THE CIRCUS U

Man on wire…

1928 ★★★★★ OUT NOW BD

EXTRAS ★★★★★ Commentary, Documentary, Featurettes, Outtakes, Essay

Is The Circus Charlie Chaplin’s most ‘underrated’ film, as argued by the doc Chaplin Today in this fine Criterion package? It’s tough to dispute. Released between The Gold Rush (1925) and City Lights (1931) – both more famous – the 1928 film bagged a ‘special honorary’ Oscar but wasn’t even mentioned in Chaplin’s autobiography.

Did Chaplin want to forget its troubled two-year production? Maybe, but The Circus brims with giddy invention and self-referential ingenuity. The plot involves the ‘hungry and broke’ Tramp joining a circus, where he struggles to be funny on cue and falls for the cruel ringmaster’s stepdaughter (Merna Kennedy). Perhaps more pertinently, the set-up spotlights Chaplin’s identity crisis, touching on the pressures of always being the ‘funny man’. Sounds a bit too meta? Fear not: watching Chaplin overcome anxieties via feats of panto-clowning is gloriously entertaining. Recalling his earlier forays into mime and movement, the pickpocketing and chase sequences are deliciously dexterous. The lion-cage set-piece is a miracle of timing, too, right down to the punchline (miaow).

Best of all, the Tramp’s high-wire walk is a heart-in-mouth showcase of acrophobic agility, with added monkey trouble and metaphorical resonance. The framing narrative riffs on thwarted love, before a poignant final iris shot treads a fine line between despair and defiance: a balancing act Chaplin aces throughout. KEVIN HARLEY

THE VERDICT A tragi-romantic triumph, Chaplin’s ‘forgotten’ film is a feast of slapstick and self-awareness. Roll up!

‘Did I mention I loved your work in the MGM credits?’