Symbolism In City Lights

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Charlie Chaplin created amazing films with his career as a director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. City Lights is a story of the tramp who falls in love. He is blown away by the unexpected love affair with the flower girl. He does everything in his power to help her and along the way befriends the millionaire. The story shows the contrasts between the two very different worlds of the rich and the poor. The tramp befriends the damsel in distress millionaire and sparks a friendship where the tramp then sees the lives of both worlds. The mise en scene is a way that shows how different each scene is by the way each character lives their life. Not only in the contrast between the rich and the poor, but also a contrast to happiness verses the unhappy. The mise en scene shows symbols of props that represent how the characters are feeling and what we are suppose to be feeling as we watch what is going on onscreen. Mise en scene is used to tell the story and there are many aspects that come together. The composition, props, …show more content…

Alcohol is a symbol for the millionaires sadness throughout the movie. When he arrives home after his suicide attempt, the first thing he does is go to the alcohol cabinet and offers the tramp a drink. Throughout the whole movie, more than less, the millionaire is drunk. He blacks out and often doesn 't remember the tramp. Him drinking shows that he isn’t happy with his life. Everything that follows after his suicide attempt proves why he drinks and isn’t happy. Money is another big mis en scene prop. The whole movie is based around the theme of the rich and the poor. Money is the biggest focus in the movie and is used as a symbol of happiness or unhappiness. The millionaire has all this money, yet is living a lifeless life. Where as the poor flower girl, though she has no money, is living a happy life. The quote “money can’t buy you happiness” is the perfect example for this

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