Director: Chaplin
Screenplay: Chaplin
Soundtrack: Chaplin
Starring: Chaplin
Chaplin is a genius who transcends the times. He always writes, directs, and acts by himself, even producing, editing, and scoring. They all do it by themselves. This one-handed style started with his first feature film, which is "The Kid" (the Kid) to be talked about today.
I have always been curious about how the Chinese name of the movie came from. If you look at the main plot and the English name, it would be more accurate to translate it into "Story of an abandoned child". But I have to say, "Xunzi Yuxian Ji" as a Chinese name is really wonderful. Just seeing these words, we will expect to see a beautiful movie with affection, romance, fantasy and other colors. .
Before the filming of this film, Chaplin had become the most successful comedian in the world, but his pursuit was far more than that. He believes that comedy shouldn't just be a farce playing with actions. Comedy can also produce dramatic conflicts and have deeper emotions and connotations. At that time, many people were not optimistic about his feature-length films, thinking that the collection of small bridges did not mean that they could make up a complete film, and if Chaplin continued his past style, the commercial returns would be more stable. Of course, the great success after the film blocked this group of people's mouths.
Before re-watching the film, I searched for some background information and discovered that this may be Chaplin's strongest personal touch.
His childhood was miserable. His father committed suicide when he was very young, and his mother later became mentally ill. The poverty and hardship he experienced for a long time in his childhood also laid the main theme of his future movies, which is the careful observation and in-depth observation of the bottom life. care. In "Looking for a Child and Encountering Fairy", the street scene in the story is actually reconstructed according to the neighborhood of Chaplin's childhood in London. Another sad thing happened ten days before the filming started, when Chaplin and his first wife's newly born child unfortunately died. If you take into account the loss of paternal love and the pain of losing a child when watching a movie, it is not difficult to find that Chaplin is actually using the movie to create a dream to make up for the irreparable regrets in his life.
The encounter between the tramp and the child should be destined. The mother was unable to raise the baby and put the baby in the car of the rich, hoping that a good family could raise him, but she was taken away by two thieves by mistake and abandoned again until the tramp passed by and found out This abandoned baby. At the beginning, the homeless man did not think about adopting this child. After all, it is not easy to feed himself. But after a series of ridicules, the baby returned to his hands. Only then did he realize that maybe the baby is. Treasures bestowed on him by heaven.
As a father, a tramp is really competent. In order to raise the children, I made a hanging hanging basket. The teapot was inserted with a pacifier and turned into a baby bottle. The fabric was cut into a diaper. A hole in the dining chair became a potty. The homeless man made things at home like magic. Played an unexpected new role. Five years after the screen came, the baby grew up and became a child played by Jackie Coogan. When the father and the father ate, the tramp also paid special attention to the etiquette of nurturing the child. This kind of decentness still preserved in poverty is really not everybody. A father can do it.
I didn’t know until I had my own children. An important difference between the roles of fathers and mothers is that fathers have to provide more security for their children. To show off in front of your child, don’t let him or her be full of fear of life in his childhood. This point, the tramp has also done it.
The most emotional part of the movie is the passage where the child is taken away by the orphanage.
Chaplin dealt with this paragraph with great tension. One side was outside the house. The child had been snatched and put on the truck in the orphanage. On the other side, the homeless man was trapped and unable to get out. If there is a delay in time, it may be a farewell to father and son. At this time, the homeless man changed from a weak and uncontrollable appearance, and became a fighter who walked away from the wall. After the rescue, the father and son hugged and kissed hard in the back of the truck, and they were moved to tears every time they rewatched them.
I have to mention the kid’s actor, Jackie Coogan. He gave a great performance in the film, sometimes playful and lovable, sometimes tearful and pitiful. He became popular because of his role in the film. Became the first official child star in Hollywood history. In the years that followed, Jackie also maintained a very good relationship with Chaplin for a long time.
In the Blu-ray Disc of this film released by Standard Collection (cc) in 2016, there is a short 2-minute highlight, which is the video material of Chaplin's directing film soundtrack. Chaplin, who was 82 years old, had gray hair and said, "I am left-handed, don’t mind everyone" after he took the stage. He made the whole room laugh, and for a moment we clearly saw that The moustache tramp never left.
"Looking for a Child and Encountering Fairy" is Chaplin's transformational work. After nearly 100 years, it is re-watched today, and the joy and emotion have not decayed.
Just like the subtitles before the opening of the film, "I hope this film can make you smile with tears" (A picture with a smile – and –perhaps, a tear). I believe that many people who have watched this film can experience a smile after drying their tears. This feeling is very real, melancholy, and wonderful. Perhaps this is the most unique charm of Chaplin's movies.
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