Monsieur Verdoux **
Charles Chaplin, 1947
US
@ Northwest Film Forum
I was just reading last night that the United States was one of the first nations to recognize Franco's Spain after World War II. Except in times of dire economic crisis, we're pretty happy to sacrifice pretty much any other values in the name of capitalism. 1947 must have been a particularly bad time to release this, then.
Some people seem to have confused "greatest American comedy" and "funniest American movie" in contemporary discussions of this picture's historical status. I have no idea how you could support the second, but the first might not be out of the question. If by greatest you mean best use of the tools of film comedy to lambast libertarian greed and support of monstrous policies to pay for our way of life, then this is certainly up there. I found it to be intermittently funny, although some bits were very good, particularly the scene in the boat.
Though I've noticed it at other screenings as well, here I felt particularly sheepish when I discovered that I would laugh most before humorous events took place on screen, largely finished by the time they happened, simply because Chaplin's comedy relies on the big delivery of some mistake or pratfall you can predict, rather than a true element of surprise. In other words, I might start laughing at the point where it becomes obvious to the audience that Monsieur Verdoux is going to believe he's drunk the poisoned wine, at the moment his companion switches the glasses, rather the moment when he finally gets the mortally terrified look on his face. Not sure if it's that I undervalue the execution and overvalue the construction/set-up of the scene, or if anticipation really is more than half the fun.
See also: IMDb | TCMDb
Charles Chaplin, 1947
US
@ Northwest Film Forum
I was just reading last night that the United States was one of the first nations to recognize Franco's Spain after World War II. Except in times of dire economic crisis, we're pretty happy to sacrifice pretty much any other values in the name of capitalism. 1947 must have been a particularly bad time to release this, then.
Some people seem to have confused "greatest American comedy" and "funniest American movie" in contemporary discussions of this picture's historical status. I have no idea how you could support the second, but the first might not be out of the question. If by greatest you mean best use of the tools of film comedy to lambast libertarian greed and support of monstrous policies to pay for our way of life, then this is certainly up there. I found it to be intermittently funny, although some bits were very good, particularly the scene in the boat.
Though I've noticed it at other screenings as well, here I felt particularly sheepish when I discovered that I would laugh most before humorous events took place on screen, largely finished by the time they happened, simply because Chaplin's comedy relies on the big delivery of some mistake or pratfall you can predict, rather than a true element of surprise. In other words, I might start laughing at the point where it becomes obvious to the audience that Monsieur Verdoux is going to believe he's drunk the poisoned wine, at the moment his companion switches the glasses, rather the moment when he finally gets the mortally terrified look on his face. Not sure if it's that I undervalue the execution and overvalue the construction/set-up of the scene, or if anticipation really is more than half the fun.
See also: IMDb | TCMDb
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