Synopsis
Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003) is a documentary you can watch online on iFILM, produced, written and directed by film historian Richard Schickel. He spent years gathering this account of the man who built screen comedy before movies had sound — and became one of Hollywood's most controversial figures by the end.
The talking heads are not the usual suspects. Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr., Richard Attenborough, Milos Forman and Marcel Marceau all appear, alongside Chaplin's children Geraldine and Michael, who sat for unusually candid sessions. Sydney Pollack narrates throughout, and archival footage of the films runs alongside the recollections in a way that keeps the 127 minutes from feeling like a lecture.
Schickel earns the runtime by refusing easy celebration. The FBI surveillance, the 1952 ban from American soil, the turbulent private life — all get serious attention, not footnotes. The film is most interesting when it stops treating genius as an excuse. Stream the documentary on iFILM.
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