Charlie Chaplin
The Kid

A picture with a smile - and perhaps, a tear.

"Il Monello", dated 1921, is undoubtedly one of the countless milestones of Chaplin's cinema and beyond: both because it is indisputably a great film and because it represents a crucial passage in the luminous career of the artist. It is his first feature film as a director, and from this film onwards, Chaplin will introduce new elements into his cinema, leaving aside pure comedy (but without getting rid of it) and inserting a strong emotional component; from now on, his films become truly universal.

"The Kid" is the story of an infant abandoned in a car by a young mother. Two thieves steal the car but only later realize the presence of the little creature and leave him on the street. Fate will have it that a good-natured tramp passes by, and although he initially tries everything to place him elsewhere, he decides to keep him and take care of him.

FIVE YEARS LATER

With a time jump of five years, here is the poor man trying to make ends meet by using tricks, thanks also to the young accomplice: the little one breaks the windows and runs away, the man arrives (seemingly by chance to others) and fixes the damage. The gimmick is nothing short of brilliant. Meanwhile, the woman has become a famous actress and goes around giving alms, especially to children (repentance for the heinous act?). Without knowing it, she meets who is actually her son, giving him an apple and a doll which will become the cause of a dispute with another child. After the scuffle, the woman worries about his health and calls the doctor, who discovers that he is not the tramp's natural son and arranges for him to be taken to an orphanage. He will never get there because the tramp will manage to recover him. Meanwhile, the woman discovers that the child is her son and later the little boy will be handed over to the police where the mother will go to get him back. After the famous dream scene, the man will nevertheless be accompanied and welcomed into the woman's house.

Inspired by the premature death of his son, in just 50 minutes of film Chaplin finds a perfect balance between humor and pathos stirring a myriad of themes such as poverty, abandonment, guilt, the art of getting by, and delivering precise messages: it is a thinly veiled accusation against the harshness of institutions, it is the triumph of Love in its broadest sense: whoever raises a child and gives him all he has, even without any blood ties, can rightfully bear the title of "father".

Despite his very young age, Jackie Coogan shows all his talent and gives us an unforgettable performance, leaving us astonished; many years later, he will be Uncle Fester of the Addams family. Chaplin, many years later, will still be on top of the world.