The Real Charlie Chaplin

2021

1h 52m

Documentary

Biography

TRAILER

for The Real Charlie Chaplin: Trailer 1

List

95%

44 Reviews

Tomatometer

83%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

From the award-winning creative team behind Notes On Blindness and Listen To Me, Marlon comes a contemporary take on cinema's most iconic figure. In an innovative blend of newly-unearthed audio recordings, dramatic reconstructions and personal archive, the film traces Charlie Chaplin's meteoric rise from the slums of Victorian London to the heights of Hollywood superstardom, before his scandalous fall from grace. Refracting his life through a kaleidoscope of previously unheard voices and perspectives, the film sheds new light on the many sides of a groundbreaking, controversial and visionary artist. For decades he was the most famous man in the world but who was The Real Charlie Chaplin?

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Aug 29

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Paramount+

Watch The Real Charlie Chaplin with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

Critics Consensus

Miraculously restored archival materials lend The Real Charlie Chaplin credibility and unique insight, casting a fair look at the entertainer that celebrates his genius while scrutinizing his foibles.

Read Critics Reviews

ranny l

The Real Charlie Chaplin is an earnest attempt to characterize the legendary silent film star Charlie Chaplin, showing more about the man behind the Little Tramp character, and explaining his significance. At times this documentary's somewhat bland narration and spotty coverage of Chaplin's life seem to undermine the actor and his legacy. Almost everyone knows who Charlie Chaplin is, at least by his image: The bowler hat, scraggly coat, thin cane, and trademark mustache are well-known symbols of the first landmark actor of Western cinema. The Real Charlie Chaplin does its best to do the impossible — capture the essence of Charlie Chaplin — using archival footage and tape-recorded interviews. It's a compilation of perspectives and personal impressions, told in dramatic fashion, rather than a linear storyline. Really, The Real Charlie Chaplin is all about Chaplin's rise and fall to and from fame, his political opinions, and his contributions to film history (which have been surveyed in a slightly haphazard fashion, only grazing the surface of some of Chaplin's works). The film draws on rarely-heard recordings made by Chaplin, his family, and Effie Wisdom, a childhood friend who grew up with him in London. It's surreal to hear all these voices talk about one of history's most-loved personalities. Directors Charles Middleton and James Spinney orchestrated reenactments of these recordings, with actors lip-synching and emoting precisely to the audio. It's an approach that works for some and may not for others, since it entails actors adding gestures or expressions that the original speakers weren't able to, and so feels a bit unnatural at times. Wisdom's recording is by far the clearest, and this reenactment method begins to fall apart when Chaplin's recording is introduced, as Chaplin's voice is grainy and the tape recorder makes him sound strained. Many scenes of Chaplin's films are dissected by narrator Pearl Mackie, as is his family life through a series of photographs accompanied by the aforementioned recordings. Her narration slows the pace of the film quite dramatically, and it may have been a better idea to have the recordings guide the film more, instead of the narration. In all other aspects, though, The Real Charlie Chaplin is a well-made film. The Real Charlie Chaplin is all about individualism, perspective, and devoting yourself to your craft. There are some mature themes like domestic abuse and manipulation to watch out for. I give The Real Charlie Chaplin 3.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 14 to 18, plus adults. The Real Charlie Chaplin begins its theatrical run at Cinema Village (New York) and Laemmle Santa Monica (Los Angeles) on Friday, November 19, 2021. By Eshaan M., KIDS FIRST!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It was very nice to see Charlie Chaplin in the cinema - where he's meant to be. It also did a comprehensive overview of an iconic individual without being particularly judgemental or conclusive. But I didn't learn anything new and it had a very slow and repetitive start.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Peter Middleton

Director

James Spinney

Director

Charlie Carter

David Gill

Sarah Lawn

Reporter

Jo Price

Oona Chaplin

Matthew Wolf

Richard Merryman

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

100%

%

My Name is Alfred Hitchcock

100%

82%

Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story

100%

%

Fragments of Paradise

20%

%

Rudy! A Documusical

90%

85%

Sidney

TRAILER

for Sidney

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

The Real Charlie Chaplin: Trailer 1

2:09

View more videos

View more photos

Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

The documentary never stays too long on any one persona. It is too busy with ideas and with probing and fascinating argument to bother with something as trivial as “the real”.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 28, 2022

Full Review

Kambole Campbell

Empire Magazine

In its search for the personality behind the creator of one of cinema’s most famous comic characters, The Real Charlie Chaplin too often lapses into dreary convention, despite flashes of brilliance in its use of archive footage.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 22, 2022

Full Review

Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

A gripping, clear-eyed overview of his life and works.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 20, 2022

Full Review

Greg Carlson

Vague Visages

No doubt each new generation will reexamine and reassess the offscreen Chaplin even as the monumental achievement expressed through his body of work will continue to seduce freshly-stunned viewers.

Jul 28, 2023

Full Review

Tom Shone

Sunday Times (UK)

You finish the film happy that it fell to Chaplin to be Chaplin, not you.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 28, 2022

Full Review

Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

Even after this film exposes some of Chaplin's darkest flaws, his personal life remains a mystery. But his genius is undisputed.

Rated: 3.5/5

Feb 25, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

From the award-winning creative team behind Notes On Blindness and Listen To Me, Marlon comes a contemporary take on cinema's most iconic figure. In an innovative blend of newly-unearthed audio recordings, dramatic reconstructions and personal archive, the film traces Charlie Chaplin's meteoric rise from the slums of Victorian London to the heights of Hollywood superstardom, before his scandalous fall from grace. Refracting his life through a kaleidoscope of previously unheard voices and perspectives, the film sheds new light on the many sides of a groundbreaking, controversial and visionary artist. For decades he was the most famous man in the world but who was The Real Charlie Chaplin?

Director: Peter Middleton, James Spinney
Producer: James Bierman, Will Clarke, Lizzie Francke, Sam Lavender
Screenwriter: Oliver Kindeberg, Peter Middleton, James Spinney
Production Co: Smaller Biggie, Passion Pictures, Archer's Mark, Film 4, Ventureland, BFI Film Fund, Showtime Networks
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 52m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

Most Popular at Home Now