Blog Directory CineVerse: January 2021

Shining a light on Chaplin's most luminous work

Saturday, January 30, 2021


Fine wine, a Beethoven symphony, Frank Lloyd Wright architecture – Some things never go out of style, regardless of their age. Charles Chaplin’s City Lights is another good example. Released 90 years ago today, this film exemplifies what it means to be an ageless classic. Want proof? Ponder the points below.

Why City Lights is deserving of celebration 90 years later, and evidence that it has stood the test of time

  • It still matters because it speaks a universal cinematic language that can be understood and appreciated by audiences worldwide – regardless of language, race, or background. Despite the fact that this is technically a sound film that uses sound effects and synchronized music, it plays as a silent and can be easily comprehended and enjoyed even by young children and those who cannot read the English titles and intertitles. Chaplin used fewer titles and intertitles in City Lights than he did in his previous movies.
  • Likewise, it stands the test of time because it showcases the power of pantomime and physical comedy to entertain, without the need for dialogue and exposition. The fact that the film can still be regarded as hilarious and relevant, nine decades after its initial release, speaks to the timeless magic of cinema – even old-time cinema – as a visually expressive medium.
  • City Lights also worth honoring because it’s a representation of brilliant filmmaking on so many fronts. What we have here is a near-perfect work flawlessly executed by Chaplin and his team: the screenplay is lean, limber, and emotionally logical; the visuals are efficiently constructed, thanks to carefully designed compositions, impressively choreographed body movements, and even the most minor facial expressions that are precision-timed to elicit a maximum response from the viewer.

How this film may have been influential on cinema and popular culture

  • The critical and commercial success of this movie proved to early 1930s Hollywood that silent films in the new era of talkies weren’t quite dead. Chaplin would go on to make another pseudo silent in 1936 – Modern Times.
  • The fact that Chaplin bucked the odds and made this film at an enormous personal expense – taking several years and spending millions of dollars, primarily funded by liquidating his stock portfolio, to complete City Lights – may have inspired future independent filmmakers to take greater risks in pursuit of their visions.
  • This has been credited by some as probably the first feature-length comedy in the sound era that intertwined pathos with playful humor – that evoked equal parts laughs and tears. Chaplin was warned that this hybrid approach and delicate balance wouldn’t work, but he proved the naysayers wrong. Today, many successful comedies function across an emotional spectrum in which the silly and the sad slash serious can coexist, and this evolving formula can be traced back to a film like City Lights.
  • The sound design of City Lights is also cited as innovative for its time, with Chaplin employing sound itself as a punchline or humorous payoff instead of words or physical comedy. Consider the yuks that ensue after the Little tramp mistakenly swallows the penny whistle and treats our eardrums to a hilarious series of noisy hiccups.
  • Unlike Chaplin’s previous pictures, which depended primarily on gags and set pieces, City Lights places a strong emphasis on its narrative and personalities, marking a change in style for the filmmaker.
  • City Lights is also noted by some as Chaplin’s first major attempt to infuse politics and social messaging into one of his feature-length movies. By bringing attention to the plight of the impoverished, underprivileged, and lower classes, in contrast to the privileges of the idle rich and snooty establishment, especially at a time when the Great Depression was on everyone’s mind, Chaplin set a template here for funny movies driven by a social conscience.
  • Some notable movies that likely took a cue from City Lights are:
    • The Bride of Frankenstein, in which a hideous monster is befriended by a blind man
    • Mask, a movie about a teenage boy with a rare facial deformity who is in love with a blind girl
    • The Artist, a throwback kind of film from 2011 that won the Best Picture Oscar and pays homage to silent film comedy romances.

