Silent Films

Since we touched upon silent films a bit in class yesterday, I figured I would talk about the first silent film I've ever seen. I first started watching classic films as a child. My father is a huge film buff and whenever he had time off from work, I would always find him watching some black and white film that was either on the Turner Classic Movie channel or a selection from our extensive DVD collection (or VHS back when I was younger). I always used to join my father in an attempt to just plainly spend more time with him, but the more and more I watched, the greater appreciation I cultivated for the films themselves. However, I always used to bow out whenever a silent film was on -- I simply couldn't understand why anyone would want to watch a movie without any sound or dialogue. This was my thought process until one time I walked into the room to see who i now know as Charlie Chaplin shuffling around on screen with his bowler hat and cane, as he tried to talk a man from committing suicide. His pantomiming along with the music and title cards were perfectly timed so what what could have been a very tragic scene in another film, was simply comedic in this one. I was instantly entranced, and ever since then have grown to enjoy silent films. I can thank Charlie Chaplin's City Lights for that.

- Melanie Saitta

The Great Dictator

Charlie Chaplin is undoubtably the most loved silent film star and figure, but eventually even he began to write, direct and star in movies with speech. His first movie in which he spoke was The Great Dictator, a parody of Nazi Germany and Hitler. This was certainly not the first "talkie" movie made, but it was his first and when he finally did speak, boy did he have a lot to say...

This was a comedic movie, but Chaplin dropped it for this speech. He denounces hate, greed, and intolerance and instead demands love, kindness, and freedom for all. It is a powerful message that is still important today. The simplicity of the shots is also important to notice. For the most part, the shot stays on a medium shot of Chaplin talking to his audience. It does not change much, strengthening the power of his message and making it seem even more absolute. Sometimes when watching movies important moments get over-edited, when in the end simplicity would better serve to convey the message or sense of an important scene.

Happy Birthday Charlie Chaplin

I just saw on Google that sometime within the past few days marked the 122nd birthday of filmmaker Charlie Chaplin. I have only seen one of his movies (City Lights). When I finally decided to watch it two summers ago I was really skeptical because I remember form my childhood seeing some really stupid/silly short silent films and didn't really like them. BUT when I saw City Lights, I was blown away with how...perfect(?) it was all put together (question mark being that its hard to describe the ingeniousness of this film). Anyways, I would highly encourage everyone in the class to see it, as well as any other Charlie Chaplin film (I've heard they're all really good).