Realism And Characterism In Charlie Chaplin's City Lights

The silent film, City Lights, was created during a time where talkies were introduced, and many were transitioning to that medium. Charlie Chaplin obstinately refused to join the rest of his fellow artists and stubbornly decided to stick with his preferred medium-silent film. He wanted to demonstrate the validity of the art of the silent film with the creation of City Lights. This film details the adventures of Chaplin’s character, the Tramp, as he stumbles through town attempting to help the object of his desires, the Blind Girl (played by Virginia Cherrill) who mistakes him for a gentleman. To undertake this venture, Chaplin poured his entire soul to make a beautiful silent film that could capture his audience without implementing speech.

He knew if he would compete with the talkies he would have to incorporate more towards the plot and the characters instead of predominately relying on the comedy. This task is completed by the assurance that every scene of the lovers is dripping with emotion, so the love is so palpable that words are not needed. The Tramp’s excitement and infatuation over his new crush is visible through the longing in his eyes alone thus creating an attachment felt through the screen. This also occurs with Cherrill’s performance of the Blind Girl as she convincingly communicates her blindness through her distant stare and searching hands. Whenever the couple join they ensure to make their touches especially delicate to emphasize their care for each other’s affection. The acting is so convincing that I could never tell that they actually hated each other in real life. The carefulness the actors possessed when they were together, created a sense of closeness helped prove Chaplin’s desire to express how the “beauty of silence” can stand its ground with the

The use of creating his own score to the film allowed the control of how scenes were delivered and emoted. He also creatively used sound effects for comedic purposes and to further the effect of his story. To communicate a story of mistaken identity, with using few words, he cleverly used environmental clues to assert what the characters are assuming. The knowledge of the Blind Girl inferring the Tramp is rich can be gathered from a simple sound of a car door closing and opening. In order to further transcend the story, Chaplin’s rich soundtrack perfectly syncs with the tone and actions of the characters in each scene. This serves as a connection between what is being acted and what is meant to be felt, so an implementation of speech is not necessary. An example of this is the sweet sounding strings in the context of the couple. The music helps heighten the tenderness and love that the two seem to share with each other. The utilization of the music elevates the story to something beautiful. The creation of City Lights accomplished its goal of maintaining the validity of silent films as an art style. By elevating the typical uses of body language and the musical score to elegantly tender standards, the film possessed an enticing experience. The attention to the details of the emotional experience allowed the film to elevate itself