Messages or themes of note in City Lights

  • The stark contrast between the haves and have-nots and between spiritual wealth and material wealth. Characters lacking financial means in this film tend to be more well-rounded and spiritually enriched, while the millionaire, for example, lives a lavish but vacuous lifestyle devoid of much meaning. This would have sent a powerful message during the depths of the Great Depression in 1931.
  • Life is worth living: This is no small point that the Little Tramp teaches both the Millionaire and the blind girl, to whom Chaplin’s character serves as a redeemer and savior.
  • The thin line between comedy and tragedy. Chaplin keeps us teeter-tottering from chuckles to sniffles, often in quick succession, by alternating humorous bits with melancholy moments—as we often experience in everyday life.
  • Mistaken and misjudged identities and faulty assumptions. Ponder that the intoxicated millionaire mistakes the Little Tramp as a class equal and the police assume the Tramp is responsible for stealing from the millionaire; also, the blind girl believes the Tramp is a wealthy man. As well, we see the Tramp confuse a hunk of cheese for a piece of soap and assume dominance over a worker rising from a sewer lift until he realizes the man is a giant not to be messed with.
  • The struggle to see and be seen. The Little Tramp is ignored and overlooked by society, but ironically a blind woman pays attention to him. She can’t see his destitution; she only sees his kindness and compassion.

Chaplin’s style as a filmmaker

  • Quintessential elements of Chaplin’s directorial and storytelling approach that he tends to employ throughout many of his films include:
  • Sentimentality and pathos: Some contend that his movies are emotionally manipulative, but Criterion Collection essayist Gary Giddins wrote: “The difference between pathos and sentimentality is the difference between art and manipulation—any director worth his salt can manipulate basic emotions. But Chaplin husbands those emotions in a way that few other filmmakers could do. He turns us at will between the funniest routines ever put on film and a poignant fairy tale, but never plays our empathy cheap. He wants us to cry only once, at the very end, and not for her” (the blind girl).
  • His feature-length films often play out as a series of episodes, sometimes only loosely connected, that can work as mini-movies within the larger film, although many believe he paid more attention to a consistent plot and narrative through-line starting with City Lights.
  • The universality of the human experience. Chaplin was the master of silent cinema because he didn’t need words or talky exposition to elicit a strong emotional reaction in viewers; consequently, people from different cultures around the world – even the illiterate – can understand, relish, and be enthralled by his pictures.
  • Championing the underdog and the outsider: The Little Tramp character functions as a self-reliant, resourceful misfit who is not accepted in society; he learns to survive, thrive, and earn the companionship he needs through his humanistic qualities as well as quite a bit of sheer luck.
  • Chaplin was also known as a perfectionist, often spending much more time and money on his films than the big studios did on their movies. In fact, City Lights still holds the Guinness world record for the most retakes – specifically involving the scene in which the tramp meets the blind girl.

Chaplin’s repertoire as a performer/comedian and salient characteristics to watch for

  • Pantomime: using facial expressions, gestures, and body language without words to convey emotions and reactions. Case in point: The drunken Little Tramp at the nightclub.
  • Physical comedy: using comically exaggerated and boisterous actions or situations that defy the limits of our physical world for comic effect. For example, being thrown into the water because he gets accidentally tethered to the heavy stone tossed by the millionaire.
  • Using objects that resemble other objects: For instance, the streamers that the Tramp thinks are spaghetti and the bald man’s head believed to be a party treat.
  • Self-deprecation: Many laughs come from the Little Tramp trying to maintain his dignity despite his rags, small stature, and laughable appearance. Exhibit A: the paperboys who tease him and the butler who throws him out of the mansion.
  • Humorous set pieces: self-contained, hilarious vignettes that, when strung together throughout a movie and interwoven with a central plot, help form a finished film. The boxing match is a prime example.

Elements from this picture that have aged well and aspects showing some serious wrinkles

  • The chivalrous notion of a knight in shining armor underdog coming to the rescue of a helpless damsel in distress is antiquated, although the Tramp’s tireless compassion, humanistic qualities, and personal sacrifices he makes for the blind girl are virtues that never go out of style.

