I would have to say that I really enjoyed the movie Цирk (Circus) today in class. I thought I would point out something that most people might over look in the movie. At the beginning of the movie we are introduced to a character whom we should all know, but they do not say by name. He's a quiet man who tends to get himself into mischief. The person or character I am refering to is Charlie Chaplin. He appears as Marion is about to be shot out of the cannon. He then grabs the cannon and is hanging in mid air; it kind of reminded me of Harold Lloyed hanging from a clock tower in Safety Last. These 2 characters are 2 prominent actors in the United States and I think this was Soviet Russia's way of making fun of western movies at the time. Right after Marion is shot out of the cannon you can see Charlie in the background, as if he is trying to steal the show. He is also in the scene where the villian Von Kneishitz is getting ready for the show, and he is blowing up this under suit that Von Kneishitz is wearing. I can't help but wonder about the role that this character might be playing and what deeper meaning that it might portray.
I also, at the end of the movie, laughed to myself when they say that only in Russia do you have these freedoms, as they are marching in Reds Square.
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I also found that funny at the end of the movie when they say only in Russia do you have these freedoms. I agree with what you said about Charlie, almost as if he is jealous of the Marion and trying to make the people laugh at him when he falls down and jump on the women. But I also thought it could be just part of the routine they do.
ReplyDeleteThe Chaplin character in the film is indeed interesting and I agree that he's being presented as a ridiculous caricature of "typical outdated bourgeois Western humor." It's also possibly not accidental that both he and Von Kneishitz bare a certain resemblance to Hitler in their appearances.
ReplyDeleteI saw Charlie Chaplin look alike too and thought that very funny. Yea there's no way they had these kinds of freedoms in the Soviet Union.
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