The Gold Rush

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

During the screening of The Gold Rush, I could not help but automatically recognize how expressive Charlie Chaplin is. This point was brought up during the class lecture in comparison with Buster Keaton. Every move, expression, and emotion jolted through my body as my eyes were fixed on one of the greatest auteurs in film history. Chaplin transformed into this character he was playing until it is almost impossible to tell them apart. It is extremely gratifying to know that Chaplin focused more on some of the bigger social issues going on around the time that he made his films. It is apparent in The Gold Rush that he was emphasizing poverty and hunger to a great extent. The scenes involving trying to find food, in addition to Big Jim McKay’s chicken hallucinations, were some of the most vivid and imaginative scenes in the film. There is this seemingly very innocent and romantic tramp that fills the screen with a sort of life that touches everyone. One can see that he does not have much, but what makes him special is the fact that he makes the most out of what he has. This point still stands in reality. The text mentioned that Chaplin lost his father as a young boy, and along with his brother, had to find a way to financially support his sick mother and their household. Chaplin used what he had, comedy, and judging by the screening of The Gold Rush, boy was he on the money with that one.

2) Find a related article and summarize the content.  

“The Gold Rush: As Good as Gold” written by Luc Sante gave meaningful insight not only on the film, but also on Chaplin’s career. Sante calls watching The Gold Rush a “weirdly communal experience” (par. 1). I could not agree more with this statement because the film is extremely watchable no matter who is viewing. Chaplin has such a way of keeping one’s eyes locked on the screen. I appreciated how Sante transitioned from talking about the film into giving background. This information further confirmed the largeness of the man I found myself obsessed with by the end of the class screening. Sante touches on Chaplin’s move from one company to another, gives brief notes on other works (The Kid and The Pilgrim), talks about Chaplin’s distribution company United Artists, and even how Chaplin re-released The Gold Rush in 1942 to a fresh new audience and preferred the second version over the first.

***Link to article used***

Sante, Luc. "The Gold Rush: As Good as Gold." The Criterion Collection. N.p., 11

June 2012. Web. 18 Sept. 2015. <https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2335-the-gold-rush-as-good-as-gold>.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.  

If anything, reading this article reminded me of how Chaplin became such a huge figure to most of the world in such a short amount of time. His resume was quite extraordinary with all that he had done throughout his career. The article mentioned that The Gold Rush was unlike any of the other silent films Chaplin may have made because it focused on a complete story. Chaplin’s process was described as him “beginning vaguely with an image and then filming, retaking, undoing, and revising as a story gradually began to take shape, resulting in such extraordinary shooting ratios…” (Sante, par. 4). There is something about someone who is so wiling and dedicated to reserve all of their time focusing on who they are as an artist and improving their craft. From this portion of the article I took away a feeling of dedication that Chaplin had for what he did. I couldn’t have spoken any other way about The Gold Rush or Chaplin. The article by Luc Sante helped to confirm my admiration and appreciation for the contributions Chaplin has brought to film history.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film.

The Gold Rush is a timeless classic that will undoubtedly live on for many more years to come. Charlie Chaplin has allowed the world to create this bond with his tramp character that, as Sante wrote, “lives inside everyone” (par.2). “He was the classic comedy underdog, fighting for dignity and respect” (Foster 40). Isn’t that, at some point, what everyone strives for? Chaplin made his films with a vision in his mind, and a message bottled up that he manifested to the entire world. The Gold Rush so boldly expresses that no matter where you are in life there is always a chance to prosper again. The body of work that Chaplin was able to create served as enlightenment and entertainment to many immigrants who ended up learning about the culture from Chaplin’s films. Being able to have his work reach so many corners of the world made Chaplin’s work universal; the fact that he was able to fashion a character that was relatable to his audience made Chaplin the star that he was.

The text points out that The Gold Rush possesses qualities that are able to connect to the audience’s emotions and this is absolutely accurate in my personal experience. I loved how the film was able to make me feel its power pouring from the screen. It made me want to laugh, smile, get mad and even cry. The text identifies this capability as “pathos (the ability of a character or situation to evoke sympathy)” (Foster 42), which is one of the modes of persuasion originally mentioned by Aristotle in On Rhetoric. This rhetorical strategy, as I have learned about it, is usually mentioned when talking about a speaker or rhetor to an audience. In this medium of film, The Gold Rush was silent, but it spoke volumes and is a film that has found a special place in film history forever.

Foster, William R. "Pioneers Continued." Early Film History. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt

          Pub., 2009. 40-42. Print.

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