City Lights' greatest gifts to viewers

  • Possibly its greatest gift of all is the final scene, particularly the last shot, which features the Tramp in an incredible close-up that packs an emotional wallop – a close-up that reveals the challenging life he’s lived and the likely hardscrabble future ahead of him. This is an image of the clown unmasked, shaky but sincere, emaciated but earnest. It’s a slightly unresolved ending that feels absolutely honest, the perfect capper to a thoroughly satisfying and masterfully constructed film. Many movies have difficulty sticking the landing, petering out with disappointing dénouements. But this is without question one of the finest and most fulfilling conclusions ever to a motion picture.
  • Another greatest gift is the diversified emotional tone. While some people find Chaplin's films sappy and emotionally simplistic and argue his mise en scène is too fabricated and controlled, many appreciate the dexterity with which he’s able to juggle physical comedy and sweetness, joy and suffering, clownishness and dignity, absurdity and morality. City Lights feels more significant and substantial because, in a league of lightweight laughers, it isn’t afraid to be a comedy heavyweight that packs on the pathos. It’s more memorable than your typical film comedy because it touches our hearts and tickles our funnybones in a very efficient 87 minutes, telling us everything we need to know about each main character literally without saying a word. As the most exemplary synthesis of all his talents and the most rewarding work in his canon, City Lights shines the brightest among all his works.

Read more...

Speaking a universal language

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Differently-abled people are often given short shrift in Hollywood films. It’s refreshing, then, when filmmakers honestly and authentically depict the lives and challenges experienced by persons with disabilities. Such is the case with Children of a Lesser God, a film that stands out not only for casting a deaf actress in a leading role but for having a female director at the helm. CineVerse spoke some universal truths about this movie last week, including the following (to listen to a recording of our group discussion, click here):
 

What did you find interesting, memorable, rewarding, or curious about this film?

  • It was a movie of several firsts. It marked the first time a Best Picture Academy Award nominee was directed by a woman – Randa Haines (although it didn’t win). Actress Marlee Matlin became the first deaf performer in a lead role as well as the only deaf actor and the youngest female ever to win a Best Actress Oscar. Interestingly, William Hurt had won the Best Actor Academy Award the year prior, so he was scheduled to announce the Best Actress winner at the Oscars; Hurt ended up bestowing the statuette to his girlfriend.
  • It brought attention to the deaf community, particularly deaf actors, and introduced many Americans to the benefits of American Sign Language (ASL).
  • Here, life imitated art in that William Hurt and Marlee Matlin engaged in a serious offscreen romance that lasted a few years after meeting on the set of this film. The chemistry and passion are evident in every scene together between the actors.
  • For greater realism and verisimilitude, the film employs real-life deaf actors and individuals – most importantly Matlin, who had been deaf since young childhood. The actors had to use ASL signing during their scenes, which meant that several performers had to learn how to accurately sign and communicate with the deaf.
  • The filmmakers could have chosen to use subtitles or internal monologue and not have Hurt speak Matlin’s messages aloud as often as he does, which some critics believe was overused in the film.
    • Roger Ebert, for instance, said: “By telling the whole story from Hurt’s point of view, the movie makes the woman into the stubborn object, the challenge, the problem, which is the very process it wants to object to.”
    • He and others contend that, if the filmmakers had chosen to tell the story more from Matlin’s POV (by, for example, occasionally presenting completely silent scenes and using subtitles), it would be a more balanced narrative that gives a more privileged and intimate look into Sarah’s world.
  • The title of the film and the play is based on a line in an Alfred Lord Tennyson poem called Idylls of the King.

What themes or conflicts are explored in this picture?

  • The inability to fully communicate with and understand differently-abled people. Sarah insists that trying to teach her to speak instead of using hand signing is an unfair means of trying to control and manipulate deaf individuals – forcing them to conform to the hearing community as opposed to the other way around. James believes that deaf people should adapt and use verbal language in addition to signing.
  • Finding common ground. For James and Sarah, arguably they are best able to connect, express their love, and understand each other in water and light.
    • The intimate scene in the swimming pool demonstrates that James needs to see the world from Sarah’s perspective; underwater, they are both deaf and speechless and must learn to bond in a nonverbal way.
    • Likewise, light is a signifier of passion and connection between these two lovers, as demonstrated by the scene where they get into an argument that quickly leads to hot-blooded lovemaking in front of a bright swivel lamp that they forcefully push out of the way.
  • Also, music is a way for hearing and deaf people to come together, if they can appreciate music from the other person’s perspective. James loves music for the way it sounds, while Sarah enjoys dancing to music (which James is not good at).
  • The degree to which special needs individuals are disregarded, misunderstood, and underestimated by most people.
  • Lasting love requires compromises. “There is a happy ending where James suggests that they can come to a compromise where there is not all silence but there is also not all speaking,” wrote blogger Jesse Marpoe.

