The Kid (1921)

directed by: charles chaplin
genres: sentimental, silent, comedy
lists: imdb top 250
traces: mr. bean, mr. hulot's holiday, forbidden games, mon oncle,

charlie chaplin writes, directs, produces, composes the music, and stars in this film described in the opening title as 'a picture with a smile, and perhaps a tear' - which pretty succinctly describes the blatant emotional manipulation that chaplin loves to engage in. the story is of a chaplin's iconic 'tramp' stumbling upon an abandoned baby, his relationship with the child and the eventual reunification with the kid's mother.

what's clear in this film as well as chaplin's other works is how his skill as an orchestrator informs all aspects of his art. his mastery of timing (both comic and dramatic) is expressed in the precision of the onscreen action and the excellent musical score, which doesn't feel dated at all.

be sure to watch a new transfer - the picture quality is stunning, and played at the proper frame rate so the characters don't seem to jerk and dart around in classic silent movie style.



chaplin's influence in film history is most directly traced to any great performer of silent physical comedy: rowan atkinson (mr. bean), jacques tati (mr. hulot's holiday, mon oncle, playtime). the specific influence of 'the kid' can be seen in other films that use innocent orphaned cherubic faces to wring maximum emotional weight from a story, like oliver, monsters inc., and even forbidden games.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

directed by: robert wiene
genres: horror, surreal, mindfuck
lists: ebert's great movies, imbd top 250, total film most influential
traces: nosferatu, the testament of dr. mabuse, les diaboliques, orphee, peeping tom, shock corridor, repulsion, brazil, edward scissorhands, suckerpunch, shutter island



staggeringly inventive. this film was the beginning of a lot of things - beautiful, surrealistic tim burtonesque visuals, exploration of sanity/insanity in films, unreliable narration, genuine horror shock moments, and it's credited with having the first twist ending in the history of cinema. it's seriously creepy, and while watching it, you can see how this film rippled outward and inspired so many directors to break free of the verisimilitude of film and branch into purely visual expressionistic storytelling that we see now in directors like tim burton, terry gilliam, guy maddin, and even zack snyder.

it is also the visual inspiration for the red hot chili peppers music video 'otherside:'