Are the laughter and applause of encore at the end deliberately arranged or from the heart? Why is the boss wiping tears? Are you simply laughing until you cry, or are you seeing an actor who is no longer in the mainstream, stubbornly performing in an inexperienced form of interpretation, and using the last of life and vitality on the stage to honor his former glory?
The truth behind the film is a little scary. It expresses more of the ruthlessness of the times towards art. From this point of view, it is actually quite similar to "The Great Artist" decades later, but it is more obscure. The truth is all hidden behind the superficial tragedies of year-end romance and death on stage.
The audience's final laughter is complex, of course there is joy, but pity, sympathy, regret, and pure polite smirk. This is not a brilliant farewell performance by an old artist, but a person who is no longer needed and uses the last rays of his life to linger himself on the stage. Chaplin was getting old and frustrated in reality, so he used a movie that was not actually a comedy to make up his corpse in advance.
Taking it as a heroic cliché tragedy in which a brilliant acting career and life ended at the same time fell into Chaplin's trap. It's more like a modern day going to an old circus show - all you care about is the texture of last century's hardwood stools, the smell of popcorn, and you'll applaud trapeze, animal trainers and lions, fire-breathing clowns . But you still don't forget to take out the iphone to take a picture of the trapeze and send it to the circle of friends and instagram.
This film was made by such a trapeze.
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