Other films that Children of a Lesser God bring to mind

  • The Miracle Worker
  • Love Story
  • The Other Side of the Mountain
  • My Left Foot

Read more...

Our 2 1/2 cents on 8 1/2

Tuesday, January 19, 2021


Quite possibly the most meta film ever made and the finest cinematic export from Italy, Federico Fellini’s 8 ½ hasn’t lost any of its astounding visual power or ability to provoke thought and introspection in the nearly 60 years since its theatrical debut. It’s a challenging work to parse and appreciate, especially for newcomers, but the effort is thoroughly rewarding for those willing to trust the artist and step outside their cinematic comfort zones. Our CineVerse group attempted an analysis last week; here’s a summary of our discussion (to listen to a recording of our group conversation, click here):

What makes 8 ½ special or sets it apart from traditional films?

  • It’s incredibly personal, revealing, intimate, and autobiographical.
    • This film is what resulted after director Federico Fellini experienced an extended period of creative blockage and lack of inspiration for his next project. He enjoyed worldwide acclaim and popularity after directing La Dolce Vita in 1960 and reached the pinnacle of his career. However, he found himself in a creative stagnation afterward. So he decided to make a movie about the hardship of a now-famous director making a movie who is being pressured from all sides by loved ones, creative collaborators, and members of the church.
    • The result is an incredibly honest movie about the egotism, impulses, affairs, memories, and feelings experienced by Fellini, as personified in the character Guido played by Marcello Mastroianni.
    • In this way, it’s arguably the best movie ever made about making a movie, and the most meta film of all time.
  • The stream-of-consciousness narrative and fragmented images make for a unique cinematic experience. The story shifts from realistic to surrealistic, blending fantasy images and dream logic into a simple and straightforward narrative about an artist suffering a midlife crisis and creative sclerosis. The tone is varied, shifting from comical to serious to nostalgic to ironic. The film features vignettes, characters, and episodes that flow freely from scene to scene. We get flashbacks interspersed with sequences based in reality as well as sudden transitions to dreams and imagined visions.
  • Correspondingly, the artistry on display here is staggering. We are shown fantastic camera movement; incredible depth of field in which the foreground, middle ground, and background are densely occupied by different figures, objects, and actions; unforgettably lit compositions that showcase brilliant cinematography, including high-contrast lighting; and spatial framing that is quite impressive, considering the sheer number of actors, segues between scenes, and camera movement.
  • 8 ½ is also a fascinating psychological document.
    • Consider that Fellini had explored Jungian psychoanalytic theory and therapy.
    • Theories abound that the movie explores the interplay between the id, ego, and superego, especially in the harem scene in which there are three levels on which the important women in Guido’s life reside. Additionally, three female archetypes dominate his life: madonnas (exemplified by his wife, mother, and older female relatives), whores (embodied by Carla and other tempting tarts), and a muse of untouchable purity (in the form of his idealized fantasy version of actress Claudia Cardinale).
  • The score by Nino Rota is light, whimsical, and carnivalesque as well as suggestive of mystery and uncertainty. It’s a knockout soundtrack that foreshadows some of the music Rota was to write later for The Godfather.

