When I really started to love myself, I realized that all the pain and emotional torture was just a reminder to live and not to go against my heart. --Charlie Chaplin
At the beginning of the twentieth century, film emerged from the United States as a new pastime and quickly became popular around the world. Chaplin, a world-famous master of comedy art, has also followed the film industry into the hearts of audiences.
Chaplin used a bowler hat, a pair of large shoes, a thin walking stick and a classic screen image of a narrow dress, fat pants and a pinch of mustache to create many deeply rooted comedy characters, becoming one of the most talented and influential characters in the silent film period. However, the root of his humor is not happiness, but from the sad past behind the glamour.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" >, Following the Light in a Dark Childhood</h1>
Chaplin was born in April 1889 to a wealthy family in south London, england, to theater actors. Unfortunately, it was not a harmonious and happy family, his parents did not have a good relationship, his father was an alcoholic for many years, and before he was born, his mother had betrayed his father and gave birth to his half-brother Snowy. When Chaplin was three years old, his parents ended the painful marriage, and he and his brother lived with their mother.
His mother, a comedian in the miscellaneous theater, was perfectly capable of supporting him and his brother on her own, but due to physical reasons and severe mental burdens, his mother soon lost the job. Although she could no longer perform on stage, his mother did not give up on herself, but used all her savings to buy a sewing machine and sew for people to support herself and her two children.
Although life was poor, Chaplin's mother never gave up hope of living, and as soon as she had time, she would tell Chaplin and her brother about the New Testament. In those obscure and difficult days, his mother was the light in Chaplin's life, illuminating his vision of the future, warming his hungry and cold childhood, and planting the seeds of faith in the heart of young Chaplin.
When Chaplin was six years old, they were taken away by the landlord because they could not pay the rent for the house, and he and his brother were forced to live in a poor people's art institute, and his mother was taken to the women's shelter. Soon after, he and his brother were transferred to the school for poor orphans, and they and their mother were separated from each other, and they could only be briefly together on visitation days.
When Chaplin was seven years old, his mother was finally insane in the weight of life and the thoughts of her sons, and was sent to a mental hospital, and he and his brother were also sentenced by the court to be raised by their father. Because of their work relationship, their fathers were not at home for many years, and they lived with their stepmothers, who were very mean to them, and their lives under their stepmothers were not good. Fortunately, a year later, their mother was cured and discharged from the hospital, and they were finally reunited with their mother again, although the days were still poor and poor, but Chaplin still felt very happy.
For Chaplin as a teenager, happiness always came short and went in a hurry. When he was twelve, his father died of alcoholism; his brother went to sea as a trumpeter and was not heard from for months; his mother had a mental relapse and was again admitted to a mental hospital, and the lonely Chaplin had to live on the streets!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="45" > second, many years do not abandon the road of acting has become famous all over the world</h1>
Selling flowers, selling newspapers, being a buddy, being a hawker... Chaplin did almost all the work at the bottom of society during his childhood. Even so, under the influence of his mother, he never gave up his dream of becoming an actor.
Chaplin's talent for acting was already evident when he was five years old. At that time, his mother could not continue to complete the performance because of the sudden hoarseness of her voice, and little Chaplin bravely stood on the stage and sang a popular song of the time for the audience, which made the audience love him.
At the age of eleven, he was given the opportunity to play a cat in a theater dance play, and his performance won applause and laughter from the audience. At the age of fourteen, he offered himself the opportunity to appear in the touring troupe as Billy, the young servant in the play "Sherlock Holmes".
At the age of seventeen, Chaplin, who was already able to play an important role in the repertoire, was favored by the very famous Carnot Troupe at that time and became an actor in this troupe. Soon after, he was taken to the United States for his outstanding performances by the troupe. It was gold that shone everywhere, and while touring the United States, Chaplin was spotted by film director Mike Senat and hired him. From then on, Chaplin officially entered the film industry and made a large number of short films between 1914 and 1923.
Those tragic experiences in childhood made Chaplin's performance more "grounded", his exaggerated expression, extremely tense performance can always make the audience laugh, and his name has gradually entered the hearts of the audience with one classic role after another he has created, and the image of the tramp he has created has become a classic image in the history of cinema, and no one has been able to surpass it for a hundred years. In the era of silent films, Chaplin eventually grew into the world's leading comedian!
Edison said: Genius, one percent is inspiration, ninety-nine percent is sweat, and the same is true for Chaplin. Fame and fortune in the film industry, he has become a millionaire at the age of less than thirty, but he still maintains a heart that loves acting in the flowers and applause.
In that era of films that could get a good hit by copying the theater stage, Chaplin began to use a series of advanced film techniques such as close-ups, montages, and moving cameras in order to achieve better film effects. Not only that, he also immersed himself in the study of human nature, just in order to make his performance more loved by the audience!
Whether while walking or eating, Chaplin carefully observes every little thing around him in the hope of getting a better inspiration; whenever his film is released, he sits in the cinema and watches the audience's reaction, just to understand why they laugh.
"The perception of what the public likes is kept fresh and in sync with the times." It was Chaplin's definition of himself; making comedy films that satirized reality was the direction of his efforts, and he had struggled for it all his life.
It is precisely because of the emotional resonance and social depth of his works that many works at that time did not have, so Chaplin became one of the world's greatest artists and was loved by countless audiences.
If Chaplin's antics and endless jokes in the film are the flesh and blood of his films, then the storyline and character emotions he shows in the films are the soul of his films. He likes to play the low-level characters of society and use this to express his humanitarian concern for the common people, and he believes that the bitter life can most touch people's hearts, because that is the truth of life!
