chapters of Chaplin's fascinating biography being ignored or given lip service, Attenborough's Chaplin fails in the attempt to bring that important film icon closer to modern audiences. Yet, even with such imperfections, it is nevertheless well-made film that can inspire people to learn more about one of the most recognisable figures in the world history.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on February 4th 2004)