Themes present in 8 ½

  • Crisis of creativity. This picture demonstrates the impact of and fear surrounding writer’s block or a similar form of artistic impedance.
  • Turning lemons into lemonade. Fellini uses this challenge – the idea of not having an idea – as inspiration, crafting likely his best movie in the process.
  • Suffering for your art. We see the extent to which Guido is distracted, harassed, morally challenged, fatigued from, and ultimately overwhelmed by all the pressures he faces. We observe his character presumably commit suicide to escape all this, although this is a fantasy sequence.
  • We are products of our environment and upbringing. Guido cannot escape from his Catholic guilt or crisis of conscience related to his marriage and work. Likewise, we see how he turns time and again to his childhood memories and experiences, both good and bad.
  • You are the star of your own life’s movie. Like Guido, you get to cast the players, create the scenes, and give yourself top billing.

Other films or works that 8 ½ reminds us of:

  • James Joyce’s Ulysses
  • Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries
  • Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories
  • All That Jazz
  • The stage musical and film Nine
  • Synecdoche, New York

Other films directed by Federico Fellini

  • I Vitelloni
  • La Strada
  • Nights of Cabiria
  • La Dolce Vita
  • Julia of the Spirits
  • Amarcord

Read more...

We're looking to add a fervent film fan to our CineVerse Zoom group

Sunday, January 17, 2021

Do you enjoy watching and talking about classic films, foreign movies, modern masterworks, silents, independent features and other conversation-worthy motion pictures? We're looking to add a new member to our private CineVerse film discussion group that meets weekly on Zoom, and this could be your chance to join our exclusive member community, which is normally closed to the general public.

Interested in being considered for inclusion in our Zoom group? Here's what you need to do:

  1. Have the necessary technology. You need access to Zoom (on your phone, computer or tablet), and you need high-speed internet. More importantly, the movies we view and discuss are available on Kanopy, so you will need a free Kanopy account, which many public libraries provide. (Unfortunately, many libraries do not partner with Kanopy, which is out of our control.)
  2. Be available Wednesday nights. We meet every Wednesday from 8 pm to 9 pm Central on Zoom. We don't require you to participate every week, but this is our designated time slot. If you join us any given Wednesday, you'll be expected to engage in the discussion and share your opinions about that week's scheduled film.
  3. Tell us why we should pick you. Email us (at cineversegroup@gmail.com) a carefully crafted message that demonstrates your passion for the cinema, explains why you love talking about movies, and convinces us that you would be a worthy addition to our group. Extra points if your message is articulate, moving, and/or funny. Conclude your message with a list of your 5 favorite films of all time, followed by a written confirmation that you meet our tech and time conditions (as detailed in #1 and #2 above).
We'll evaluate all messages sent to us and choose one lucky respondent to join our CineVerse Zoom group. Your deadline to email us your message is noon Central Sunday, January 31, 2021. Good luck!

Erik Martin, CineVerse moderator

Read more...

Speaking up about a silent masterwork

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

In Cineversary podcast episode #31, host Erik Martin wishes a happy 90th birthday to Charles Chaplin's City Lights with film historian Jeffrey Vance, author of the book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema and film archivist for the Chaplin family's Roy Export Company. 
Jeffrey and Erik will explore why this movie is worth celebrating all these years later, its cultural impact and legacy, what we can learn from the movie today, how it has stood the test of time, and more. 
Jeffrey Vance

To listen to this episode, click here or click the "play" button on the embedded streaming player below. Or, you can stream, download or subscribe to the Cineversary podcast using Apple PodcastsStitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Castbox, Pocket Casts, PodBean, RadioPublic, and Overcast.

Learn more about the Cineversary podcast at tinyurl.com/cineversarypodcast and email show comments or suggestions to cineversegroup@gmail.com.

Read more...

A good film born under a bad sign

Monday, January 11, 2021


Perhaps the finest film about serial killers and related police procedurals/investigations made since The Silence of the Lambs, David Fincher’s Zodiac serves as an enthralling exercise – one that stays true to the facts, historical records, and period details while also expertly telling a story cinematically, showcasing a skill and craftsmanship that lesser filmmakers cannot emulate. Our CineVerse group pulled out the files and pored over the clues to learn what makes this movie tick. Here’s our take (to listen to a recording of our group discussion of Zodiac, click here):


What did you find different, unexpected, surprising, or fulfilling about Zodiac, especially compared to other serial killer films and police procedurals?

