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City Lights [1931)

Just when you think you can’t go on anymore, and then something happens.

That is a miracle.

Little miracles.

Right place at the right time.

Preparation meets opportunity.

Luck.

If the horseshoe works…if the rabbit’s foot is effective, then you want some extra help going into the ring.

And if the luck is bad, you try to wipe off the effect as with an unwanted kiss.

It’s very hard saying anything enlightening right now.

I’ve trudged up a steep hill.

Today I hit a little plateau.

But it feels like I’m back at the bottom.

Because tomorrow is back to the salt mines.

Ah, but I am lucky.

Right?

I am not a pooper scooper in life’s parade…picking up after the animals.

At least, not literally.

But it all comes down to a rather simple concept.

We go back to where the flower girl was.

We went to jail for her.

And now is only absence.

Time has passed.

And so we wander the streets.

I am the laughing stock.

Easy to pick on.

Try to preserve some decorum.

Bring a laugh to the young people who have futures.

I will not tell you the rest.

Because it is coded in film language.

Why did Charlie act so nice?

Why did he do the right thing?

Why did he go above and beyond?

It was for love.

In real life we may fail, but we too are geniuses of love.

We have gone the extra miles.

And that lost love…as sad as Górecki’s ridiculously-dense counterpoint from his third Symphony.

Sorrowful songs.

Nothing can hurt that bad.

Driving.  Alone.  Empty.

It is all part of “life’s rich pageant,” as Peter Sellers so poignantly said.

It is the same with Chaplin, Sellers.  We laugh, but we are crying.

And so “perchance to dream”…REM sleep.

Tomorrow the birds will sing.

We must keep telling ourselves that until it’s true.

 

-PD

4 responses to “City Lights [1931)

  1. migarium

    Indeed, everyone should start to tell:”Tomorrow the birds will sing!”.:)

  2. blazeburgess ⋅

    Chaplin would never lie to us would he? Never all beauty, but never all tragedy either.

    Completely agree with the Sellers connection. The depth of both of them was in their ability to see and confront the dark patches of the world.

    • Chaplin was a colorful fellow. I wouldn’t doubt that he was a jerk behind the scenes. Does his work make up for that? Not really. But not knowing his personal life I am able to approach the films (at least for the time being) as just films. On that level, they (and he) are miraculous. –Paul

      • blazeburgess ⋅

        Valid point. I was always well disposed to Chaplin’s message, but it’s not good to judge a person on art alone.

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