A King in New York : Charlie Chaplin

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A King in New York [1957] was the first film Chaplin made after being banned in the USA and the movie released in the UK. It is another utopian film after The Great Dictator [1940] in which he realized the Hitler’s absolutism in Europe. The tendency to absolutism is parodically exercised also in a modest way in A King in New York [1957]. With the prior one he almost predicted the possible horrendous European crisis resulting from Nazism, with the later one he actualized it’s not so easy as we think of that we could be free in democratic setup without seamless state surveillance.

 

I was nearly as stoned as to hear when king of Estrovia, Shahdov (Charlie Chaplin) got a bold and firm reply from Rupert Macabee (Michael Chaplin) when he answered, “ Should I be a communist to read Marx.” It is a false consciousness universally believed that you are what you do. If you listen to the Bishnu Stotram or Shiv Tandov Stotram, you must be a Hindu but when you listen to Elvis Presley, necessarily you do not become an English. Rupert’s firm utterance reached at the epistemological quintessence I have heard in my watched history.

 

Another groundbreaking exclamation I heard in Macabee’s voice is when he said you are not free until you have to hold a passport for your identification. And any kind of maximum power and minimal authority over things are a real hindrance to human liberty.

 

Chaplin’s cinematic novelty is one of core attractions I have been immersed in. As they are my very first movie experiences from the silent era, whatever I see I think is novel, maybe most of them truly are. Maybe they will be revealed gradually whether my assumptions are right or not. Using the procedure of cosmetic surgery in the period of mounting capitalist consumerism in the media and entertainment industry was an out and out surprise for me. I used to believe this ultramodern surgery was fully developed and demanded in the market recently.

 

When king Shahdov removed his reconstructive surgery, I smiled thinking that he saved the originality and valued the essence.

 

A King in New York [1957]

Charlie Chaplin

English, UK.

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