  • It’s less concerned with asking and answering the question “who was the Zodiac killer” than it is with addressing how these crimes happened, why they happened, and the people that were affected by them. You could come to the conclusion of the film and be frustrated by a lack of true resolution, as the killer is never verifiably identified or brought to justice, and, like gray Smith, we are left in doubt. But the movie can still thoroughly satisfy as an exercise in the process of trying to complete a puzzle and admiring how the pieces fit together, despite several pieces missing.
  • Zodiac sidesteps hyperbole and stylistic exaggeration. The director doesn’t indulge in shootouts, chase scenes, explosions, or overly gori-fied violence. While the murders are depicted with bone-chilling realistic accuracy, they aren’t amplified for dramatic effect as they would be in a horror film. In fact, most of the serial killer violence occurs in the first half of the film, leaving us to focus more intently on the aftermath of each crime and the police and newspaper investigations. When analyzed in retrospect, not much actually happens in Zodiac other than people talking, asking a lot of questions, making phone calls, and taking notes.
    • Instead of over-inflating things, Fincher and crew try to stay accurate to the facts of what we know, focusing on extremely fine details (reproducing, with admirable authenticity, for example, the look, fashion, and culture of the San Francisco Chronicle newsroom), consulting with anyone alive who had been affiliated with the case, and engaging in many retakes to get the perfect shot.
  • As Roger Ebert posited, the movie follows the template of a classic newspaper film, such as All The President’s Men, and we accompany the investigators closely as they follow up on every clue, lead, and dead-end. We also see the inner workings of a busy metropolitan newspaper and how the editorial team makes decisions regarding how to treat and publish the Zodiac news and letters.
  • The characters as depicted are inherently human, limited, and flawed. Consider Graysmith, who takes on this case as a personal cause at the expense of his own family and appears to be naïve and tunnel vision about the possible consequences on his safety and mental health. Think about Avery, as well, who had to endure years of investigating the Zodiac killer only to come to a fruitless and in which he’s removed from the case, which seems to come as a relief.
  • The entire undertaking is quite impressive, considering that so much is left unresolved about the true Zodiac killings. Fincher and company decided to tackle this story, despite not knowing for sure how many total murders the serial killer was responsible for or who the serial killer truly was. Additionally, the filmmakers wanted to be sensitive to the survivors of these crimes and honorable to the memory of those murdered, without exaggerating or exploiting matters. That’s not an easy line to walk in a film genre where audiences demand gripping suspense, eye-opening violence, and resolution by the dénouement.

This film is segmented into three primary acts. Can you identify each act in the style/approach imbued within each?

  1. The first act concerns the serial killer’s impact on the media, as represented through our introduction to Gray Smith and Avery. As Village Voice critic Nathan Lee wrote: “Part one climaxes with the rupturing of the media’s sense of its own inviolability. The zodiac sends a letter, and a swatch of blood-soaked fabric, directly to Avery.” In this first part, the filmmakers employ the color yellow – a lighter hue that exemplifies the naïveté we in the public have with the Zodiac and representing a faded time in history.
  2. The second part becomes more of a police procedural in which the authorities thoroughly investigate the crimes, clues, and suspects. The message of the second part is “the limits of law enforcement, the lunge and parry of a police procedural destined to go unresolved,” wrote Lee. Debatably, the primary color at work in part two is light brown or beige, mundane colors that signify the hard, meticulous, and frustrating work that investigators have to do.
  3. Part three underscores the personal journey and obsession of Graysmith, who is driven maniacally to uncover the truth and pore through endless bits of information. “It is only here, nearly two hours into the tale, that a recognizable human story enters the picture. Delaying that contact is one of Zodiac’s shrewdest maneuvers; by the time we’re dropped into Graysmith’s drama, we’re almost as overloaded with information as he is,” adds Lee. Blue is arguably the color that dominates this third section, perhaps symbolizing the true blue nature of Graysmith’s cause and passion.

