Whenever I hear someone praise the ending of movies like “Lost in Translation” or “The Sixth Sense” I just roll my eyes and think to myself “Charlie Chaplin did it 70 years ago jackass.” Not that the main character turned out to be dead or that the girl whispered something we can’t hear (even though it IS a silent movie so we DEFINITELY don’t hear what she said) but rather the swerve ending as well as the open-for-interpretation conclusion.
Since I can’t talk about the end of “City Lights” without talking about the rest of it I will summarize. Charlie Chaplin again reprises his role as The Little Tramp in what may arguably be his most ingenious melding of comedy and drama. His first post-depression era movie made the concepts of plight and poverty far more relatable to the mass public than in any of his previous work, though the separation of the classes is the only consistent theme in his films. From the opening scene where an extravagant statue is unveiled before a crowd of onlookers only to reveal The Little Tramp asleep in the lap of the nobleman depicted (tons of symbolism in that shot that I don’t even need to explain) viewers were given some comic relief in a scenario that was actually becoming commonplace in society as opposed to just a humorous caricature of Dickensian street life that Americans had previously thought of as something reserved for far-away shores or in a different time.
It is also no coincidence that “City Lights” is the first of Chaplin’s movies in an urban setting that actually looks like America. Before the Great Depression his films meticulously recreated the British industrial cities of his youth. It is hard for a movie to hit close to home in the country where it is most widely released when you see a Workhouse or a Tea-and-Eels café. The streets are crowded and busy rather than dreary and deserted; it is on one of these crowded streets that The Tramp meets a pretty blind girl selling flowers. The sounds of a chauffeur and a car door slamming after her initial encounter with The Tramp leaves the girl assuming that The Tramp must be one of the lucky ones who the Depression didn’t reach.
Later that same evening, The Tramp stumbles upon a drunk, recently divorced millionaire who is attempting suicide by tying himself to a boulder and casting it into a river. Since this is still supposed to be a slapstick comedy, The Tramp’s efforts to save him are repaid with circumstances like having the boulder dropped on his foot and ending up in the water himself. He does manage to convince the man that he shouldn’t kill himself, which is done in brilliant pantomime with accompanying string music and the millionaire shows his gratitude by lavishing The Tramp with food, alcohol, money and even his Rolls Royce. Unfortunately the man has no recollection of his interaction with The Tramp when sober, yet at night once he is sauced again the two are BFF, which leads to especially hilarious misunderstandings when he catches The Tramp driving his car, and even more awkwardly when they two wake up together.
”Don’t give up! Face life! Tomorrow, the birds will sing” (The Little Tramp, “City Lights”
Ever the selfless hero, The Tramp is always very quick to use the money gifted to him to pay the flower girl’s rent or buy her food. Because of this, the girl continues to assume he is wealthy, and though he never attempts to correct this misconception he also never actually tells her that he is in fact homeless himself. While this could be perceived as shady in many cases, one must consider the fact that the girl would not take his charity if she knew the truth.
On one of his visits with the flower girl The Tramp notices a headline that a Viennese doctor has discovered a cure for her type of blindness. Though the doctor is willing to provide the surgery for free the patient must come to him in Vienna in order to receive it. The Tramp finds himself desperate to come up with the money of his own volition, as he has been unable to find his millionaire friend for some time. Hilarity ensues as The Tramp finds himself shoveling elephant crap and attempting to participate in a rigged boxing match. When he finally runs into the millionaire just in the nick of time, his priorities are different. His only focus is obtaining the money for the girl, even to the point of turning down food and drink. Eventually, he is mistaken for a thief and taken to jail for several months- but not before delivering the money to the flower girl.
The film concludes with The Tramp being harassed by some young street kids. It is obvious that his circumstances have somehow gotten even worse. He is messier, his clothes are more threadbare and he is no longer a happy-go-lucky homeless man, but a shattered and angry wreck of a man. From inside a shop window, two women laugh hysterically at the degradation of The Tramp. Finally, out of sheer pity one of the women attempts to offer him a handout. Not only has the flower girl regained her sight, but has clearly prospered due to her new lease on life at the hands of The Tramp. Upon recognizing her, The Tramp attempts to avoid her, humiliated with his situation, but she forcefully grabs his hand to place the money in it. The girl touches his hand, then begins to reach up his arm and to his chest and face- feeling the familiarity as her secret benefactor we see every possible emotion blanket her face; shock, fear, pity, disgust and a slight touch of happiness, but mostly the other things.
There is a tiny bit of very awkward dialogue between the two and the girl’s final words of “yes, I can see now” not only express so much, but also leave so much room for interpretation. She sees now that her impression of the man she loved is not like she imagined, she sees how much he has sacrificed for her, she sees that she has been lied to in a roundabout way but also that he never took advantage of her and that what he did for her was done with no expectation of thanks or repayment. The screen fades to black with absolutely no resolution or closure- we are as uncertain as to what happens as the girl is as to how she should feel.
There are so many things to love about “City Lights.” The comedic elements are rarer than in earlier Chaplin films, but given the seriousness of the subject matter they are much funnier. The segment where The Tramp believes he is going into a boxing match that will be an easy way to make some money and winds up getting his ass kicked are not only hilarious but balletic as the two opponents constantly move in opposite directions attempting to pursue each other, with an overzealous referee getting in the way the entire time. I mentioned earlier the significance of the attempted suicide scene, which manages the unenviable task of finding humor in one of the darkest possible places while still not making light of it. And then there is that ending again I keep waxing idiotic about.
I know this sounds bizarre, but next time you have a date night do yourself a favor and WATCH "CITY LIGHTS!" There are few movies that will please the guy as much as the girl (or the people who play the guy and girl role if that’s your thing) as this one. It’s a little bit Three Stooges, a little bit Drew Barrymore and 100% epic f’ing WIN!
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