In 1921, Chaplin's famous work "Finding the Son meets the Immortals" perfectly integrated comedy and drama, and in the complete characters and story, the audience had a deep emotional resonance with the tramp father and son in the play. The film shows viewers the difference between true comedy and farce in the name of comedy.
In "Gold Rush", the scene of a tramp cooking leather shoes with a large black eye is an insurmountable classic in the history of cinema. When he gracefully and calmly eats a leather shoe by eating high-end Western food, this highly comedic scene profoundly shows his strong compassion for the poor people.
In 1929, when the economic crisis quickly swept through the capitalist world from the United States, "City Lights" was born and became one of Chaplin's masterpieces. The love story of the tramp Charlo and the flower girl in the film is extremely touching, and even Einstein shed tears at the end of the film.
Despite the production of classics one after another, Chaplin was not blinded by fame and fortune, and he set his sights on ordinary laborers who struggled to live under the exploitation of capitalist land. In the movie "Modern Times", people have been materialized by capitalists, not only the time to eat is squeezed, even the spirit has been strongly oppressed, the protagonist Charlo is mechanically repeatedly screwing the work and even insane, seeing the hexagonal object will be screwed forward. But such a "dedicated" person lost his job after being discharged from the hospital!
In this film, Chaplin satirizes and criticizes the exploitative power of capitalist society in pursuit of profit, the destruction of humanity, and the exhaustion of labor. At the end of the film, the tramp finally picks up a small red flag.
It was precisely because of this fragment that some expert politicians in the United States thought that he had pro-communist signs, which led him to be involved in the anti-communist wave in the United States and to the blacklist of investigation and surveillance by the FBI.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="50" >3, bravely speaking out for the people Twenty years after being expelled by the United States</h1>
Despite being blacklisted by the FBI, Chaplin did not back down, but instead made an audio film that satirized Hitler's war ambitions, The Great Dictator.
During the filming of the film, the Nazis created many obstacles to hinder his shooting, but instead of giving up, he published the story synopsis of "The Great Dictator" in a Paris newspaper, openly challenging the Nazi Party. He said, "When Hitler is stirring up madness, he must be ridiculed." ”
After the film was released, it aroused a strong response from the audience and became the highest-grossing film of the year, but it was also because of this film that Chaplin was on Hitler's death list and ushered in the darkest decade of his career.
Shortly after the release of "The Great Dictator," the critique of capitalism, Mr. Verne, also began to be released, but in many major cities in the United States, theaters showing Chaplin's films were blocked, no one in Hollywood dared to have any contact with Chaplin and his family, and Chaplin was persecuted by the U.S. government.
All this is because he once said in the movie, "Killing one person means this person is a criminal, killing millions of people and saying he is a hero." In this world, as long as you have the power, you can succeed..."
To this end, the brave Chaplin once again published an article in the Parisian newspaper: "I declare war on Hollywood", in which he said: "Some personnel abuse their power under the great title of "patriot" and arbitrarily attack and infringe on the freedoms of others.
These people, under the protection of privilege, are undermining the democratic regime of the United States, they are forming a terrible virus, they are infringing on the image of justice in the United States, and if they cannot be stopped, they will make the United States evolve into another fascist country. Chaplin, the world's master of comedy a hundred years ago, with his sensitivity to society and politics, recognized the true face of the US government early on.
In 1952, Chaplin prepared to take his family on a six-month trip to Europe in order to attend the premieres of "Stage Career" in Various European countries. The U.S. authorities finally found an opportunity to exclude dissidents, and rushed to issue a statement when Chaplin's ship crossed the Atlantic, saying that the U.S. government refused to allow Chaplin to enter the United States again.
As the ship anchored in France, Chaplin spoke to more than a hundred journalists, saying, "I believe in freedom, that's all my political opinion." I am human, it is my nature. I don't want to make a revolution, I just want to make some movies. ”
In the second year of deportation from the United States, Chaplin's wife, Una, returned to the United States and sold all his property in the United States on Chaplin's behalf and returned all his manuscripts, films and other precious materials. From then on, Chaplin and his wife settled in the beautiful town of Vivi on the beautiful north shore of Lake Geneva.
Twenty years after being deported from the United States, at the 44th Academy Awards in 1972, the 83-year-old Chaplin once again stood on American soil and accepted the Academy Award for Special Achievement from the American Film Institute.
When Chaplin appeared on the stage, the Hollywood counterparts in the audience all stood up, and there was a 5-minute round of warm applause in the field. In the warmest and longest-lasting applause ever received at the Oscars, the two-sided Chaplin burst into tears.
Chaplin died peacefully on Christmas Eve in 1977, ending his 88-year journey. Although Chaplin is gone, his classics have survived with his spirit of attacking injustice, preaching justice, and caring for the underclass.
Live and don't go against your heart. Chaplin said, and did it. He is the greatest comedy master in the history of world cinema, and his greatness lies not only in his superb performances and excellent works; but also in his lifelong efforts to perfectly combine humor and human nature, creating a precedent for satirical comedy films, bravely satirizing and criticizing the dark side of society; and in his noble soul who still insists on speaking out for the people at the bottom of society after all hardships!
Edison once said to Chaplin in the era of silent films: "Although you did not say a word, the whole world understands you." Today, more than forty years after his death, although Chaplin can no longer hear a word, the whole world still loves him!