I just watched the 1915 Charlie Chaplin short film, The Champion, out of respect for the life of the greatest comedian to ever live. He died 37 years ago today. Yes, he died on Christmas. Talk about a bad break. In any case, I dont say that Chaplin was the funniest comedian to ever live, but I do insist that he was the greatest. He was in touch with something so unique, so fun, so special. He wasnt brilliant in any artistic or intellectual sense, and yet, somehow, even the greatest filmmakers in the history of cinema -- the really artistic, intellectual ones -- have almost unanimously acknowledged Chaplin as one of the greatest filmmakers to ever live. Listen to all the praise: Jean-Luc Godard, the great French filmmaker to ever live, and a truly brilliant master of cinema -- one of the true all-time greats -- said about Chaplin, He is beyond praise because he is the greatest of all. What else can one say? The only filmmaker, anyway, to whom one can apply without misunderstanding that very misleading adjective, ‘humane’… Today one says Chaplin as one says Da Vinci—or rather Charlie, like Leonardo. Federico Fellini, the greatest Italian filmmaker in the history of cinema, and my personal all-time favorite filmmaker, called Chaplin a sort of Adam from whom we are all descended. Jean Renoir, often called the father of French cinema, and one if its greatest directors (some people say the greatest), said of Chaplin, The master of masters, the filmmaker of filmmakers, for me is still Charlie Chaplin. He has done everything in his films -- script, direction, setting, production, performance, and even the music… His films are not only examples of perfect unity, but all his work is one. One may say indeed of Chaplin that he has made only one film and that every facet of that film is a different enactment of the same profession of faith. Orson Welles, who some consider the greatest American filmmaker of all time (I would disagree, but hes in the top ten for me), said, Chaplins a great artist -- there cant be any argument about that. He also called Chaplin a genius actor. François Truffaut, one of the pioneers of the French New Wave, and probably one of the ten best French filmmakers, said, My religion is cinema. I believe in Charlie Chaplin. Vittorio De Sica, one of the masters of the Italian neorealism movement, and one of the ten or so greatest Italian filmmakers ever, acknowledged that, as a filmmaker, he owed a great deal to Charlie Chaplin. Satyajit Ray, the greatest Indian filmmaker to ever live (I have not yet explored him), said of Chaplin, If there is any name which can be said to symbolize cinema, it is Charlie Chaplin… I am sure Chaplin’s name will survive even if the cinema ceases to exist as a medium of artistic expression. Chaplin is truly immortal. He also said something else that I strongly agree with: Old masters like Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, and Eisenstein aimed at a range of responses which the modern filmmakers do not even feel obliged to attempt. Rene Clair, the great French filmmaker (probably in the top twenty all-time French greats), said about Charlie Chaplin, He inspired practically every filmmaker. Eric Rohmer, another great director from the French New Wave (along with Godard and Truffaut above), and probably one of the then greatest French filmmakers, said, Griffith, Sjöström, the German expressionists, Chaplin, Gance, and Eisenstein have, in their own ways, created languages that proved to be almost as expressive, as rich, and as supple as spoken language. Masaki Kobayashi, probably the greatest filmmaker of the Japanese New Wave, and one of the ten greatest Japanese filmmakers in the history of cinema, explained that he went to the Cannes Film Festival and met Charles Chaplin. They showed some of his works. I was deeply impressed by his greatness. His films, his methods and content, are modern and so contemporary. He is a great genius. Jacques Tati, another great French comedic filmmaker, like Clair, and also like Clair, probably one of the twenty greatest French filmmakers (although I havent explored him), said of Charlie Chaplin, Without him I would never have made a film. He also had another quote about Chaplin that I love: You wont find another Chaplin, you wont find another Keaton, because the school is closed. Pier Paolo Pasolini, probably the second-greatest Italian filmmaker of all time, said, You can always feel underneath my love for Dreyer, Mizoguchi and Chaplin… I feel this mythic epicness in both Dreyer and Mizoguchi and Chaplin. All three see things from a point of view which is absolute, essential, and in a certain way holy, reverential. Andrei Tarkovsky, the greatest Russian filmmaker ever, and another one of the all-time masters, said, Is Chaplin comedy? No. He is Chaplin, pure and simple; a unique phenomenon, never to be repeated. He also said something along the lines of what Ray said: Chaplin is the only person to have gone down into cinematic history without any shadow of a doubt. The films he left behind can never grow old. Stanley Kubrick, perhaps the greatest of all American filmmakers (probably behind only John Cassavetes), echoed the sentiment expressed by Tarkovsky, saying about Chaplin, His films will probably last longer than anyone elses. So there you have it. From the lips of the masters. Chaplin is, was, and always will be… the man.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 12:59:26 +0000
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