First Look at A Woman of Paris

Rockinghorse Winner (rockinghorse@anonymous.to) writes:
> As of last night, i have a new favorite chaplin flick. It was a movie I never
> would have bought or gone to see if it was playing by itself, but The Kid
> opened for it, so I stuck around out of curiosity (2nd night of ucla Film
> Archives Chaplin Festival).
>
> If i had formed an opinion of A Woman of paris based on what some have said
> about it here, I probably would have neglected to see one of the great films
> of all time.

Hey, I wasn't one of them. ;-)

Connie K.


> To start with the acting -- there wasn't a weak performance in the pic, and
> several were great. In particular, the male and female leads were beautifully
> nuanced, often using only their faces to convey very complicated emotions.
>
> Is there a movie with smarter, wittier dialog? I don't remember having seen
> one recently. The plot moves sharply along, only occasionally forced at the
> end (a gun-toting granny got chuckles from the audience), but these were minor
> blemishes on a astounding plot that delves into sexual politics like nobody's
> business (and relevant? you could transplant the actors lines to the modern
> screen, and not have to change a word). The script bears the marks of someone
> who has *been* in the trenches.
>
> It has been said that Chaplin wasn't very technically innovative. Well, he
> must have put it all in this movie. Compared with most of his movies, this
> one is practically expressionistic! The use of elongated shadows, weird
> camera angles and the like, all contribute to the melancholy mood of the film.
> The set designs and costumes are detailed and elaborate, so unlike Chaplin.
> They evoke 1920's paris completely.
>
> Those who want to understand Hemingway's *lost generation* would do well to
> study this film. Chaplin's critical eye for the privileged set is very
> Gastsbyesque: he highlights it's attraction as well as it's crudeness. This
> is different from the comedies, in which the rich are fatuous boobs. I believe
> this is Chaplin's most *realistic* film. I loved it.
>
>
>
>
> CUL8r -- R*Horse
>
>
> www.sonic.net/~lkokot
>
>
>
> --
> Lesson #1 - do not expect sane, rational behaviour from someone who dives.
>

--
"Our century is inconceivable without its . . . inconclusive mob of isms."