The Circus

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Alec B Overall, it's a relatively minor work from Chaplin, but the slapstick is top notch. It works as pure zany energy. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/14/23 Full Review Matthew B With The Circus, I cannot help wondering if Chaplin was trying to foresee his own future. Like The Tramp, he joins the entertainment industry, and plays an important part in establishing its popularity. However one day the circus will move on, and leave him behind. Indeed there is a recurring emphasis on circularity in the movie. The circus takes its name from a Latin word for a circle or ring, in this case a Roman arena. Circus tents are usually round in shape. Like many Chaplin films, The Circus begins with an iris-eye view that widens out, and ends in an iris-eye view that closes. A circus was the perfect environment for a Chaplin movie, so it is unsurprising that Chaplin had been considering the idea since 1920, eight years earlier. The parallels between circus life and Chaplin's cinema are clear. Both employ physical humour. Both rely on inspiring the audience with a sense of awe at the visual trickery on display. Both require great technical skill, but lay the emphasis on showmanship and entertainment more than artistry. am not sure how many takes were involved in some of the best scenes. Did the scene in the lion's cage really require 200? Given that Chaplin is clearly inside the cage with an actual lion for at least some of the shots – it actually walks over to him at one point – then it was certainly a risky venture if there were that many takes, even allowing for the fact that the lion may not have been present in all of them. The tightrope scene is said to have required a remarkable 700 takes. For good measure, Chaplin claimed that an earlier, even better version of this scene was filmed and lost. It is one of the most remarkable moments in Chaplin's work. Allowing for some level of trickery about how near to the ground Chaplin really was, he is required to balance on a rope while the supporting hook that keeps him in place becomes unattached. As if that is not enough, a gang of escaped monkeys begin to clamber all over him while he wobbles on the wire. While I am discussing the most memorable and ingenious scenes, it is also worth mentioning a scene in a Hall of Mirrors where The Tramp is chased, first by the pickpocket and later by the police. We see a few dozen Chaplins in the mirror as The Tramp seeks to escape, retrieve his hat and elude capture. The scene anticipates a more serious Hall of Mirrors scene in Orson Welles' film noir, The Lady from Shanghai. I wrote a longer review (with spoilers) expressing a full appreciation of the film on my blog page if you are interested in reading more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2018/11/17/the-circus-1928/ Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/17/23 Full Review Louisa E I love Charlie Chaplin! The jokes still hold up today. The mirror maze scenes were amazing. There were some plot holes but it didn't matter. Pure genius Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 05/08/23 Full Review Audience Member Little Tramp is back at it again when he joins The Circus. Charlie Chaplin's The Circus is quite worthy of laughable fun especially if you're into these silent film comedic artists. The music's score is quite swell. The visuals during the film's climax where the Tramp goes on the tightrope was impressive. The film's humor most of all is hilarious. The Circus was known to be the most difficult experience in Chaplin's career has he dealt with numerous problems both in his professional and personal life. Despite that, Charlie Chaplin still made extraordinary film called The Circus. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Christopher B An underrated Chaplin film probably because it was made between two of his best, The Gold Rush (1925) and City Lights (1931) but is still a great slapstick comedy. It has equal doses of laughter and serious themes and combines them into another heartfelt and hilarious as well as timeless film! Chaplin is sheer pleasure to watch! Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/26/22 Full Review Audience Member A truly marvelous film and one of Chaplin's best. It tells the story of how a ringmaster (Garcia) of an impoverished circus hires Chaplin's tramp character as a clown, but soon discovers that he can only be funny unintentionally. Among other things, it is an amazing self-portrait of Charlie Chaplin the man and his place in the history of cinema. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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