Journal
Content: The Gold Rush
1.
Relate what was discussed in class or the text
to the screening.
When
this film was released in 1925, silent films had continued to become a national
hit. Great men like Eadweard Muybridge, Thomas Edison, the Lumiere Brothers and
W.K.L Dickson were great influences to the silent film industry with inventions
like the Kinetoscope, Zoetrope, and the Latham Loop. Many great films have been
produced, but the top-grossing film in this era was D.W. Griffiths’ Birth of a Nation (1915). Charlie
Chaplin’s The Gold Rush (1925) is ranked at fifth place. Without these
films, cinema would not be where it is today.
2.
Find a related article and summarize the
content. (on the film, director,
studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) You can use the library or the
Internet. Cite the article or copy
the url to your journal entry. Summarize in your own words the related article
but do not plagiarize any content.
According
to the article, The Gold Rush is considered
a cinematic masterpiece, skating the thin line between comedy and tragedy. Yet
the story that Chaplin tells in this film is actually an inspiration of two
grim historical records: one during the 1898 gold rush, and the other from a
book from the Donner pioneers.
The
article would go on to explain the plot of the story for a bit, yet focuses on
how much work Chaplin put into this film. According to the article, most silent
films would take less than a month to be completed, but The Gold Rush took, “seventeen months to complete, and cost nearly
one million dollars – the most expensive comedy of the time.”
Source:
http://blog.sfgate.com/tgladysz/2011/12/23/charlie-chaplins-the-gold-rush-is-cinematic-masterpiece/
3.
Apply the article to the film
screened in class. How did the article support or change the way you
thought about the film, director, content, etc.?
When I
saw the film in class, I never realized how much of an impact it had made in
the silent film era and how revolutionary it was during that time. The article
I read completely changed the way I look at this film now because of its impact
on the film industry, and of course, in the era of silent films. It was one of those movies that stands the test of time, and if you are a big fan of slapstick comedy, with a little bit of
4.
Write a critical analysis of
the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of
the screening, class discussions, text material and the article. I
am less interested in whether you liked or disliked a film, (although that can
be part of this) than I am in your understanding of its place in film
history or the contributions of the director.
This film is vintage Charlie Chaplin at its best.
From what I have learned in this class so far, and from what I saw in this
film, I can fully understand why it was so influential. The story was very
touching, especially in scenes where the Tramp (Chaplin’s Character) tries to
win the love of Georgia. The quirkiness of this film makes it a very enjoyable movie.
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