Chaplin’s World celebrates 100 years of “The Kid”, director Charlie Chaplin’s first feature film, with a new temporary exhibition. To see until September 25, it is an open window on childhood, the rage of life and the realization of dreams.
Released in February 1921, the famous American silent dramatic comedy, written, produced and directed by Chaplin, is actually already celebrating its 101 this year. It is often considered by critics to be one of the greatest films of the silent era. The British Film Institute considers it one of the 50 films to see before you turn fifteen.
This work has a special place in Chaplin’s cinematography, undoubtedly the most autobiographical, like a mirror of his childhood, between laughter and emotions. A little over 100 years after its release, “The Kid” still resonates “as a cry from the heart of Chaplin in the face of the living conditions of orphaned children and as a demonstration of the ability to triumph in difficult situations”, notes the museum in A press release.
For its realization, Chaplin had plunged back into his childhood and had transformed it into a creative act. From his early years, Chaplin managed to make a film full of humanity, “a slap in the face at the petty spirit of the established order and a demonstration of the ability to triumph over traumatic situations”.
Mischievous poetry
It is the whole spirit of “The Kid” and his poetry from another time that are thus celebrated through this new exhibition which begins Friday at the Chaplin museum in Corsier-sur-Vevey (VD), in the attic of the Manoir de Ban, home of the star for the last 25 years of his life. A beautiful tribute to Chaplin’s view of the world: that of a wanderer with the soul of a child never lost.
“The Kid. The Exhibition” was produced exclusively for Chaplin’s World by museum designer Yves Durand and produced by the Charlie Chaplin Museum Foundation. It invites children and families to discover Chaplin’s “inspiring life journey”, through the spectrum of childhood, his own, from the dilapidated alleys of London to planetary stardom.
Immersive, funny and playful, it revolves around four main themes: The Kid(s) – games of mirrors between Charlot and the Kid, making-of and the child star; Back to basics – macadam alleys, games and magic lanterns; Espace Nikelodéon (cinema with minimalist and colorful components); Charlie Chaplin told by his own children.
Rare archival documents
The exhibition begins by offering an immersion in London at the end of the 19th century and the discovery of the letters of Hannah, mother of Charlie then interned in a psychiatric hospital and of her brother Sydney. Archival documents, little or never seen, enriched by quotations from Chaplin, thus make it possible to approach the history of the film at the heart of its genesis: Chaplin’s childhood itself.
This is another opportunity to discover the incredible story of Jackie Coogan, interpreter of the little kid in the film, and to understand the game of mirrors between the characters of Charlot and the Kid, and between the life of Chaplin and that of Coogan. The space dedicated to Jackie Coogan aims to show how this child star’s journey goes from fortune and glory to poverty, passing through a lawsuit brought against his parents who squandered his fortune.
old magic lanterns
The spotlight is also given to the magic of the games of the time, which are memories rooted in the Chaplinesque universe. As such, the Swiss Camera Museum presents some of its oldest magic lanterns.
But the exhibition also recalls the period of trouble that the artist went through at the time of the creation of the film, emphasizing its central place in his work. Indeed, shortly before starting filming, Chaplin lost his first child, barely three days old.
This article has been published automatically. Source: ats
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