MODERN TIMES: FILM CONCERT

Nykyaika / Moderna tider. US (c) 1936 Charles Chaplin. M: Charles Chaplin, arr. David Raksin. The original score reconstructed by Timothy Brock (2000). Performed by RSO (Radio Symphony Orchestra), conductor: Carl Davis. Finlandia-talo, 23 Jan 2009. Full house for two performances. - Chaplin's greatest score played beautifully by the RSO. - His musical gift is versatile: the machine world in the opening credits theme, the playful passages in the gag sequences, and the emotional final theme tune that would be later become known as "Smile". It is uttered first like a breath of relief when Chaplin finally meets Goddard, the first woman in his feature films who really seems like the perfect match. (But so were Edna and Mabel in the shorts.) The music keeps growing after the final image, reaching its greatest impact when the screen is dark, just as was the case in City Lights. - It was a pleasure to have a drink with Carl Davis and Paul Wing after the lovely performance.

Chaplin in visita al Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia

IT 1952. 10 min silent. Cineteca Nazionale. Presenta Cecilia Cenciarelli. Viewed in Bologna, Cinema Lumière 1, 4 July 2008. - Chaplin visited Rome to promote Limelight on 22 December, 1952. Prominent Italian film people appear, such as Zavattini and Fellini.

Limelight

38085 / G / US 1952 /Chaplin, Charles /drama
Limelight / Parrasvalot. PC: Celebrated Films. P+D+SC+M: Charles Chaplin. CAST: Charles Chaplin, Claire Bloom. 140’. B&w. Viewed at SEA, Cinema Orion, Helsinki, on Sunday, 7 September 1997. The print was fine. The screening ran 137’. **** I had had difficulty adjusting to Limelight because Chaplin is not funny in it. But the point of the film is that Calvero the comedian no longer makes people laugh. Even more importantly, Chaplin no longer is the center of everything. This is a film about devotion to another. Claire Bloom radiates in her difficult breakthrough role. Previously I resented the emotionality of Limelight. This time, I cried as soon as Chaplin’s ”Song of Life” started to play during the opening credits. The sets are sometimes distractingly makeshift and the screenplay is too wordy. But faces speak more eloquently than words, and the whole cast is great.