Films that Zodiac reminds us of

  • M
  • Dirty Harry
  • All the President’s Men
  • JFK
  • Silence of the Lambs
  • Copycat
  • Spotlight

Other films directed by David Fincher

  • Seven
  • The Game
  • Fight Club
  • Panic Room
  • The Social Network
  • Gone Girl 
  • Mank

Read more...

Meet the father of Scrooge

Friday, January 1, 2021

Who really invented Christmas? While the obvious answer is Christ and his followers, our contemporary and secular vision of the holiday was certainly influenced by numerous individuals and forces, not the least of whom was Charles Dickens, author of A Christmas Carol and conjurer of one of the most unforgettable characters in English literature: Ebenezer Scrooge. Our CineVerse group unwrapped a fresh gift of a film last week, The Man Who Invented Christmas, which explores the author’s life and the factors that inspired the creation of this classic Yuletide tale. Here’s a recap of our discussion (to listen to a recording of that group conversation, click here):


What did you find unusual, unforeseen, striking, or significant about this film?

  • It turned Charles Dickens the man into a fascinating figure. This Dickens is relatable to modern audiences in how he is challenged and stressed on multiple fronts, despite his literary talents. Dickens struggles with financial issues, family conflicts, and work-related pressures, as many of us do.
  • It provides an intimate depiction of what’s involved in the writing process – how characters can inhabit the writer’s mind, how authors struggle with writer's block, and the degree to which new and familiar faces can inspire the path of creativity. The filmmakers take an otherwise mundane and straightforward narrative and infuse it with color, humor, and vibrancy by envisioning a dialogue between Dickens and the fictional characters he’s giving life to.
  • As with many biopics and films based on “the true story behind the story,” this picture plays loose and fast with the facts. The movie is a somewhat liberal adaptation of the author’s true life and the circumstances and people that may have truly inspired him to write A Christmas Carol.
    • Actor Dan Stevens said in an interview: “Frankly, whether it’s historically accurate I’m not that concerned about. I was interested in that moment of the creative process, watching a great man struggle – to me, that's dramatically and comedically interesting. Certainly, I was keen not to play Dickens as a bearded old sage.”
  • The title seems deceptive and leaves unresolved questions by the end of the film. If Dickens truly is the man who invented our modern version of Christmas, which is highly debatable, how exactly and to what degree did he and his story influence the way we celebrate Christmas? He certainly wasn’t most or solely responsible for shaping our contemporary vision of the holiday: Clement Clarke Moore wrote ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas earlier, in 1823; Prince Albert is credited with bringing German Christmas trees and evergreens to England after wedding Queen Victoria in 1840; and big corporations have played a major part in the commercialization and iconography of Christmas (Coca-Cola’s depiction of Santa Claus in the 1930s was a major influence on the way we picture Santa today).

Themes crafted into The Man Who Invented Christmas

  • Write/create what you know. This version of Dickens is inspired by everyday people around him who serve as precursors or models for the characters in his story. We also see how Dickens is a generous, kind, and attentive figure but can quickly change, acting cruelly, selfishly, and with little regard for those close to him.
  • Ghosts of the past can either haunt us or inspire us to rise above – it’s up to us to choose. We see how Dickens as a child was forced to labor in a workhouse after his father was taken away from him and imprisoned. Dickens is besieged by these visions in his nightmares, but he also summons inner strength from these recollections, which he uses to reconcile with his father and, presumably, with his past.
  • Every person is capable of redemption. Dickens demonstrates this by writing the character of Scrooge, who ultimately chooses to make amends by the end of his story. The same is true of Dickens himself, who, despite his many flaws and negative character traits, is a better man by the end of this story, having patched up matters with his father and his wife, rehired the dismissed housekeeper, and impressed those around him who previously doubted his abilities.

Other movies that come to mind after watching this one

  • The Wizard of Oz
  • Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
  • Mary Shelley
  • Goodbye Christopher Robin
  • Saving Mr. Banks
  • Rebel in the Rye
  • Tolkien
  • Finding Neverland

Other films directed by Bharat Nailuri

  • Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
  • Spooks: The Greater Good
  • Killing Time

Read more...

  © Blogger template Cumulus by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP