THE LIFE AND ART OF CHARLES CHAPLIN
2003

June 14, 2004
TCM
USA
English
132 minutes.

I was not looking forward to a more than two hour documentary on the genius of Charlie Chaplin. I already know he's a genius. There are scenes in his films that are etched in all of film-memory. I didn't need to be reminded.

But the thing is, I did need to be reminded. I thought I'd give it 15 minutes and by then it was too late. I was hooked. Geniuses of today (Depp, Downey, Allen, Scorsese (can we please just make him poet laureate of film for life now?), etc.) are interviewed taking apart particular scenes in specific Chaplin films. I learned plenty about his life and I gained a new appreciation of his films and what they meant in the context of their time.

Incredibly interesting from start to finish.