#30: The Kid
Release Date: January 21st, 1921
Format: Streaming (Max)
Written by: Charlie Chaplin
Directed by: Charlie Chaplin
4 Stars
I remember my first experience watching a Chaplin movie. It was in a film studies class at Boise State, and we watched City Lights. I was probably 20 or 21-years-old, and going into the movie I assumed that it was going to be a chore to watch. It was, after all, an 80-year-old, black and white silent movie. And like most young male cinephiles at the time, I was much more interested in watching something like The Matrix or Fight Club. It’s the 2000s babyyy! Chaplin’s City Lights, I figured, will probably be a bit boring in comparison, a bit of a task to watch.
I was wrong. The first thing I realized with Chaplin is how intimate his movies are. I don’t think any actor can convey as much emotion into a camera lens as when he stares into one. It captures your attention immediately.
I also had no idea how beautiful his movies are. They are Humanist works with a capital H. The goodness of humanity is imbued into his stories. They make me teary-eyed when I watch them.
But, ironically, Chaplin’s goodness was seeded and grew in a cold, cold world. He belongs to a long list of artistic geniuses who come from poverty, where their trauma and neglect makes their art stronger. Watching The Kid, you’re wondering how much Chaplin borrows from his own experiences living in the streets of London at the end of the 19th century. You sense he is speaking firsthand about hustling money, fist-fighting neighborhood kids in front of betting adults, and going without a meal for a day (or two). It all feels authentic and beautifully sad.
It must be said that The Kid is not a perfect movie. For example, there is a superfluous dream sequence at end that could be cut.
But since when does something need to be perfect to be great? Watch the infamous roof top chase scene and you’ll be moved to tears.
Chaplin’s The Kid endures as one of cinema's great early masterpieces. It’s a simple story of the little tramp and his orphan child sharing a pot of stew, stealing from the gas meter, and fighting in the streets, all in the name of love.
